Concept of Unschooling

For centuries humans have relied on being educated through institutions. Most have never cared to stop and think for a moment about their dependency on such institutions. Those who ponder about our current educational system and question their creditability have indeed discovered a better approach to teaching. That’s exactly what John Caldwell Holt did. He advocated the idea of unschooling.

Unschooling, or home schooling is a new age concept of teaching. A concept that is growing in acceptance and proving to be a better option than normal schooling. In this concept the student is basically the one in control of the whole process. The what, when, how and why are all decided by the student themselves. The parents, of the children unschooled, are the facilitators. They provide a wide range of material, instructions and support needed to carry out the tasks.

The term unschooling was originally coined by the author John Holt. He once said that ‘Since we can’t know what knowledge will be most needed in the future, it is senseless to try to teach it in advance. Instead, we should try to turn out people who love learning so much and learn so well that they will be able to learn whatever needs to be learned." This is the basic philosophy that the concept is based upon. It is believed that through unschooling we allow the expansion of a child’s interests and needs. Before schools were the medium of learning, children were still capable of learning and grasping things that in turn helped them develop into what is called adulthood. Thus it is not necessary to confine education through schools which constrict and discourage creativity. These compulsory schools give no real value to an individual future needs and interests. One of the major harm caused by schools is through tests and examinations. The fear of failure, punishment or disgrace is what keeps them working hard. Therefore, ultimately they always work and learn to avoid them. Unschooling on the other hand omits repetition while learning and avoids testing. It allows deeper exploration to achieve satisfaction. To quench a thirst to know more about what they love without fears.

Children waste a lot of time studying materials that aren’t really necessary. Allowing the freedom to learn helps a child/student to enter a world beyond that displayed at schools. Moreover, what is generally accepted as ‘quality’ education is nothing short of a blind belief. Educators have long fooled us by disregarding the fact that you don’t necessarily need a degree to teach a subject. A degree does not certify quality. The will and ability to learn and the joy those receive through learning is what quality actually is.

Teaching a child at home is not a joke. Time, skill and patience are a key factor to make it work. Whilst education is part of growing up, what of the peers that a child finds at school? Human interaction and communication is a necessity which is not ignored in unschooling. Children have their free time, to have fun and have unconstructive play which many parents don’t usually give importance to nowadays.

Of course unschoolers do have their share of problems. For that they have opened resources centers to allow a library of materials and to facilitate the support with the objective of freedom of choice. Though college admission is not mostly an issue some still require schooling from accredited institutes. Most colleges however consider unschoolers as assets due to their free thinking ability, self motivation and the desire to learn and to know what to learn.

Some major drawbacks and criticisms against unchooling do exist and must not be ignored. As some children are not self-motivated, cannot learn alone or lack the ability to enhance their knowledge, it is not a good option to unschool them. As most children go to school it may be difficult to find peers and make friends. The biggest obstacle is to create and environment by the parents. Creating the environment may also mean that parents will have to give them time.

Unschooling is a relatively new idea that has been quickly adopted by people who either can’t afford to pay in the ‘best’ schools or simply who believe that the best can be achieved outside traditional schools. A parent has to learn to recognize and respect the capability and capacity of their child and let them broaden their horizons. Parents should be more open minded towards education and learn about home schooling. More and more people are adapting and altering their views as they come to understand how unschooling can really be used to benefit their young ones. Without question, one can never learn.