The Rise of the Unschooled

When talking about ‘Education’ in the political world the spot light is currently on Common Core. Sometimes we talk about School Choice, but mainly we are on the topic of Common Core. Let’s be honest, it can all be rather boring! Talking about new standards and content in textbooks has been scientifically proven to be the most boring topic. Think about it, if textbooks are the most boring books ever created by man then arguing about what should be in the textbook has to be the most boring topic. What if there is no reform that will help our current school system? What if we are spending all this time, energy and money on a system that doesn’t work? Why don’t we start talking about real innovation in education? Let’s start talking about the exciting movement of Unschooling.
Unschooling is a philosophy that advocates for a child’s freedom in education. In the current education systems (public, private, or homeschooling), children are given a textbook and told to memorize. If they are struggling with the content they are given extra study time. If they are still struggling or resist this form of education then they are given drugs to make them more compliant. Unschooling does the complete opposite of this approach in that it allows the child to be the one to choose what they learn. The idea is that children are only going to learn what they want to learn. We cannot force a person to learn or accept something; they have to want to do it on their own.
It is true that if you threaten or make a group of people afraid, that some will do what you want out of fear. They will ‘want’ to do it, because they are afraid. In Unschooling, we remove the force and the fear. As human beings we are naturally curious. We want to learn about the world around us. Parents who unschool their children facilitate the learning. This means that a parent has to be heavily involved in their children’s lives. They have to care about what the child cares about. If your child is into history stories then you take them to a museum, give them a book on the specific time period, or take them to the location where these historical events actual happened. Unschooling is about enriching a child’s education. If a child is into cosmetology then help them learn about the products, how they interact with our bodies, where they are manufactured, how to sell the products, create a business, etc. Whatever a child is interested in they will grow and learn in that subject all that they need to know.
In our current education system we have subjects: Mathematics, history, science, and literature. If we really think about it doing school this way is silly. Nowhere in the real world do we have these subjects isolated from each other. What we are doing is allowing our children to have a surface level understanding of these subjects. This skimming of the surface usually results in a child being confused or not caring. They do not understand the importance of what is being taught, because they have no context. In Math they are learning about imaginary numbers, in biology they are learning about cell structure, in literature they are reading the Great Gatsby, and in history they are learning about the revolutionary war. It is all disconnected.
Let’s look at an example of how an unschooler might do this (the possibilities are endless). A child watches the movie Pearl Harbor and becomes interested in World War II. They study the different governments and conflicts. They find that the atomic bomb was created then and start learning about the chemistry of how an atomic bomb works, which leads to nuclear power. In studying nuclear power a child would have to learn how to calculate the power of electrical forces. You doubt that a child would look that far into it? You underestimate the powers of freedom. When people are exposed to something unknown they start to develop a curiosity that is rarely satisfied by a classroom textbook.
Unschooling a child is about exposing them to the real world. We all know the common phrase, “Give a man a fish feed him for a day, teach a man to fish feed him for a life time”. In reality, we should teach our children how to learn. We live in a revolutionary time. All the knowledge of mankind is within our grasp. I have no idea about the Chinese Civil War, yet in 0.46 seconds google can tell me that it started in 1927. This is amazing! Everything in our lives should be changing. The way we eat, communicate, governor (lack thereof), and educate should all be radically changing. There is no longer an excuse of not having the credentials to educate our children ourselves.
Resistance to this movement is inevitable. There are far too many people that have power and money in the current education system. The power and money is so great that trying to reform of the current education system is impossible. That battle was decided long ago when compulsory schools were formed. The movement of Unschooling is being taken by parents and educators all over our country. The only successful form of changing is opting out of the current system. Allowing children to explore and innovate. In schools children are currently doing the bare minimum to pass a class. In Unschooling there is no failing there is only life.
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Skyler J. Collins October 15, 2014 , 1:30 pm Vote0
Great article! Check out my latest, “The Philosophy of Voluntaryism” which requires, in my opinion, radical unschooling based families. http://ovp.liberty.me/2014/10/13/the-philosophy-of-voluntaryism/
Michael Esch October 15, 2014 , 1:45 pm Vote0
It is true that if we are to reach a free society that more parents will have to embrace peaceful parenting and unschooling. I do not understand how someone who values freedom and voluntaryism could hit their children and force them to do school. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around it. Your article is a great overview of what is needed to to create a Voluntary society.
rachel mills October 15, 2014 , 5:26 pm Vote0
I think its a good idea to be very involved in your child’s education no matter where or how it happens. I think you can send your kid to a school and still be pretty well acquainted with them, you know? You can still take them to museums and on walks and spend time with them. But you can also outsource what you might not excel at (full time education) and have time to do what you yourself are good at.
Skyler J. Collins October 15, 2014 , 6:03 pm Vote0
A core principle if unschooling is the child’s right to determine what goes into his mind and what he does with his time, both of which lead to learning. Being involved to the point of force-feeding your children knowledge, which is what schooling is, among other things, is inconsistent with both unschooling, and voluntaryism.
Michael Esch October 15, 2014 , 11:34 pm Vote0
Being involved in a child’s life is great and most parents are doing this. I completely agree with outsourcing as long as it is beneficial. Sending a child to public school is not benefiting them as much as it is hurting them. They could be having a far more enriching education if a parent hired a tutor (outsourced) for the classes that they were not equipped for if the child was interested in learning about those subjects. The main problem with sending your child to a public school and most private schools is that their main objective is to teach submission. I know this because I am part of the system. And that is what the system perpetuates.
Fine you have two or three teachers in a school that think different, but by and large the system is set up for submission. It is also there to teach a child that they have to do things they dont like. In life there are plenty of things we will not like, but a job does not have to one of them. We teach children to follow direction, not to think for themselves. It is crucial for a parent who believes in liberty to allow their child freedom when it comes to education.
Anthony Caprio October 16, 2014 , 4:40 am Vote0
I am glad to see the varsity of education choices out there. I don’t think education is a one size fits all model.