Articles ∙ Films ∙ Books ∙ Organizations
What is Self Directed Education?
A presentation of the elements that define Self Directed Education: “Education that derives from the self-chosen activities and life experiences of the learner.”
A Brief History of Education - Peter Grey, Ph.D.
Developmental psychologist and academic, Peter Gray, presents a historical perspective and context for schools and why they are what they are today.
A Thousand Rivers: What the modern world has forgotten about children and learning -Carol Black
American writer, filmmaker, and mother writes a poignant essay encouraging us to “explore the thousand other ways of learning that still exist all over the planet.” She states, “People today do not even know what children are actually like. They only know what children are like in schools. Collecting data on human learning based on children’s behavior in school is like collecting data on killer whales based on their behavior at Sea World.”
Ours First - Dr. Kelly Limes-Taylor Henderson
Dr. Limes-Taylor Henderson eloquently describes how self-directed education was the way of learning for marginalized groups long before the time of colonialism and is not only a new fad for white upper-middle class families.
Schooling the World: White Man's Last Burden - Carol Black
This film takes a challenging and deeply disturbing look at the effects of the spread of "schooling" historically across the world and on the world’s last sustainable indigenous cultures.
Raising Free People - Akilah Richards
Richards examines the ways that her relationships to blackness, decolonization, and healing work all combine to form relationships and enable community-healing strategies rooted in an unschooling practice.
A leading expert in childhood development makes the case for why self-directed learning -- "unschooling" -- is the best way to get kids to learn. Peter Gray argues that in order to foster children who will thrive in today’s constantly changing world, we must entrust them to steer their own learning and development. Drawing on evidence and research, he demonstrates that free play is the primary means by which children learn to control their lives, solve problems, get along with peers, and become emotionally resilient.
Radical Learning Talks is a bi-weekly podcast where Sari González and Becka Koritz explore different unschooling/deschooling/conscious parenting topics with the focus of shifting the way we think about education, learning, parenting, relationships, community and much more.
Fare of the Free Child is a weekly-published podcast community centering Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color in liberated living and learning practices. With a particular interest in unschooling and the Self-Directed Education movement, Akilah S. Richards and guests discuss the fears and the fares (costs) of raising free black and brown children in a world that tends to diminish, dehumanize, and disappear them.
Alliance for Self-Directed Education
This non-profit organization brings together self-directed education practitioners from around the world, and is "dedicated to normalized and legitimizing Self-Directed Education."
Peter Gray’s website on play, child development, and education. Academic articles and links to his talks.