Educating: A Memoir

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I wonder if the children had been forced to go to school whether the abuse would have been noticed sooner, the deprivation identified through comparison, the general unhygienic and harsh conditions of their life as exploited child workers in a “family business” reported. LaRee mentions several books and courses she has studied to gain her knowledge and expertise in midwifery, homeopathic remedies, foot-zone treatments, and chakra methods. Sutoris makes the case that where AG is valued, there is a higher chance of politicised education as it enables a variety of processes and pedagogies (201). While there’s nothing illegal about not having a phone, he cut off needed communication to the outside world.

I tried to remain fair and objective, doing my best to educate readers from a straightforward, journalistic approach. Also, I’d like to point out that looking at both sides of the story and reading both memoirs to the end, authors would still, despite finding an amount of LaRee’s writing truthful, would still feel that there is still gaslighting and propaganda. So the years indicate she would have had technology in the home for her studies if the service was current and paid for.

Plato’s Republic, Rousseau’s Émile and Dewey’s Democracy and Education – there’s a strong case to be made, as Dennis Hayes has, that these are the only books on education that teachers need to read. Re the parents writing their own version of events, I guess it is only to be expected from such self-righteous people who showed utter disregard for all of their children throughout their years growing up. Photograph: Alamy From introducing complex vocabulary to applying cognitive science, books can help teachers improve their practice.

Home birth midwives with no training is very different than certified home birth midwives, who go through years of schooling and training. The sites of Pashulok and Wentworth are artifacts of colonial and racialised histories, in the present considered to be ‘behind their development trajectory’ of modernity whilst also being ‘communities of the future’ in experiencing accelerated environmental decay that most of the world does not yet face (10). I am also saddened by the environmental degradation caused by the family and one would expect that those proposing natural remedies would also wish to live in an environmentally harmonious manner.

Interactions with family,” LaRee admits, “sometimes caused trouble between Val and me and led to our children being exposed to slanderous stories about their father.

But LaRee avoids the topic for the most part and focuses almost exclusively on her midwife and homeopathic careers and on their current company Butterfly Expressions. She lived just down the hill from the family and was concerned about her grandchildren’s safety, education, and upbringing.

As your comment would indicate, even nurses and medical experts differ in opinions on certain topics. She notes a few exceptions for medical treatment, but her point is that medical care was not often sought, though it was needed. Mom’s light treatment of this matter is confusing and leaves the reader to suspect abuse did happen and is being ignored. LaRee may have made homeopathic compounds as well – we don’t see a clear distinction – but my point is that the terms are not interchangeable, any more than are “quilts” and “blankets,” or corn liquor and corn syrup.

It’s labeled as a memoir, a story of childhood abuse and the author’s remarkable rise in education, eventually earning her PhD despite a lack of formal education in her home growing up. Homeopathic remedies can be used in conjunction with other medical care, but the Westovers often chose not to pursue these options during their various illnesses and extensive injuries. The part that frightens me most is the description of how the father (Val) justifies his opinions by claiming that God has revealed his will directly to him. The truth will always be hard to establish and despite my similarity of circumstances I understand the viewpoint through which Educating is written – unless LaRee is able to take a fully impartial view, her’s will always be skewed by the circumstances in which she is living – a world away from those Tara now resides in. My beef has always been about how members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints AND some Idahoans are portrayed in both books.Tyler is the first to go to college, and he encourages Westover to take the ACT so she can apply and go, too. I make no apology for including the book I wrote with Kathryn Ecclestone, The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education because it is an influential critical work that has produced considerable controversy.