The Argument for Unschooling

If you’re reading this, the chances of you having been to compulsory school or having been through a homeschool curriculum influenced by compulsory school, are fairly high. Most people never question it. They come up through the school system and they move on with their lives, never really considering the impact those twelve years really had, or even if they want the same for their children. This article strives to take you down the rabbit hole of one of the most controversial and profound alternatives to formal education in existence.

Where we’ve been

The origin of compulsory school may be found no further back in time than 1630 when the Puritans first settled in New England. They felt so passionately about being able to educate their children that they built schools for boys almost immediately upon arriving. Their interest in the idea stemmed from a deeply held religious obligation to educate children and to ensure that they could read and interpret the bible on their own.

We saw progress on the idea of compulsory school in 1806 in Prussia during the Napoleonic wars. Napoleon’s army conquered Prussia, leaving leaders of the Prussian army to question why they lost. They arrived at the conclusion that their defeat was a result of disorganized, disobedient soldiers. The objective then became to resolve that issue using a system of education that would teach obedience and loyalty from a very young age. Thus, an updated version of compulsory school was born, this time much closer to the one we all know.

Many early 19th century scholars in America took a passionate interest in what the Prussians created. Most prominently was Horace Mann who traveled to Germany in 1843 to study their system of education. He, among many others, brought home and spread the word of compulsory school to peers and colleagues. This laid the groundwork for what was to come.

Where we are

So fast-forward to today, let us look at our current education model with fresh eyes. Logistically, children are expected to arrive on time to their classes each day. The schedule laid out for them pays no respect to circadian rhythm, natural instinct, or circumstances outside of school. What is taught to them is decided by a curriculum which is created by someone far away that doesn’t know you or your child. Curriculums are both limiting in what the child can learn in school, but also, this style of teaching pays no respect to what we know about child rearing and development, which I will get to in a moment.

Peter Grey PhD, a research professor at Boston College, conducted a survey in 2012 of 232 families that now have grown up children that were unschooled. He and his partner in the survey, Gina Riley, concluded that every single child of unschooling had a positive experience. The parents of said children were also surveyed and every one of them reported a huge and positive impact that unschooling had on their child’s psychology. Why might this be?

Let’s look at what Unschooling is.

Unschooling is a model of education that falls into the category of Child-Led Learning. This means that what is taught and what is learned are entirely decided by the individual child. In unschooling, there are no teachers. There are no professors. We have what is called unschooling facilitators. A facilitator’s job is to keep the momentum going, work with the child to find resources so that they can learn as much as they want, and throw things in their path that might pique their interest, especially if they hit a lull. We as the facilitators want to instill how to learn, not what to learn. What is learned is decided completely by the child’s intrinsic motivation.

Common critiques of this style of education include statements like “How will my child learn math?” My response is always, “Your child will learn as much math as he or she needs.” It’s true! There is math in cooking, building, creating, gaming, basic day-to-day functions. They’re going to have to learn math. I am only proposing that it be as needed and completely voluntary. Why does my artist child need to know college algebra? For the sake of consistency, why does my mathematician child need to know and have read every work by Hunter S. Thompson? If they were, I’d be thrilled and foster that interest but there’s no need to force it. They will come to it when and if they are going to.

Another common critique of unschooling is that the children don’t get the socialization they would if they were in public school. You mean the same public school with the teachers always telling them to be quiet and that this isn’t time for socializing? The same public school who penalizes kids for talking “too much”? Interesting. Additionally, public school practices age segregation. All of the kids are in classrooms with kids exactly their age. This is quite problematic if you live in the real world where you meet people of all ages and you need to be able to speak to all of them. Unschooling, by way of co-ops, regularly going places, better prepares children and teens to communicate with anyone they might encounter, not just people their exact age.

So what do unschoolers do?

They pull the intellectual thread of whatever subject they are interested in until it runs out. I will use my child as an example. My child is a year and nine months old. She recently took a real interest in books and being read to. As the facilitator, I did what I do best and I got her as many books as I could get my hands on. I also took her to the library. I read to her any time she hands me a book and wants to listen. She typically indicates that she’s done listening by attempting to close the book for me. In all of this, my child learns new words, communication skills at the library and at home, her imagination is going, fine motor skills from handling books and turning pages. We do this with everything she is interested in. I am teaching her how to learn and where she can find out more.

CONCLUSION

Unschooling is life-long learning. It doesn’t stop at the 12 year mark. We are always learning and growing as people. We are always trying to find where we fit in this world. We’ve become so disconnected from our intrinsic motivation that many of us lack purpose and will to live this one precious life we have at all. What if I told you that you could love learning and that it could become your purpose and reason for getting up each day? What if I told you that not only you could have that but that your children could also have that? We get there by Unschooling.

Sources:

Free To Learn by Peter Gray- https://g.co/kgs/SZ1pu6

Article disclosing results of the survey mentioned- https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/37091/how-do-unschoolers-turn-out

Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto- https://www.amazon.com/Dumbing-Down-Curriculum-Compulsory-Schooling-dp-0865718547/dp/0865718547/ref=mt_other?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=

Radical Unschooling by Dayna Martin- https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Unschooling-Revolution-Begun-Revised-2011-02-01/dp/B01K3QY62I/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=radical+unschooling&qid=1627255085&s=books&sr=1-5