From ‘Open Education’ blog It wasn’t that long ago I began my high school teaching career. Fairly early on, I worked with one teacher who epitomized the mindset of many secondary school colleagues. “My job is to present the material in an interesting and meaningful way,” he would say. “It […]
This excerpt is from John Taylor Gatto's new book, Weapons of Mass Instruction. He has given permission to re-print his Bartleby Project proposal on the internet un-cut and not for profit. The goal of the project is to strike at the heart of one of the central directives of the […]
Those who want more forced schooling ignore students’ opinions. School doesn’t work very well, so let’s make kids do more of it! That seems to be the policy enthusiastically supported by President Obama, by his education secretary Arne Duncan, by many teachers’ unions (as long as the teachers are well paid for […]
Why Mother Nature motivates our children to play in emotionally exciting ways. In play, children practice many skills that are crucial for healthy development. They practice physical and manual skills, intellectual skills, and social skills. I have written about all of this in previous posts. They also practice emotional skills. In play, […]
People often talk about how their preferred educational method (be that traditional schooling, homeschooling, or unschooling) teaches children "how to learn." With unschooling, children learn how to learn, I've heard more than once. I appreciate the sentiment, but it doesn't really sit right with me. Mostly because it seems to be […]
Most were very happy to have been unschooled, but a few were not. Why? by Peter Gray This is the last in a series of four posts concerning a survey, conducted recently by Gina Riley and me, of 75 adults (age 18 to 49, median age 24) who were “unschooled” […]
by Peter Gray When people opt out of K-12 schooling, what sorts of careers do they go on to? This is the third in a series of four posts describing the results of a survey of grown unschoolers that my colleague Gina Riley and I recently conducted. It is about […]
by Peter Gray Can people with no K-12 schooling go to college and do well there? If so, how? Can they go to college? If so, how do they get in and how do they adjust to it? Can they do the work? Can they follow the rigorous schedule? Such […]
Pass this on to people who meet our criteria as being "unschooled" adults. Published on March 12, 2013 by Peter Gray in Freedom to Learn A year and a half ago I initiated a survey of unschooling families in order to learn about their reasons for unschooling and what they perceived to be […]
Here’s one explanation of the education gap, and why it keeps increasing. Published on September 19, 2013 by Peter Gray in Freedom to Learn Suppose you are a student in a high school or college course and a magic fairy offers you the following choice: (1) You will learn the material in the course […]