Unschooling:The New RadicalBethany HamiltonED 513, Dr. Katina MankoSummer 2010

Objectives

To outline two types of homeschooling: conventional and unschooling.

To define and give a brief history/overview of unschooling.

To compare unschooling to the educational methodologies proposed by John Dewey.

To present the benefits of utilizing a radical method versus a more conventional method of homeschooling.

Two IdeologiesAlthough the homeschooling movement is much more complex than what follows, I present 2 commonly accepted ideologies that move families, students and communities to choose homeschooling as their preferred education method.

ConventionalThe education of children at home rather than a formal school setting.

A legal alternative to publicly-provided schools.

Many families identify religion, dissatisfaction with local districts and the desire to protect their children from a variety of social ills in order to develop healthy character and morals as a few of the major reasons to homeschool.

Usually follows a “parents as teachers” model.

Generally follows a sanctioned curriculum or unit-studies model.

Often structured similarly to a typical school day. (i.e. specific times dedicated to specific subjects, activities, etc.)

Unschoolingo Also referred to as “radical homeschooling.” (There are some distinct

nuances, but for the purpose of this project I will use the terms synonymously.)

o Operates under the belief that curiosity is innate, and all children want to learn.

o This ability to learn on their own makes it more likely that later, when children are adults, they can continue to learn what they need to know to meet newly emerging needs, interests, and goals.

o “One size fits all” or “factory models” of school are inefficient.

o There is no particular body of work that every person needs to possess.

o Parents are not necessarily teachers; no curriculum or plan of study is followed.

o Days are not structured by anyone other than the student.

How to Quit School and Get a Real LifeAll the time you are in school, you learn through experience how to live in a dictatorship. In school you shut your notebook when the bell rings. You do not speak unless granted permission. You are guilty until proven innocent, and who will prove you innocent? You are told what to do, think, and say for six hours each day. If your teacher says sit up and pay attention, you had better stiffen your spine and try to get Bobby or Sally or the idea of Spring or the play you’re writing off of your mind. The most constant and thorough thing students in school experience -and learn- is the antithesis of democracy.

Grace Llewellyn, author of The Teenage Liberation Handbook

How does it work?Deschooling means dismantling the overlay of school. Gradually (or just all of a sudden, if you have that ability) stop speaking and thinking in terms of grades, semesters, school-days, education, scores, tests, introductions, reviews, and performance, and replace those artificial strictures and measures with ideas like morning, hungry, happy, new, learning, interesting, playing, exploring and living.

Sandra Dodd, Author of Big Book of Unschooling

John Dewey•Education and learning are interactive processes.

•Students should take part in their own learning.

•Education should not only be about content knowledge, but about how to learn to live.

Commonalities of Unschooling and DeweyLearning should be interactive/hands-on/experiential.Learning can and will take place through the completion of everyday, life activities.Each student does not learn the same way.Education can promote democracy/an effective citizenry.Interests of the student should be taken into account.

Initial ResourcesThe Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education by Grace Llewellyn

http://theicarusproject.net

Big Book of Unschooling by Sandra Dodd

Kingdom of Children by Mitchell L. Stevens

www.wikipedia.com (Yes, yes – I know. Not a valid source in itself. I am using it to examine the citations of various articles.)

Experience and Education by John Dewey

Growing Without Schooling magazine

A variety of works by John Holt