Wisit Wangwinyoo is a firm believer of home schooling SUPAWADEE INTHAWONG
Wisit Wangwinyoo is not an ordinary father.
A thinker and writer in philosophy who has translated the works of prominent Buddhist spiritual leaders like Thich Nhat Hanh and the Dalai Lama, he chose to home-school his son and wrote about it in the book Home-made School, released in 2005.
His son, Isara, 18, and a music student at a college in Russia, also published a book that is a sequel to his father's, telling the stories about the alternative education experience from his perspective.
The Wangwinyoo father and son are both products of home-schooling. Wisit, in particular, has home-schooled himself after spending some time in Mahidol University in 1972 and Thammasat University in 1974. The high school graduate of Traimudom turned his back on the formal educational system when he came to believe that it was wasting his time.
This epiphany occurred when he joined with a progressive student organisation called
"Yuwachon Sayam" (Siamese youth). The extra-curricular activities had triggered questions and doubts on the system, which he considered a "failure and waste of time" that "destroys rather than creates".
"The formal education teaches that there is only one answer to each question. However, in reality, multiple answers exist for one question. The school is not teaching what it is supposed to teach," said Wisit.
After leaving the university life behind, Wisit continued to learn by himself on the subjects that he was interested and established himself as a thinker, writer and translator with a number of loyal fans.
He is now works for the Foundation for an evolving society in Chiang Rai as a voice dialogue facilitator and runs workshops for public and private agencies.
His son, nicknamed Ying, attended a Waldolf-styled school at the kindergarten and first grade levels. He also spent some time in a Montessori school in Chiang Rai, but most of his education was provided by the so-called "home school" of his father.
Isara is now a piano student at a college in Yaroslavl, Russia. He is expected to graduate with a bachelor's degree in two years.
Home schooling in Chiang Rai
Wisit said he decided to shift his life path from a successful businessman to a home-school dad when his wife passed away due to brain cancer.
Wanting to spend as much time as possible with his son, he started the "unschooling" process for the then-six-year-old Isara.
His so-called "home-made" education method was based on the natural child-led learning with some influence from the ideas of US writer John Holt, the author of the books How Children Fail and How Children Learn.
He chose Ashram Wongsanit, a community of NGO developers and alternative educators in Nakhon Nayok, as the home and school for their child, convinced that the natural surrounding and thatched home would provide a greatest learning opportunity for the boy.
Isara works on a farm during his weekend in Russia.
Isara and his Russian friends teaching music to children.
The father and son later settled in Chiang Rai, following the family of Wisit's brother. The northern province was also an ideal place for the learning and growing of his son, according to Wisit.
"I have gone through a lot in my life. I have the stability but not the worry. I found that all the skills necessary for me to live a life and learn things did not come from the formal school. If I wanted to do something, I could learn it and do it myself. So, I believe humans have a great potential in learning, but the school system is destroying such potential. If we instead allow the children to grow naturally, they would not have any fear and will learn to be confident and respectful of themselves," said the home schooling author.
Non-teaching as a teaching method
Wisit said the home-school parents do not need to be all-around knowledgeable or have to teach all subjects by themselves as they can simply act as coordinators who would find the right teachers or facilities for the children for each subject.
If a child wants to learn piano, then the parents should find him a piano class, or if he wants to practice tai-chi with a good master then the parents should provide him one. The key is that the children must be allowed to decide what they want to learn, while the parents will support and realise their decisions.
"It is important to allow the children to learn because they really want to learn, not because the parents want them to learn. I spent very little time planning education for my son. I instead used my time to make sure the environment and community were suitable for his learning," said the alternative father.
"If he wanted to ride a bicycle, then I would ride with him and teach him how to ride it safely. After that, I would let him go around Chiang Rai by himself on the bicycle. He could go anywhere he wanted, and did not even have to tell me. I never asked him anyway, as I trust him."
He said a father must do his best to refrain from "teaching" but to engage in "listening" as much as possible. In his opinion, the modern parents often have troubles with the child rearing because they lack the crucial listening skills. Even in the times when parents feel they have to teach the children, Wisit said they would be better off if the parents just provide the moral support and assistance as needed.
"There are two development stages when the children would express themselves with aggression, which are during the ages of two and three, and eight and nine. In such stages, the parents are often afraid that their children would become selfish or violent, but I would rather allow them to become selfish and violent than to tell them not to, as the children would eventually realise the consequences of such acts and, thus, learn to not behave in such ways," said Wisit.
"In those stages, the children must express selfishness and the parents should allow them to do so. If prohibited, the children would suppress the trait and keep it with them for the rest of their lives."
Back to school experience
Although Wisit chose not to enroll his son in a formal school, he would not object if Isara would want to attend a school. Indeed, the boy became curious of the formal education after befriending other kids at a music school.
He decided to attend classes at Chiang Rai Rajabhat University as sit-in student, but soon found out he was not interested in the formal system.
In a normal classroom, the young Isara would be considered lagging behind as he only started reading at the age of nine. But once he was able to read, he became an enthusiastic and fervent reader with knowledge in both Thai and English.
The boy learned the languages "in whole" as his environment allowed him to interact with English-speaking foreigners who were friends of his father at Ashram Wongsanit and at Pitisueksa School, a Montessori school Wisit co-founded in Chiang Rai. Isara essentially learned the English language from real life, not from the classrooms.
But he also wanted to learn the language from a school and decided to attend an AUA class, which Wisit did not object. Isara discovered that the learning in the class was not as enjoying as the learning on his own and that his English skills were no less than the other students.
Music study in Russia
Wisit finally had a major test of his home-school method when Isara wanted to enroll in a music college in Yaroslavl, Russia, after he successfully passed piano examinations in Chiang Rai.
"He went to Russia without speaking a single word of Russian, but he took little time to learn the language and now he is learning to read Russian literature," said the Wisit.
The piano study in Russia is the first serious formal education of Isara, but he made a satisfactory progress.
"What made me happy more than his academic performance is the fact that he is always aware of what he is doing and why he is doing it. He will be able to solve any problem because he has the calm awareness of himself," said the father.
"The study in Russia is a proof that the home-school education has a high potential and that the result of a non-formal continuous learning can be exploding. My son is not afraid and is able to learn new things very well. I am proud of the 'inner' success of my son."
From son to father
Although Isara is now living as far as in Russia, he has been keeping contacts with his father and the Chiang Rai community via the Internet.
On Wisit's birthday, Isara wrote to thank his father for arranging him home-school education so that he did not have to "put up" with things he would not enjoy learning.
He said Wisit is a role model who works with passion and joy, and not for money or fame.
An image Isara has remembered since he was young was his father waking up early each morning to write books or translate works.
Isara said his father always avoids answering his questions directly but will try to have him think and find the answers by himself.
"I could not read until I was nine. But I admire my father so much, because people who did not approve home-schooling kept asking why I was not able to read, but my father stayed firm and patient in waiting for me to read. Once I read, I read everything. I picked up the eight books of The Legend of the Condor Heroes series and did not stop until I finished them. I always have the love of reading," said Isara.
Whenever the music student is worried about his career, becoming unsure of whether he would be able to use the classical piano he is studying in Russia in his future career, his father would always give him comfort, saying that music is a good foundation skill that can be used in anything and that he should not limit himself or have too much fears and worries.
His father told him that he would find a path when the time comes, as Wisit himself is still able to do a lot of works without a university degree.
Seeing Isara stressed with the adjustment to the new life and the study in Russia, Wisit told his son to "put less efforts", which made Isara felt so proud of his father for not focusing on the child's success like other parents, but instead on the understanding and happiness.
"That is why I am extremely proud to be your son. You would challenge the beliefs of everyone else. When they said the children must work hard and strive for successes, you would say it would not matter if they were unsuccessful or not talented," wrote Isara in the letter to his father.
"Because the truth of this world is that when someone is not successful, it does not mean he is a failure. Not everything will go in according to what we have expected, so we need to let go and to feel some peace," wrote Isara in the letter to his father
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