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Institutionalization and Deschooling: The Death and the Resurrection of the Self
by Kah Ying Choo
The institutionalization
syndrome that frequently occurs in individuals who have received long-term
treatment or care in institutions such as psychiatric facilities encapsulates
the following characteristics:
• Loss of independence and self-confidence,
• Erosion of desire and skills for social interaction,
• Excessive reliance on institutions and fear of authority (Lamb, 1976).
With their daily routines, organizational structures and practices that are
imposed on patients, psychiatric facilities are notorious for cultivating
patient dependency and hampering the development of independent functioning that
will facilitate the patients’ reintegration into the community. In such
institutional settings, patients are required to conform to the instructions of
doctors and staff members or deal with aversive consequences. They thus
learn to submit to authoritative figures such as doctors. Furthermore,
they are also expected to adapt to an externally imposed schedule of eating,
socializing and other activities. In addition, their individual
perceptions and responses are disregarded and their interests neglected.
In this conformist environment, patients’ efforts to express their individuality
and display their skills are thus discouraged, or even suppressed (Lipsitt,
1961).
Because their activity is constantly regulated and restricted by staff members,
patients do not have the freedom to exercise initiative and assert their
individuality. The constant suppression of their individuality and
attempts to initiate activities typically results in frustration and depression.
Over a long period of time, these patients eventually lose their sense of
identity and initiative in order to cope with living in such a rigid and
controlled environment. Furthermore, since the institutional settings
satisfy all the basic needs of the patients and extinguish their unique needs,
these patients eventually become disconnected from the outside world. They
also abandon their beliefs that they can satisfy their basic needs on their own.
Although psychiatric facilities are supposed to “help” improve the lives of
their patients, they are ultimately guilty of sabotaging their patients’
recovery (Boettcher & Schie, 1975; Denner, 1974; Wright & Kogut, 1972).
Deschooling
The adverse impact of institutions on patients living in psychiatric facilities
can be analogized to the experiences of children who have been subjected to the
pressures of traditional schooling. As with patients in psychiatric
hospital, children in traditional schools are required to conform to the rigid
routines of school schedules and their learning limited to the standardized
curriculum. Their teachers and principals restrict their ability to move
and exercise their curiosity by expecting them to sit at their desks quietly and
forbidding socialization among peers during class time. Struggling to
adapt to an environment that rewards them for their compliance and punishes them
for their expression of individuality, these children eventually become
excessively dependent on schools to direct their learning. The suppression
of their individuality and interests eventually extinguishes these children’s
passion for learning and life (“What is Deschooling”; Meyer, 2000).
Therefore, when children are removed from traditional schools to embark on the
journey of homeschooling, they need to undergo the process of “deschooling.”
Deschooling can be considered a detoxication period that enables these children
to unlearn the negative concepts of learning associated with traditional
schooling such as “grades, semesters, school-days, education, scores, tests,
introductions, reviews and performance” (Dodd, qtd. in Bell, 1998, p. 1).
By eliminating these ideas from their mindset, these children can regain their
intuitive love of learning and discover their sense of self. Thus,
deschooling is a healing process that is critical to the future of the children
as they recover from their wounded psyches and prepare to create their unique
idea of learning (Bell, 1998).
Depending on the individuals and their experiences in schools, the deschooling
period lasts an average of one year and upto two years (“Homeschooling gifted
kids,” 2001). Experienced homeschoolers suggest that the children need one
month of deschooling for each year of schooling (Hayes, 1999). During this
period, most parents offer their children complete freedom to transition from
traditional schools to the home. Although deschooling is a difficult
period for parents who are concerned that their children are not engaged in
learning, it is important that parents do not act like teachers in schools and
attempt to imposing their learning objectives on their children. (“What is
Deschooling,” p. 1; “Homeschooling Gifted Kids,” 2001).
Once the children are free from the pressures of time and the dictates of
teachers or any individual, they will be able to rekindle their interest in
learning. When they are ready to begin learning, these children will take
the initiative to pursue subjects of their interest without external prodding.
Although they will be frustrated initially by the fact that their parents do not
provide them with answers and tell them what to do, these children will begin to
learn and enjoy their independent ability to conduct their own research and
apply their learning in an interesting fashion. Instead of directing their
children’s learning, parents play the role of facilitators and provide
supportive guidance and assistance in order to ensure that their children have
access to the necessary resources for their projects (“Zone FAQ: What is “deschooling,””
2001).
However, the institutionalization effects of schools not only affect children,
but also their parents. Many parents who have been exposed to the
oppressive experiences of traditional schools also need to undergo the process
of deschooling. The deschooling of parents is critical to the ultimate
success of homeschooling. Otherwise, parents are likely to replicate the
components of traditional schooling such as worksheets and textbooks in their
homes. In order to realize the intrinsic objectives of homeschooling,
parents thus have to address their traumatic experiences in a rigid and
organized classroom and embrace innovative learning concepts that challenge
those of traditional schools. For example, they need to promote their children’s
freedom to learn in community settings and acknowledge the ambivalence of issues
that do not offer simple solutions (Meyer, 2000; Hayes, 1999).
Although some may perceive the comparison of the impact of schools and the
effects of psychiatric institutions as excessive, this juxtaposition captures
the tragedy of children who are oppressed in classrooms, which is enacted day
after day in our country. The fact that children need to be detoxed from
their experiences in school highlights the adverse impact of schools on their
whole being. Apart from their academic learning, these children need to
rediscover their identity and regain their passion for life itself during the
deschooling period. The journey towards successful homeschooling, beginning with
the deschooling process, can be a frightening experience. However, this
courageous decision will reap incredible rewards that are captured succinctly in
this beautiful statement by a homeschooling parent:
When we started homeschooling, I felt as though I had tucked a child under each
arm and jumped off a cliff. Imagine my surprise to discover we have wings (Maura
Seger, qtd. in Hayes, 1999).
References
Bell, A. (1998). Natural Learning Page. Retrieved February 4, 2002, from http://home.rmci.net/abell/page11.htm
Boettcher, R. C., & Schie, R. V. (1975). Milieu therapy with chronic mental
patients. Social Work, 20, 130-134.
Denner, B. (1974). Returning madness to an accepting community. Commit Merit.
Health Journal, 10, 163-172.
Hayes, L. C. (1999). What is deschooling? Retrieved February 4, 2002, from
National Home Education Network Website: http://www.nhen.org/nhen/pov/newhser/deschooling.html
Homeschooling gifted kids. (2001). Retrieved February 4, 2002 from http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Woods/6564/ghs/ghsdschl.htm
Lamb, H. R. (1976). Community survival for long-term patients. San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass.
Lipsitt, D. R. (1961). Institutional dependency: A rehabilitation problem. In M.
Greenblatt, D. Levinson, & G. Klerman (Eds.), Mental patients in transition:
Steps in hospital-community rehabilitation (pp. 34-45). Springfield: Charles C
Thomas Publishers.
Meyer, J. B. (2000). Homeschooling anywhere. Retrieved February 4, 2002, from
Denver Northwest Homeschool Community Website: http://home.att.net/~dnhc/deschool.htm
What is deschooling? (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2002, from http://www.tumon.com/porchswing/deschooling.htm
Wright, A. L., & Kogut, R. S. (1972). A resocialization program for the
treatment of chronic hospitalized schizophrenic patients. Diseases of the
Nervous System, 33, 614-616.
Zone FAQ: What is “deschooling”? (2001, May 28). Retrieved February 4, 2002,
from http://www.homeschoolzone.com/faq/deschooling.htm