Deschooling - What is it? Who should do it? How long does it take? How to do it?
Deschooling is, in my opinion, one of the most overlooked and least talked about steps of beginning the homeschooling lifestyle. And it is one of the most important. So, what IS deschooling?
Deschooling is the mindshift away from a set of beliefs including:
Deschooling is, in my opinion, one of the most overlooked and least talked about steps of beginning the homeschooling lifestyle. And it is one of the most important. So, what IS deschooling?
Deschooling is the mindshift away from a set of beliefs including:
learning only happens in the classroom;
only certified teachers can teach;
learning is the transfer of knowledge from one brain to another;
generally kids hate learning;
kids have to be forced and/or rewarded to learn;
and more.
All of this untrue. Learning is as natural as breathing. And we saw it happening naturally in our infants and preschoolers, before our kids became school age and our perception of learning changed. We celebrated as our infants imitated us, experimented with sounds and movements, and achieved their successes. We encouraged, supported, and facilitated their learning. That is the mindset we adults have to get back to through deschooling.
There is also deschooling for kids who have been schooled which is allowing them the freedom to reconnect with their joy of learning, their interests, and their own self-management.
Who needs deschooling?
Anybody and everybody who has attended school for their learning, who has been indoctrinated to the classroom model of how learning happens and is now looking for alternatives for themselves and/or their children.
In the classroom setting, we are indoctrinated to a system where learning happens one way - teachers lecture on topics they have decided are important. Students listen (maybe), take notes (maybe), and regurgitate the results on the test. It is a controlled environment which typically doesn't allow for individuality, personal interests, or even in-depth conversation about the topics that students do find interesting.
Anybody and everybody who has attended school for their learning, who has been indoctrinated to the classroom model of how learning happens and is now looking for alternatives for themselves and/or their children.
In the classroom setting, we are indoctrinated to a system where learning happens one way - teachers lecture on topics they have decided are important. Students listen (maybe), take notes (maybe), and regurgitate the results on the test. It is a controlled environment which typically doesn't allow for individuality, personal interests, or even in-depth conversation about the topics that students do find interesting.
When we are immersed in this environment for 13 years, it is no wonder that we believe this is the only way learning can happen. It is, for the most part, the only way we have ever experienced it, and during our most influenced years.
But we don't know what we don't know about learning. We've forgotten how much fun it is to OWN our learning, our research, our investigations, our experiments and the outcomes, even our time and how to spend it.
How long does deschooling take?
It can take a lifetime. It takes as long as it takes.
There is no checklist or specific timeline for deschooling. And even that mindset of checklists and timelines is one that comes from schooling. "I just need to learn this, this, and this, then I'm done." Deschooling is a learning process which peels like an onion. The more you learn about learning, then you're more open to learning more about learning.
How does deschooling happen?
This is a really good question.
For your kids, allow them freedom to explore, decompress, to discover and learn on their own without adult guidence and interference. This isn't to say their responsibilities in the home go away, just that the freedom they had as infants and preschoolers is reinstated.
There is no checklist or specific timeline for deschooling. And even that mindset of checklists and timelines is one that comes from schooling. "I just need to learn this, this, and this, then I'm done." Deschooling is a learning process which peels like an onion. The more you learn about learning, then you're more open to learning more about learning.
How does deschooling happen?
This is a really good question.
For your kids, allow them freedom to explore, decompress, to discover and learn on their own without adult guidence and interference. This isn't to say their responsibilities in the home go away, just that the freedom they had as infants and preschoolers is reinstated.
For us, the parents and other interested adults, I recommend reading books, watching films and youtube videoes, and visiting websites with more resources for deschooling and homeschooling.
Books I recommend are any and all by John Holt, Peter Gray, John Taylor Gatto, Robert Louv, and many others who write on the topics of homeschooling, learning, and the importance of play and time in nature.
Films on homeschooling that I know of are Unschooled, Self Taught, and Class Dismissed. Each of them looks at learning and/or homeschooling from a different angle - democratic school, adults who were homeschooled, and a family transitioning from school to learning from home.
Books I recommend are any and all by John Holt, Peter Gray, John Taylor Gatto, Robert Louv, and many others who write on the topics of homeschooling, learning, and the importance of play and time in nature.
Films on homeschooling that I know of are Unschooled, Self Taught, and Class Dismissed. Each of them looks at learning and/or homeschooling from a different angle - democratic school, adults who were homeschooled, and a family transitioning from school to learning from home.
Youtube is a rabbit warren of channels created by and for homeschoolers. The videoes I most often recommend to new homeschoolers are Sir Ken Robinson's TED talks, Sal Khan's TED talks, and Logan LaPlante's TED talk on hackschooling.
There you go, deschooling in a nutshell. Hopefully, I've answered some of the questions you had about deschooling. Please leave your thoughts and any other questions you have in the comments below.
Ann
Ann
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