page last updated 9 November, 2003

Taking Children Seriously

Autonomous-ed mailing list

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This is a TCS mini list specifically for those interested in developing TCS relationships with their children and to discuss ways to support children's autonomous education. There is as yet no FAQ.

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The listowner is Jan Fortune-Wood

The official TCS web site lists a number of support lists and literature for those interested in TCS parenting

Welcome Message

Please read this message before you post to the TCS-ed-list.

Welcome to TCS Autonomous-Ed. This list is for anyone interested in discussing non coercive education theory and practice and is intended to be supportive of those trying to ensure that their interactions with children particularly in the area of education and learning, do not compromise children's autonomy.

You will find a full discussion of what we mean by terms like 'coercion', 'theory' etc. at the main TCS website. In particular the list supports people in finding ways of facilitating children's education whilst avoiding any interactions which cause "the psychological state of enacting one idea or impulse while a conflicting impulse is still active in one's mind".

What do we mean by Autonomous Education? Autonomous education assumes the need for self direction and does not divide life up into 'educational' and non-educational experiences, but rather takes a broad view of the conditions needed to encourage conjecture and refutation. Autonomous learning is not focussed on the content or style of learning, but on the primacy of intrinsic motivation. (It is not what is learnt or how it is learnt, but whether the learner directed the learning.) Autonomous education is not concerned with predicting or trying to manufacture certain outcomes or products from another's learning. It assumes that children are innately rational, creative and know their own interests better than anyone else.

If you are interested in discussing these issues further then this list is for you.

Guidelines for posting

If you are new to TCS you might find it useful to look at the FAQ on the main TCS website, but please don't let your 'newness' put you off posting. Your questions are welcomed even if they seem very basic to you.

The list is moderated. However, not all messages are treated by hand, so the appearance of a message on the list does not imply the approval of the moderator(s).

List ethos

The Taking Children Seriously Autonomous Education list is a forum for the discussion of non-coercive educational theory and practice, and for the support of parents trying to make their interactions with their children non-coercive. If you are interested in finding out more or if you want support for educating autonomously this is an ideal forum, but if you are hostile to the idea of TCS, please try one of the many forums which are supportive of more conventional parenting ideas instead.

We are trying to retain a very friendly, supportive feel and hope that within that we can value one another's criticism. (You can read more about his at the main TCS website.)

We also value privacy and ask that posters do not refer to private e-mail and do not talk about their children without consent. If possible, try to hypotheticalise questions and replies; or you may post your question to the list owner to forward anonymously.

Content

  • Please do not send off-topic messages to the list.
  • On no account post meta-discussion (about posting styles, etc.) to the list. Address complaints to the individual poster.
  • Address comments about the list itself to the listowner direct, not to the list.
  • If a post makes you angry, please address the arguments and issues rather than resorting to irrelevant personal attacks.
  • Do not send spams, chain letters, virus warnings, etc. to the list.
  • Please do not send "fluff" posts to the list.
  • Please do not send one-line, "content-less" posts such as "I agree" to the list.
  • Please do not send administrative messages such as "subscribe" to the list.

Replies

  • Sending personal messages to the list can be very embarrassing, so check the To: line before sending any reply. Is it a personal message or do you intend it to go to the whole list? Might it be more appropriate to send your message to the poster whose message you are answering?
  • Ensure that the subject of your messages is reflected in the "Subject:" line of your posts. Change the "Subject:" line if necessary.
  • Please do not quote more than is necessary for context.
  • If possible, include the full reference to the post to which you are replying (for example: "On [date] at [time], [name and e-mail address] wrote:").
  • Please do not quote the entire header of messages you reply to because if you quote the "Reply-To" or "Sender", then the list server thinks it is a bounce, and sends it to me as an error.
  • Please send re-post requests to the individual poster, not the whole list (unless you are unsure of who the original poster was).

Format

Please check that the width of your posts does not exceed that of this message. (If you think in characters, it is about 65 characters wide.) Some people do not have wide screens.


List commands

Thank you for your interest in the TCS Autonomous-Ed list

Jan Fortune-Wood Listowner