Less school, more learning
Hey Plebbles!
So, a bunch of parents are scratching their heads, wondering why there won’t be any classes kicking off at APTB. They're fretting over how their kids are supposed to figure out what they're into without a little guidance. Especially the older ones, they reckon, need a bit of direction and structure.
Now, is this true?
Well, my take hasn't changed a bit. The more I dive into unschooling, the less I'm sold on the idea of classes, schedules, and all those rigid learning setups.
I get it, it's tough to just take someone's word for it. It's like trying to shut off that little voice in your head that says, "Wait, kids need people to learn! I know better what they need than they do" But here's the deal - and there's research to back this up - traditional schools, or anything resembling them, seriously puts the brakes on learning.
If you're worried there's too much freedom and not enough structure, I've got a recommendation for you: Check out "Free to Learn" by Peter Gray. He drops some serious knowledge bombs backed by studies that might just change your perspective.
Let me hit you with some of Gray's wisdom to drive home my point:
“People naturally want to make sense of their world. That, to Greenberg, is the essence of human curiosity. As they strive to answer questions that truly interest them, people are automatically motivated to use any resources that help them to address those questions. But the questions that interest one person do not necessarily interest another, and the resources that are helpful to one are not necessarily helpful to another.”
At APTB, we're all about letting kids play because, surprise surprise, that's where the learning happens. Playtime isn't just goofing off - each kid is building their own little world, whether you notice it or not. So, there's really no need for us adults to swoop in and impose structures that could squash their creativity.
When they have questions and want to learn more about a topic, we’ll help them find the answers, we’ll help them research. Sometimes, we might purchase an online course, book or materials and in some cases we might even hire a partner (that’s how we call adults working at APTB), online or in-person. We adults don’t go to schools or always pay someone to teach us when we want to learn about something...
The children will create a schedule for themselves as they go. Some might meet spontaneously, some regularly, others will meet every day for hours over a period of months or years, who knows. It’s up to the kids to build clubs, classes, structures and schedules.
“The belief that young people are incapable of making reasonable decisions is a cornerstone of our system of compulsory, closely monitored education.”
If you think, children need us to make decisions to find something to explore or learn about, you know you have been limited in your worldview and your own capabilities during your upbringing. In this case, introspection is key.
Any child, whether they’re young or in their teens, that needs adults to come up with activities, has most likely been ‘trained‘ to wait for the parents or teacher to tell him what to do. This doesn’t mean, we have to continue giving him tasks, lessons, structure, encouragement or entertainment for him or her to continue learning. The opposite is the better way to help the child to find his/her way back to the innate inner drive.
APTB fixes this!
The fact that there'll be many children of different ages, that kids will have the freedom to choose what to play and explore and that there will be partners who help when needed, is all we need to learn and spark an interest. We'll all be seeing others, children and adults, do things that will ignite our curiosity. We'll all be asked for help from time to time, we will ask questions about something we watch others do and simply this will provide an abundance of exposure to new stuff to try out and learn about.
There won't be any classes in the beginning because I want everyone to experience the ideal environment, how it's supposed to be: Do what you want, nobody will try to get you to learn something you might not want. No chance of imposing unvoluntarily, making kids feel obliged to follow suit, no parents getting the chance to ask their kids 'Why don't you try out the ... class they're offering?' All well-intended things but so limiting when it comes to learning on the most efficient level.
Again, don't take my word for it. Listen to Peter Gray's Free to learn, listen to the reserach he talks about, read up on the studies he mentions, do your own research. Do what’s necessary to be able to grant your and other children the freedom to develop and learn on their own terms.
Ultimately, we must always remember that
even though we are conscious about most problems with the (schooling) system, many of us continue to carry the biases created by it within our way of thinking, doing things and what we believe, our children should be doing. Therefore, it’s of utmost importance to continue our research about learning and to undo our conditioning
when we were born, nobody taught us to do anything. We learned everything all by ourselves. People around us were models to copy but no school or scheduled lessons were necessary to develop rapidly and on the most efficient level. Our children know best how to learn. If we interfere too much, we will limit them and their potential
Here’s a summary of Peter Gray’s 7 sins of forced education
Sin #1: The Denial of Liberty Without Just Cause and Due Process
Gray's first critique zeroes in on the unjust denial of liberty without due process. He advocates for reinstating liberty by embracing play, emphasizing that play naturally aligns with personal desires and fosters democratic decision-making within the community.
Sin #2: Interference with the Development of Personal Responsibility and Self-Direction
Moving on, Gray tackles the issue of interfering with personal responsibility and self-direction, highlighting how compulsory schooling dampens innate curiosity by turning learning into a chore. This transformation not only robs learning of its intrinsic joy but also breeds anxiety and undermines self-directed growth.
Sin #3: Undermining of intrinsic motivation to learn (turning learning into work)
Gray's third critique delves into the undermining of intrinsic motivation, asserting that formal schooling saps children's natural playfulness and curiosity. By imposing a framework where learning is synonymous with work, schools erode the innate drive to explore and discover.
Sin #4: Judging students in ways that foster shame, hubris, cynicism, and cheating
The fourth critique targets the culture of judgment prevalent in grading systems, which often breeds shame and fosters a climate ripe for cheating. Gray argues that when worth is measured solely by external evaluations, cheating becomes an enticing shortcut in navigating a flawed educational landscape.
Sin #5: Interference with the development of cooperation and promotion of bullying
Segregation by age, coupled with competitive atmospheres, inhibits cooperation and inadvertently promotes bullying, Gray notes. Age-mixed play, absent in many formal schooling environments, nurtures empathy and social skills, contrasting sharply with the isolation and egoism often observed in age-segregated settings.
Sin #6: Inhibition of Critical Thinking
Gray's sixth critique centers on how curriculum and grading systems stifle critical thinking by prioritizing rote memorization over inquiry-based learning. By favoring "correct" answers dictated by authority figures, schools hinder students' ability to think independently and critically analyze information.
Sin #7: Reduction in diversity of skills and knowledge
Lastly, Gray highlights how standardized curricula limit the diversity of skills and knowledge by imposing uniformity on all students. In contrast, models like the Sudbury Valley School prioritize individual interests and self-directed learning, nurturing a rich tapestry of talents and experiences among students.
To conclude, I’d like to say that we don’t need schools. We must get away from the belief that we need anything they do or provide. Schools, as we know them, exist since the 19th century and have been established to raise obedient workers.
Before that, humans have learned and developed by living in communities of all ages, learning by doing, through internships, exploring freely and playing a lot. Some people have never stopped learning and raising their children this way. Unschooling is not a new invented thing that we should give a try. The word is only a few decades old but what it stands for, what it describes, is how humans live and learn best.
APTB offers the environment that has helped millions of people raise children the healthiest way possible, for centuries: By living and letting live. Learning happens along the way. The less we use school-like activities, the more people can learn.
