"No one is immune to the byproducts of compulsory schooling and standardized testing. And while reform may be a worthy cause for some, it is not enough for countless others still trying to navigate the tyranny of what schooling has always been....we need to build and work within systems truly designed for any human to learn, grow, socialize, and thrive, regardless of age, ability, background, or access to money.” - Akilah S. Richards; Raising Free Learners
What about the basics?
Learning to read, write, and calculate math equations comes naturally when doing real things - like learning to build and program a robot, or write a story about your favourite kind of sea creatures. By removing the pressure of learning the basics and instead allowing for self-driven learning, we increase the likelihood of people retaining and using what they have learned. For example: Learning Math the Self-Directed way
Read More: Children’s Natural Ways of Educating Themselves Still Work: Even for the Three R’s
Read More: Children’s Natural Ways of Educating Themselves Still Work: Even for the Three R’s
What about exposing kids to all subjects?
Surface level exposure to a spattering of subjects is not true learning. Real learning occurs (and sticks) when we follow our curiosities and interests.
“In the real world when you want to learn something new, you don’t say “I’m going to for one hour a day, think about this thing that’s really important to me and then I’m going to rush off and study some completely unrelated thing”, like the way we make kids go through history, then math, then English from class to class. You say, “I’m going to focus as hard as I can on the thing I’m interested in and then maybe I’ll blow everything off for a couple of days and have some fun because my mind is getting numb from all the stuff I’ve been cramming into it.” This is the adult way of learning and it’s the kids’ way of learning too because it’s really the human way of learning.
– Michael Greenburg, The View from the Inside.
Read more:
“In the real world when you want to learn something new, you don’t say “I’m going to for one hour a day, think about this thing that’s really important to me and then I’m going to rush off and study some completely unrelated thing”, like the way we make kids go through history, then math, then English from class to class. You say, “I’m going to focus as hard as I can on the thing I’m interested in and then maybe I’ll blow everything off for a couple of days and have some fun because my mind is getting numb from all the stuff I’ve been cramming into it.” This is the adult way of learning and it’s the kids’ way of learning too because it’s really the human way of learning.
– Michael Greenburg, The View from the Inside.
Read more:
What about becoming well rounded?
A well-rounded individual finding more success at life, work, or further education is a myth. When we deny people the opportunity to develop their strengths and areas of interest, we invite mediocrity and higher levels of dissatisfaction and stress into our lives.
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What about sticking it out and learning to do things you don’t like?
Say you signed up for a baking class and after two lessons you realize that the teacher is difficult to understand and content is not what you expected, would you quit? Would you continue to give up two nights a week doing something that you don’t like, and in a class where you aren’t going to learn what you are interested in? If you quit, does that make you a “bad person”, a “person that has no initiative or direction”? No, of course not. It makes you someone who understands that their time is valuable, that you have preferences, and that you are not willing to compromise on achieving your goal - you wanted to learn how to bake French pastries, and you will find a class and teacher to help you make that happen.
Read more:
Read more:
What about high school entrance?
The public education system will accept students into high school regardless of previous education. In general, high school entrance is granted based on age.
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What about High School Diploma and post-secondary?
The very short answers is that you do not need a high school diploma to succeed and be happy in life, to get a job or attend post-secondary education.
“The system is linear: elementary, high school diploma, post-secondary. It is the well worn path. For many, it is preferable to the challenges of hacking the system and building a personal path. But for Free Learners, those who can’t bear to play the game any longer, there are options. Blazing your path to demonstrate you have the required education for your next destination, takes work, hard, satisfying work. We are here to help you."
– Heather MacTaggart, Director Unschooling School
Here is the longer answer.
“The system is linear: elementary, high school diploma, post-secondary. It is the well worn path. For many, it is preferable to the challenges of hacking the system and building a personal path. But for Free Learners, those who can’t bear to play the game any longer, there are options. Blazing your path to demonstrate you have the required education for your next destination, takes work, hard, satisfying work. We are here to help you."
– Heather MacTaggart, Director Unschooling School
Here is the longer answer.
what about grades and ASSESSMENT?
Why Grades Are Not Important
- Grades are subjective judgements from outside.
- Grades are a final summation and not useful in making improvements.
- Grades are arbitrary and have little real meaning.
- There are no real consequences for getting a low grade especially for younger learners--but they can certainly make kids feel bad.
- Grades focus too much on what learners are not good at and don’t know instead of what they are good at and do know.
- Grades don’t have much connection with reality. A teacher sets a task or gives an assignment that may or may not be of interest and then sets a level of expected achievement. They fashion a test or other assessment and usually insist that students complete that assessment solo. They then calculate a percentage score or consult a rubric, or sometimes just make a judgement and then connect a letter A-F on it and enter that into a gradebook where it is automatically averaged in with all the other marks. This creates a skewed and unreal picture of a learner who is changing every second and is not an average obtained through mathematical formulas.
- Think about what happens if learners and families disregard grades. How much power do they retain?
WHAT OBLIGES SCHOOLS TO COOPERATE?
Our tax dollars mean it is our public education system. There is a long history of groups transforming educational approaches to serve students. We are building upon their work by introducing the Free Learner Designation.
Read more: History of Special Education and Inclusion in Canada
Read more: History of Special Education and Inclusion in Canada
What do kids tell their peers?
They tell them they are a Designated Free Learner, and then explain what that means - that they are taking responsibility for their own learning and following their interests. They give their peers a note about what a FL is with a link to www.unschoolingschool.com and suggest they visit the site with their parents. See Eldon's example.
How do you determine who should be a Free Learner?
It is as simple as deciding, do you want to take ownership of your learning and pursue a happy, meaningful existence? You follow the steps in the Free Learner section, and there you go, you are a Free Learner.
Initiating a conversation about Free Learner designation can be done by students, parents/guardians, and educators. There are conversation templates in our Free Learner section on the website.
Read Raising Free People: How one family makes educational decisions together.
Initiating a conversation about Free Learner designation can be done by students, parents/guardians, and educators. There are conversation templates in our Free Learner section on the website.
Read Raising Free People: How one family makes educational decisions together.
What do Free Learners look like?
A FL looks like someone who believes that their education is their job. What that looks like in practice is entirely dependent on the individual.
Here are a few examples.
Here are a few examples.
What is this going to look like when lots of people join?
It is going to look amazing!! But we know it will not happen overnight. It is going to rely on brave kids, parents, educators and community allies to take the first steps and show others what happens when we trust kids.
Here are the phases of Unschooling School
Here are the phases of Unschooling School
You say to trust kids, how do you know we can?
Because the evidence is clear - kids are born to learn. You’ve seen this. You’ve read the research. You know this to be true. Take the leap of faith and believe the evidence presented.
more questions?
Explore the expansive FAQ section on Unschooling to University
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