Our webinar with Dr Naomi Fisher focuses on the concept of unschooling, an approach to self-directed education, which puts children in control of their learning.

What is self-directed learning?

Self-directed learning is learning that children do without the imposition of a curriculum by adults. Instead, children are allowed to follow their interests and choose not only what they wish to learn but how they wish to learn it. Proponents of unschooling argue that people have a natural drive to learn, and unschooling allows children to use that drive. Self-directed learning is already embedded in high quality early childhood centres, and also tends to be how adults learn, regardless of whether they are researching a book or trying to make a really amazing bowl of porridge.

Self-determination theory

Self-determination theory states that humans have three basic psychological needs:

• The capacity to be autonomous and make choices
• Opportunities in which to feel competent
• Supportive relationships

This theory supports self-directed education in the following ways:

Self-directed education relies on intrinsic motivation, allowing children to focus on and learn what interests them, when it interests them, supporting their autonomy. Because they are not forced to learn to a certain timetable and are not in competition with other students through structured tests, children can progress at their own pace, allowing a feeling of competence through a focus on what they have learned rather than what still eludes them. This makes self-directed education particularly wonderful for children who might not fit within the traditional school model by nurturing what is happening with that child at that time, rather than what is on the curriculum. Adults curate the environments in which children learn, meaning that close and supportive relationships are essential. Self-directed learning means that adults do not directly teach children, but it does not mean an absence of adults from the process.

Curated environments

Self-directed education requires an environment for children to thrive in and a set of circumstances that encourage intrinsic motivation. This means that adults need to provide opportunities for children that ignite their curiosity or allow them to follow their pre-existing interests. For example, if a child has an interest in art but a parent who is not particularly arty, there might be community art groups that could be joined, or an artistic adult who could share their passion with the child. Likewise, if a child wants to learn a language that their adults do not speak, there needs to be some external help.

Naomi argues that children will be naturally drawn to learn the skills that are essential in their environment. Just as parents don’t tend to worry about whether a child will want to learn to speak, Naomi suggests that they do not need to worry about whether a child will choose to do any of the many essential skills they see modelled around them. However, they do need to ensure that their children see essential skills being modelled.  

Self-directed learning can happen within a school environment, and there are schools which embrace this form of education. Naomi suggests that these could be set up in a variety of different ways. For example, there might be a variety of different rooms, such as a music room, an art room, and so on, that children can choose from and move freely between. Another example is for children to see an academic advisor in the morning to discuss the day’s options, and for the child to create their own plan of how they will use the resources available to them.

What is education for?

Unschooling rejects the traditional school approach to education which focuses on processing information and instead believes that learning should go hand in hand with child development and motivation. Rather than asking questions such as ‘what have they learnt at this age?’, or ‘do they know how to write?’, unschooling asks, ‘how do unschooled children feel about learning at this age?’ or ‘how do they feel about themselves as a learner?’ In other words, unschooling takes a more holistic view of what education is for, recognising that developmental play is a unique and important part of childhood.