Apr 08 2008
What is Unschooling?
“So what is Unschooling?” you may ask.
I’m glad you asked! This gives me an opportunity to formulate my own working definition!
Unschooling is basically “the freedom to learn in one’s own way.” Unschoolers learn what they want, when they want, and how they want. More recently, unschooling has become a movement for those who homeschool their children. It is learning without a set curriculum, without “teaching”, and without “school” as we define it in our culture. Unschoolers are still “learners” - yet they are free to learn in their own way, deriving meaning and synthesis from life experience.
You will often hear phrases like:
“Learning happens constantly. School is optional”
“I dropped out of school so I could get a REAL education.”
Jenina Mella, the coordinator of The Unschooling Conference I attended in Madison, WI , sums up unschooling this way:
It’s about convergence, pulling together all the threads of life into a seamless fabric, living authentically and in community with others. It’s something that we have largely lost in our society which relies so heavily on competition and accumulation rather than interdependence and sharing…
In my own life, I am finding that those learning experiences that I self-direct, are the most meaningful, lasting, and memorable experiences. They come from within me, and manifest in ways unexpected. To me, unschooling is a kind of “walking out” of societal pressures - consumerism, credentialism, competitiveness, hierarchy, and institutional structures that no longer serve me, or serve humanity. It is an “un-learning” and a welcoming of newness, wholeness, and creativity.
When I make shampoo from scratch, I am unschooling myself from consumer structures. I am also learning a skill I can keep with me for life. When I experiment with vegan cooking, I am “unschooling” my relationship with food. And ultimately, when I rely wholeheartedly on my passions, creativity, and curiosity to guide my educational journey, whatever the subject, I am “unschooling.”
I am finding more and more that “unschooling my life” is an important step for me. It has opened doors and has shown me that I can gather all of the answers I need in life from MYSELF.
So… Stay tuned for more unschooling posts, and unschooling resources in the future.