What is Unschooling? 

At the time when John Holt coined the term unschooling, it simply meant 'not schooled', as in, educated elsewhere than at a school — or home schooled. However, I don't believe that homeschooling as it exists today was exactly what John Holt had in mind when he encouraged parents to teach their own children. John Holt had a vision for an education that was rather different to what existed in the schools he encountered, and he certainly did not intend that parents merely replicate the school system at home. Today, the term 'unschooling' has come to refer to a specific type of home education, i.e. education that is in the control of the one doing the learning. I think this term more accurately describes the kind of learning experience John Holt had in mind. In the UK, this educational approach is better known as autonomous education. Unschooling has also been described as child-centred learning, self-directed learning, delight-directed learning, and development-directed learning. All unschooling is based in a belief that learners are capable of directing their own learning experience.

Unschooling is the freedom to learn what you want to learn, when you want to learn it, how you want to learn it, where you want to learn it, and for your own reasons. Essentially, unschooling is self-education. This does not mean that resources, even clearly defined resources such as textbooks, courses, diplomas and degrees, will never be used. However, they are used at the discretion of the learner. Unschooling puts educational choice in the hands of the one doing the learning.

For example, I am interested in photography. I have a good camera, and I like to experiment with different techniques. I read books and talk to other photographers. Initially my learning curve is high. Eventually it begins to level out — I reach a point where I have learned what I can independently, or I want to continue learning at a faster pace than I can on my own, and I now feel the need for specific assistance from someone more experienced than me, or I find that I would like to work in this field, and need a qualification to gain credibility. So I find a tutor, or I do a photography course, and eventually maybe even gain a diploma or degree that will hopefully help me achieve these objectives. But the process of learning is driven by my choice and remains my responsibility.

Sadly, John Holt died of cancer at a relatively young age, but not before he had had a considerable impact on the educational community. I have grown to love and respect the heart of the man that comes through in the pages of his books. Like Charlotte Mason, he really really cared about children. As a young man he taught in a small school. He kept diaries of his classroom experiences and observations; these were edited and published as two books: How Children Learn, and How Children Fail. Because of what he saw in the children he was teaching, John began to question the current educational philosophy and methodology, and the questions he was asking and the conclusions he was drawing grew into more books.

He wrote ten books in all. They are:
 

• How Children Fail (1964; revised 1982): Sixty years ago John challenged common perceptions and beliefs about education with his uncompromising stance that learning was as natural as breathing and that children did not need to be ‘made’ to learn. He gave numerous examples from his teaching experience that caused him to conclude that traditional schooling did more harm than good to a child's ability and desire to learn. He said that children loved to learn but hated to be taught. He observed that much of the natural curiosity of a child was destroyed by formal education. He questioned the value of test results as an indication of real learning, and said that artificial rewards such as praise, star charts and other extrinsic rewards robbed children of the joy of discovering for its own sake.

 

• How Children Learn (1967; revised 1983): John’s second book is a companion to the first. It focuses on his interactions with young children and once again the central theme is that children learn most effectively when they have their own reasons for learning something instead of having it imposed on them.  

 

• The Underachieving School (1969)

 

• What Do I Do Monday? (1970)

 

• Freedom and Beyond (1972)

 

• Escape From Childhood (1974): This is possibly John’s most provocative book. It  focuses on his thoughts about the rights of children in society in general: "I propose...that the rights, privileges, duties of adult citizens be made available to any young person, of whatever age, who wants to make use of them."

 

• Instead of Education (1976)

 

• Never Too Late (1979): A book about overcoming perceived limitations to learning. John shares his experience of learning to play the cello as an adult.

 

• Teach Your Own (1981; revised 2003 by Pat Farenga)

 

• Learning All the Time (1989)

After his death, Susan Schaeffer put together a collection of Holt’s letters, which were published in a book called         A Life Worth Living (1990). Some of these books are out of print, so if you happen to come across one, buy it!

John Holt brought focus to the concept of education outside of the institution of school by naming it, writing and speaking about it, and by publishing the first magazine (Growing Without Schooling) that supported parents who were choosing to educate their children themselves. The debt we owe him is immeasurable. He inspired people to think about education in new, less confined ways. He shared valuable insights gained from his practical experience as an educator, and his thinking about education and childhood, in ways that encouraged home educating parents and that helped validate their choice. Over and over again his plea was that we treat children with the same respect we would give to an adult – that we respect their boundaries and their personhood and their abilities and their choices. His emphasis was always on trusting, understanding and honouring the innate capacities of all people, including children (and especially children), to learn and discover. Thus a curriculum would always be secondary to the learner’s interests, desires, motivation, and goals, not the other way around.

An important aspect of John's thinking was that all people (and that included children) could learn without being taught, and in fact, "unwanted teaching" could actually interfere with the individual’s natural learning process at a given time. Learning is personal, and is driven by the inherent desire ‘to know’ within each person, his curiosity, his need to feel competent and whole, and his need to have fun. Learning happens as one is actively engaged in one’s own life, and it can take on a life of its own, leading the learner into further discoveries and explorations. I have often started off in search of an answer to a question, which has then led me into an investigation of a subject, and then I ended up in a completely difference space and topic (rabbit trails), especially now that we have the easy access to information offered by the internet, something of which John only dreamed.

He summed it up perfectly when he said:

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"By nature people are learning animals.

Birds fly; fish swim; humans think and learn.

Therefore, we do not need to motivate children into learning by wheedling, bribing, or bullying.

We do not need to keep picking away at their minds to make sure they are learning.

What we need to do - and all we need to do -

is to give children as much help and guidance as they need and ask for,

listen respectfully when they feel like talking, and then get out of the way.

We can trust them to do the rest."