top of page
Defining Terms
Christian:
There in Antioch the Lord’s followers were first called Christians...
​
~ Acts 11:26
​
Simply, a Christian is someone who follows Christ, someone who emulates His teachings to the best of their ability. The word Christian actually means ‘little Christ’. One would therefore expect a Christian to be very similar — and growing in similarity — in thought, word, and deed to the Person of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Bible.
​
Unschooling:
​
The term unschooling was originally coined by John Holt, and it simply meant 'not schooled', as in educated elsewhere than at a school. Today, the term has come to refer to a specific type of home education, i.e. education that is in the full control of the one doing the learning. It is characterised by freedom of choice and self-direction, and it becomes quite obvious that unschooling is not just an educational approach devised for children, but a definition of how interest-led learning happens for all people. In the UK unschooling is more commonly known as 'autonomous education'.
​
Unschooling means learning...
what one wants,
when one wants,
in the way one wants,
where one wants,
for one's own reasons.
~ Mary Griffith: The Unschooling Handbook
Unschooling is self-education. And self-education is simply the practice of freedom. Unschooling is learning that is freed from an artificial, externally controlled context to become again what it has in actual fact always been — a natural, spontaneous process; an integral part of the whole experience of being alive.
Christian Unschooling:
One would expect that although a Christian unschooling would be similar to anyone else unschooling, it would also be different. Unschooling practised within the parameters of a robust Christian faith would not be the same as unschooling happening without this specific moral context. In the same way, Christian unschooling might look very different to the control that is often assumed to be a Christian view of education and training.
Because I wanted to explore this particular educational approach within the context of my life and faith, it became clear to me that I would be challenged to explore the actual meaning of Christianity and unschooling as opposed to the accepted meaning of each. In this way, unschooling became a challenge to my Christianity, and vice versa. In short, there was no comfortable sitting back in this process – I was required to think, to read, to pray. Overall, I asked for - and depended upon - the guidance and protection of the Holy Spirit.
Subsequently I have seen that this type of intellectual and spiritual challenge is common in unschooling. When one casts off accepted norms and customs, and begins to ask questions about those norms, it becomes an inevitable opportunity for growth or retreat; to go the way of faith and trust, or the way of fear and mistrust. Either way, a choice is made, and one's direction is determined by that choice.
bottom of page