Difference between revisions of "unschooling"

Latest revision as of 04:04, 5 April 2006

Unschooling (also sometimes referred to as "natural learning", "child-led learning", "discovery learning", "autodidactic learning", or "child-directed learning") is the term that means being responsible for your own education. Under unschooling education, parents may act as "facilitators" and may provide a wide-range of resources to their children.

Proponents of unschooling have a variety of reasons to support their position. A common belief underlying their reasoning is that curiosity is innate. Some argue that institutionalizing a child in what they consider a factory model public school, or any form of compulsory schooling, is an inefficient use of a child's time. Proponents contend that such an education is made to be "one size fits all" and is oppressive for forcing a child to learn regardless of his or her interests. Proponents also claim that individualized, child-led learning is more efficient and respectful of a child's time, takes advantage of a child's interests, and allows learning and deeper exploration of subjects than what is possible in formalized education. The subject matter is less important than the child learning 'how' to learn. This ability to learn on one's own makes it more likely that later, when the child is an adult, he or she can return to any subject that they feel wasn't sufficiently covered and learn the material.

The term unschooling was coined by John Holt. An author of 10 books on education, John Holt founded the unschooling magazine Growing Without Schooling.

A model similar to unschooling, using the child-led learning approach, is sometimes used in schools, such as the Sudbury Valley School.

Prominent unschooling advocates[edit]

• Sandra Dodd
• Catherine Baker
• John Holt
• Jan Hunt
• John Taylor Gatto
• Grace Llewellyn
• Patrick Farenga
• Valerie Fitzenreiter
• Ivan Illich

See also[edit]

• Summerhill School
• Deschooling
• Freeschool

References[edit]

• Moving a Puddle by Sandra Dodd
• Live Free Learn Free magazine
• The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn
• The Day I Became an Autodidact by Kendall Hailey
• Growing Without Schooling defunct magazine founded by John Holt
• How Children Learn by John Holt
• The Unprocessed Child: Living Without School by Valerie Fitzenreiter

External links[edit]

• Unschooling.info, nonprofit organization with resources and discussion message boards
• Unschooling.com, website with essays and forums
• Live Free Learn Free, Unschooling magazine with extensive resource section at the website
• History of unschooling
• Growing Without Schooling Magazine
• Rethinking Education conference
• Freechild Project- Unschooling & Social Change
• Sandra Dodd's Unschooling Website, a longtime unschooling parent's thoughts and essays
• The Live and Learn Conference Website, an annual conference dedicated to unschooling
• Unschooling resources at Pura Vida