From the Author: I’m
not sure when I discovered Self-Directed Education, but I do know that it has
formed the foundation of my views on education and child development. I find it
to be a continuum of many of the respectful parenting/child-care approaches I
have been trying to use. I would love for you to read this, my first blog, and
learn a little about Self Directed Education, and if this speaks to you, spread
the word to others!
“Play is how children learn to take control of their lives” (Gray P. , p. 157). It has become common knowledge that play is significant to healthy child development. Many modern studies and research are confirming that play is an important part of education as well.
In “How Does Learning Happen: Ontario’s Pedagogy for the
Early Years” from the Ontario Ministry of Education, the authors state that
“[e]vidence from diversse fields of study tells us that… [c]hildren succeed in
programs that focus on active learning through exploration, play, and inquiry.
Children thrive in programs where they and their families are valued as active participants
and contributors” (Ontario
Ministry of Education, p. 4). In “The Kindergarden Program 2016”,
the authors discovered through extensive research that “…play-based learning
emerges as a focal point, with proven benefits for learning amoung children of
all ages, and indeed amoung adolescent and adult-learners” (Ontario Ministry of
Education, p. 10).
These two early year frame work documents both align with the
foundational points of Self Directed Education. It values that the child is
whole and capable, and able to direct their own education, through playing,
exploring, inquiring and building positive relationships with both other children
and adults. Peter Gray, who is a psychologist from Boston College, has done an
extensive amount of research on democratic schools that support this model. He
has found that “[e]very time we reduce children’s opportunities for free play
by increasing their time at school or other adult-directed activities, we
further reduce their opportunities to learn to control their own lives, to
learn that they are not simply victims of circumstances and powerful others” (Gray
P. , p. 18).
Many parents and educators new to this model may have concerns:
how will children learn all that they need to learn? There are schools that
have been functioning for many years with documented success. One is the Sudbury
Valley School (SVS) in Massachusets, which has been running since 1968. This school
ranges in age from 4-18 years old and
the “school’s educational philosophy centers on the idea that, in an
environment with ample opportunities, children will educate themselves through their
own self-directed play and exploration” (Gray & Fieldman, p. 109). Gray’s research has
shown that even reading can be attained, without forml education. He states
that “[a]s long as kids grow up in a literate society, surrounded by people who
read, they will learn to read. They may ask questions along the way and get a
few pointers from others who already know how to read, but they will take the
initiative in all these and orchestrate the entire process themselves” (Gray P. , Children Teach Themselves to Read,
2010).
Through the years, studies have been done to follow the success of Sudbury
Valley School students, and overall they “have been highly successful in higher
education and careers, and most of them atribute much of their success to
lessons learned at SVS- lessons about their own interests, abilities and
responsibilities” (Gray & Fieldman, p. 110).
Organizations are forming to raise awareness and understanding of what
SDE is, and try to provide research and education to parents and the community.
The Alliance for Self-Directed Education is a nonprofit organization who’s
“vision, is a world in which Self-Directed Education is embraced as a cultural
norm and is available to all children, everywhere, regardless of their famiy’s
status, race or income” (The Alliance for Self-Directed Education ,
n.d.).
They are membership based, and have a lot of resources and information. They
also give you access to other organizations and experts that are also
supporting the awareness of SDE. Individual citizens, as well as organizations,
such as We Learn Naturally, are able to team up and spread awareness.
In conclusion, I believe Self Directed Education to be
complementary to the natural style in which children learn. If you’re
interested in learning more, I would recommend becoming familiar with the
Alliance for Self Directed Education. I would also recommend becoming part of
communities that support SDE, such as We Learn Naturally. They have programs
that provide this type of learning environment for children of all ages. As
well, I recommend you share your feelings and views with others- the more
people become aware of the research and experiences, the more common SDE will
be.
References
Gray, P. (2010, February 24). Children
Teach Themselves to Read. Retrieved from Psychology Today:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201002/children-teach-themselves-read
Gray, P. (2013). Free to Learn. New
York: Basic Books.
Gray, P., & Fieldman, J. (2004).
Playing in the Proximal Zone of Development. American Journal of Education,
108-145.
Ontario Ministry of Education. (2014). How
Does Learning Happen? Ontario's Pedagogy for the Early Years. Toronto.
Ontario Ministry of Education. (2016). The
Kindergarden Program.
The Alliance for Self-Directed Education . (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.self-directed.org/
I've never had a blog before starting We Learn Naturally, so I'm learning as I go how they work. While looking for a past blog post, I noticed that my blog post Labels had over 500 hits! Woah. When did that happen? How did that happen? So I decided to reread the post to see why it might have been so popular.
When I read Labels again, I had fresh eyes. In the post, I gave an example of a mother's push back to break free of an ADHD label on her child. I recognize that not all mothers have that privilege. In fact, children are often born into multiple societal labels related to age, race, gender, sexual preference, religion, culture, and social class...and these labels are exceedingly difficult to push back on. The word intersectionality comes to mind.
Hearing about the six year old girl from Mississauga, who is black, in a single parent home, with a mother who has cancer, (notice the number of labels this young girl falls under) who was restrained in handcuffs...sadly this doesn't shock me. While I hope that restraining a child in handcuffs does not ever happen in Ontario, I know that it is happening in the US, where the 'school to prison pipeline' is more pronounced. (Just writing that phrase "school to prison pipeline" sends shivers through my body, so if you shiver reading that, I'm with you.) It may be illegal to spank or use corporal punishment in school, but it is not illegal to threaten, scare, punish, shame, or demean a little person who has is consistently "out of line" with school authority. Even if it is not happening to your kid, this style of discipline is probably happening to other kids at your child's school. This is the school environment for many public schools in Ontario and it happens most often where the populations are vulnerable and kids carry multiple labels. We know through studies involving spanking or other forms of corporal punishment that there is an escalation of violence or an escalation of force when using negative reinforcement. Well, the same is true if force or violence is used in a school setting. Now, I realize I have a broader view of what violence entails than your regular Facebook moms' group (thanks to nonviolent communication), but basically schools are using reinforcement tactics that are violent with our most vulnerable young people. (Violence meaning basically anything that brings about harm or pain.)
Since starting Learning in the Woods, I have been humbled by the number of emails we receive from, usually moms, who have stories that are on the same vein as the Mississauga 6 year old. Perhaps their child was not restrained by handcuffs or has fewer labels, but they are certainly desperate for an educational alternative for their child. Moms who are in the difficult position of trying to explain to their child that they are not the problem, or that adults like teachers, principals, and police should be trusted, or that schools should be safe. What an impossible task, right? How do you undo those messages of violence and power? How does a mom with a job and her own set of labels and pain take on that entire system? (Answer: She doesn't, at least she can't do that alone which is why we need to support this Mississauga mother by writing to the superintendent or saying no to shame and violence at your child's public school. Or if you are a mom fighting it alone, maybe you conserve your energy and direct it towards figuring out how to get your child out of that specific violent environment.)
When I receive these calls, emails, or PM's, it's sometimes hard to know how to offer support. Not only, is the mainstream school system not serving their child, it is damaging them. As parents grapple with how best to navigate among just a few alternatives to main stream education (which will be one alternative stronger with the opening of The Barn School!) I can't help but notice that the kid has a better shot at breaking free of the labels and systemic violence if their parents also break free. The truth is, that without parents acting as strong advocates, it's really hard for a child to endure that alone without some sort of repercussion.
Here is a Self-Directed Education (SDE) advocate and mom Akilah Richards sharing her reasons behind choosing SDE. She is a writer and poet, so her words will inspire you to "raise your child as a free person" with a "right to design their own path" (paraphrased) better than I ever could.
As awful as this experience has been for this family, I can see that it brings about an opportunity for conversation and the possibility to create some real change in our public education system. I find that inspiring! I want to be part of that! But this real life story also reminds me why I chose to get out of the public system and start something new. I need real alternatives to be available now. I have a need for security and healing for those around me. I can use my privilege to bring an alternative forward for those who cannot wait or do not have the patience to work through systemic change. I see the work of We Learn Naturally as being part of a larger change that we are probably all motivated to see happen. This is just my route and I look forward to seeing where it leads me.
Ever since our guest lecturer, Peter Gray, a lot of people
have been interested in Learning in the Woods, The Barn School, Little Seeds,
and the Burlington-Hamilton Unschoolers.
With all these names, it gets a little confusing so I thought I would
try to explain how all of these groups are related.
It’s hard to know how far back to start this story! I’m also really bad at narrowing down a
story. I’m one of those people who
thinks “But all the details are important!”. Here it goes. The beginning is the most confusing I think.
Children provide us with an opportunity to change us as people. They challenge us to think critically about old
ways of doing things and give us a chance to reinvent ourselves. That is what parenthood did for me
anyway. Can you relate to that? Did parenthood change your perspective forever also? After my first child was born, I was reading a lot of Attachment Parenting, RIE, and peaceful parenting blogs and books. Facebook was just blowing up and more accessible to me with smart phones becoming more affordable so I was posting a lot
on my personal Facebook page about my "radical" parenting ideas. I thought everyone I knew would be as inspired
as I was but my friends and family didn’t necessarily share my newfound
passion. :/ I noticed my posts were
distancing people and that was never my intention, so I created a separate Facebook
page to explore my parenting ideas and I called that page Curious Mom E.
After my maternity leave, I was back at work as a public
school kindergarten teacher, applying my positive parenting techniques and
loving the results. I had a principal
who placed a lot of trust in me to try new things and as I did, the kids in my
class were flourishing. I felt empowered
to explore things further. I started to
really challenge myself to understand the ideal learning environment for all
kids. I thought of some of my favourite students
and how their diagnoses of ADHD and autism really didn’t fit with the public
system’s style of learning. Other students
were really arts-centered or into building with their hands and I saw that their
passions were never valued equally as math and language or science. Watching those kids lose self-esteem because their
skill sets were not in line with what our public schools valued, marked, and
tested made my heart break. A person’s
worth should not be determined by how well they fit into the narrow definition
of what the system deems valuable…can you relate to that?
By now, “Curious Mom E” was filling up with a lot of posts
related to parenting and my educational philosophy involving self-directed
education and nature play. Thinking of my
own child entering school, I looked around for alternatives and was
disheartened by the lack of options in our area. Somehow I convinced my husband that we should
sell our lovely house so that we could finance our own private school. Within 6 months we had bought the land in
hopes that we could build The Barn School.
I started a Facebook Page by that name and started to hone my vision for
that by posting my educational philosophy posts there.
Around that same time, I met Meaghan and told her I was
starting a private school. She
introduced me to the homeschooler community and I was excited to learn that
that alternative was thriving. The moms
I met were intelligent, fun, and interesting to talk to. Looking for a little extra income to justify
staying home with my kids to homeschool while I worked on Barn School, I
created a hom
e daycare for homeschooler moms who needed an occasional break. I didn’t have a website but I got a Facebook
page and called that “Little Seeds”. I
started to post articles about child-lead learning, free play, and nature play
on Little Seeds. After 4 months and very
little interest in the style of home daycare I was offering, I put that idea to
rest.
I really wanted to offer my son some multi-age child-lead experiences
and was hoping the home daycare would be the ticket but most homeschoolers and
moms with young babies actually like to be home with their kids (imagine
that!) So it dawned on me that if I wanted
to give my son those experiences, the moms and dads should be there too. During a snowy winter playdate with Meaghan,
we hammered out the philosophy behind Little Seeds as it is known today. An outdoor nature-based playgroup for kids of
all ages where the kids could have a chance to explore on their own terms.
Instead of creating a new Facebook page, I decided it made
more sense to use my fairly inactive Little Seeds page since it was full of
relevant content and just a handful of moms who were in the group. We started to post events and shared the page
on Facebook wherever it made sense. I posted
on Attachment Parenting Moms Hamilton, Meaghan shared it on some of her homeschooler
group pages. Our first events were in
the winter, a tough season to encourage people to get outside for several hours
at a time. Meaghan, Ellen, Trish and I began
to meet once or twice a week in the woods, in the snow. We were pretty formal back then, trying to
establish a culture I suppose. We had a
meeting to start and finish, which the kids hated. But they loved the child lead play in the
woods.
By spring, we had several families checking us out, though
not on a regular basis. Well except for Tanya, who is our Learning in the Woods Director today! We knew from
doing it for several months that there was value in coming regularly and
frequently so that the kids could establish and maintain friendships. We also started to see that the forest became
“another friend”. Returning to the same location every week helped to build
that friendship with a natural space. We
started to think about how to offer that on a more regular basis, and Learning
in the Woods was born. (See blog post
The
Birth of Learning in the Woods, link to be added at a later date.)
In the spring, as more families came to check us out, we had
some learning leaps. We realized this
style of play is not for every adult (though I would argue it is for every kid). Some parents feel really uncomfortable
letting kids play with sticks or climb rocks and trees. Other parents wanted to direct the children more
in terms of social skills such as forcing “sharing” or pressuring everyone to
play together. Also around that time
there was a death at a local Hamilton hiking trail due to a fallen tree and
that spurred a conversation about liability.
We talked to a lawyer who guided us to stick with our values of
democracy and equality and we decided that everyone would be a page manager and
share in the responsibility of planning and offering events.
Little Seeds has been running for two years and now that I
am on maternity leave with my third baby, I find myself tapping into that Little
Seeds community once again. It’s nice to
be able to create an event that works for your schedule and driving radius and
hang out with other like-minded families.
We now have a sharing day on Mondays where members can share their home
business or related events and support each other in that way. I think it is still maybe a bit intimidating
for new families to come out to events but Heather Boyd, one of our original
members, moved to Niagara-on-the-lake and created a Little Seeds Niagara group
there. In a short period of time, she
gained a lot of local interest.
I think what I like best about Little Seeds is that no one
is in charge. It was really just about
people coming together to give their kids some time in a natural setting (as
opposed to a playground) to play without too many rules or adult interference. It’s reassuring to see there is a community
of people out there who value that.
In my next blog, I’ll share how Learning in the Woods came
to be.
Parenting has been such a transformative experience for me. My kids are constantly teaching me what it
means to be human.
One of the nicest things about being a family with three kids is
watching my older two children interact with the baby. Every time the baby cries out a need, the older two kids come running. Not necessarily
because they are able to do anything to help but because they recognize her
helpless cry and want to watch as her needs are addressed. “Mumma!
The baby is crying!” they shout. They sit
with her as tears roll down her cheeks and insist that I run to the baby with a sense
of urgency. When the baby smiles or coos
or gazes deeply into their eyes, my older two children melt with love. Their baby is safe and happy, so they feel
safe and happy too. I’ve been watching
these interactions since the baby's birth and my heart swells every time.
Watching my children as we care for our newest family
member, it dawned on me, every time I respond lovingly to the baby’s cries, it
reaffirms my willingness to love and care for the older two. It reaffirms that our family is a loving and
safe place where needs are responded to. When our baby is scared to be surrounded by adults she
doesn’t recognize, or give her extra-long nursing naps when she has a stuffy nose, my older two are reminded of the love I have provided and continue to
offer them. Since the arrival of this baby, my kids have experienced the purest form of empathy. They
can relate so much to what the baby is going through that my responses to the baby also
serve to soothe them. They know
how it feels to be scared, then reassured with a loving embrace or the experience of a physical discomfort followed by a response of understanding and
tenderness. By caring for the baby, we reinforce our family’s willingness to care for all our family’s members. There isn't a hierarchy of needs, all of our needs are valued and respected.
This past week has been a challenging one for me to see unfolding on social media and on the news. Some of the events have left me at a loss for words, feeling
scared, confused, and heartbroken. As a Canadian, the murders of 6 Muslim men in Quebec by a white man with a history of hateful racist online comments has me feeling especially sad. And yet, as I care for my baby and watch my older
two children empathize along with her, I cannot help but think, therein
lies the answer for society too. To
soothe our societal fears and heartbreak, we can lovingly, respectfully, work
to understand and meet the needs of the most vulnerable. Who among us is in pain? In small but sincere ways we can stand with our
community’s most vulnerable and, in responding to their requests for love and safety,
we can meet our own needs for safety and love too.
My children have taught me that we all feel
more secure when we see the most vulnerable among us are well cared for. It's one of the underlying principles at Learning in the Woods and our future Barn School. By honoring the needs of the most vulnerable around us, we show that all needs are respected.
I am learning so much from my kids. I am so thankful for this timely lesson.
My kids have been erupting into physical fights a lot this past week and I just can’t stand it. This is a picture of the cause of most of their fights this week. That's right, it's a pinwheel, bought at a big box store for $1.99. Pinwheels are awesome and I have two kids who love pinwheels. So why did I only buy one of them?!? I'm not sure but I asked that question aloud so often this week that my kids would sometimes stop fighting and say, "ya mumma, why did you buy us only one?!" For my own sanity, I should have bought none at all or two of them. I blame this "mistake" on my attempts at minimalism mixed with my sometimes idealistic approach to parenting; "By buying one, my kids will have the opportunity to play together and perhaps work on their negotiation skills". Ha. Not this week.
A Facebook
friend, Sarah Rosensweet, is a Toronto-based
parenting coach and she regularly does workshops on this sort of thing. The other day she asked her FB friends “What is your
biggest parenting challenge?” I responded flatly with “sibling fighting”. Sarah (with an emphasis on "sweet" in her lsat name Rosensweet) said “That’s so hard!” and provided a link to her blog post on
sibling rivalry (found here).
Sarah’s tips were things I do and promote; empathize with your children’s feelings, stay neutral and help them if they need it, connect with your children as a preventative measure, and help your children connect with each other. Recognizing that I already “know” this, I needed to reframe. My Nonviolent Communication (NVC) reading prompted me to view the fighting as an expression of unmet needs… Sometimes they just don’t know how to navigate a situation and need my help finding the words to negotiate with each other. And my kids have been amazing with the arrival of the baby but I cannot fill their buckets the same way that I could when there were only two kids. OK. I could see that I am not able to meet their needs as easily as I used to and their fighting is an expression of their unmet needs…but why was it bothering *ME* so much?
I reread Sarah’s response. It was such a simple expression of empathy - “That’s so hard!” I lingered there, realizing I needed more of that. I started to realize that even if I recognize their need for love or support, I am not always able to meet it and that is hard for me! Their fighting reminds me of my challenges as a mom to three young children and of my own unmet needs. In fact, when they are fighting, I actually add to the problem by yelling my need into the mix; “Stop fighting! I can’t stand all this fighting!” And then I try to use my parental power to dominate the situation to stop the fighting. Oh goodness. That's not what I want. I need some empathy and I want to stop the cycle of fighting, power, and domination.
If I were a little more NVC in that moment I would say “When I hear you fighting I feel frustrated that I cannot meet your needs!” or “When I hear you fighting I feel overwhelmed because I need a break and there is no one here to give me a break right now.” Or “When I hear you arguing, I feel irritated because I need quiet to put the baby to sleep. I can help you better if she is asleep.” I kept going; identifying my needs and sometimes making the requests I wish I had thought of in the moment. I started to soften.
The shift in my mind was unexpected. With enough self empathy, I wasn't triggered to throw my needs into the ring when both kids were loudly, violently expressing theirs. I could see my children’s fighting as simply an expression of their needs. I wasn't pulled into it on that level anymore. Once again, I found myself saying things like “I hear your need for ____. I will help you ____ (now, as soon as the baby is asleep, after I finish peeing, tonight when Daddy gets home, etc.) Just identifying their needs aloud made them feel heard, and even if they were not resolved in the moment, that verbalizing on my part drastically cut down on their fighting, which triggered me less and we began to move out of the fighting/yelling/domination cycle.
But how did our loving, peaceful parenting, bed sharing family get there? Well, although our new baby is wonderful and we love her completely, it has been a huge adjustment for everyone, especially me. She's a new little being with her own set of needs, thrown into the mix of a regular random expression of needs from my two other little beings who count on me to help them navigate, understand, and sometimes meet their needs. Another part of the challenge for me is that the fighting simply exists. I reread Sarah’s first line of her blog post; “Sibling rivalry is so hard for us as parents- even though it’s perfectly common and normal.” Hmmm…sibling rivalry is common and normal. I want peace in my home and peace in my world, but when I am struggling with my own needs, I become reactionary and revert to old habits (of yelling, commanding, domination). My “Stop fighting!” reaction was only reinforcing the very thing I was trying to move past. I bet this yelling under stress is a common reaction to people like me who are new to positive parenting and I can see why my kids are doing it. Dr. Riane Eisler's work has been on my mind lately. All of us are saturated in a culture that teaches us to use power and domination to meet our needs. Without love and empathy, we fall into that old domination script when our needs are unmet.
But we don’t have to. I thought about Sarah’s words to me “It is so hard!” Just a little bit of empathy from Sarah was all I needed to bring me out of that cycle. Marshall Rosenburg would say that’s what every parent needs, every child needs, every one of us needs to move towards more peace. More soft places where we don’t have to fight to get our needs met. It is so hard and yet it’s also so simple. And freeing. Parenting is our children's first environment, their first exposure to culture. If I want a more peaceful world, it's important for me to start with myself.
So, lesson to self: Identify my own needs and empathize with myself so I am able to help others. This is how I spread peace in the world. Got it. Again. At least until next time my needs are high and I forget. Oh and always buy enough pinwheels. ;)
I was all set to devote my blog writing time to the next
segment in my quest to compare SDE, Public Education, Montessori, and Waldorf styles of
learning when I got side-tracked by the US election. I suddenly had a lot to process*. I just needed to hold still for a moment. Then I needed new hope, new inspiration. Enter Sunbeam. This past summer, my son’s dear friend who is
in public school, was enrolled in a half day arts summer camp entitled Heroes
and Villains. My son is not into programs with a lot of structure but he loves his friend and in an
effort to spend more time with him, he decided to take part. He spent four days working on this creation. When he finished the art camp, he didn’t want anyone to gush
over his art as he detests insincerity and he had no interest in talking about it. So
we hung his art in his bedroom and didn’t talk about it.
Wednesday night, as I helped him get ready for bed, I asked
him “Can you tell me a little bit about Sunbeam? Is Sunbeam a superhero or a villain?”
“Sure. She’s a
hero.”
I was surprised. I
thought Sunbeam was a boy because so many Superheroes are males and since a
little boy created him, I just assumed that he would create a male
character. “She’s a girl? And a Superhero?”
“Yes! Can’t you see
the long green hair? And the cape?” He was annoyed that I didn’t see this.
“I guess I saw the frown and just assumed Sunbeam was an
angry villain.”
“Yes, she is frowning.
Superheroes frown too you know.
When she is happy, sunbeams come out of her eyes and her light shines
everywhere and everyone feels warm inside.
When she is angry, the sunbeams are like electric shocks and she shocks
the bad guys. When she is sad, it is
truly sad, because the sunbeams that come from her eyes are like she is losing
energy, the sunbeams are like her blood.
She is frowning because she is the only superhero and there are A LOT of
bad guys that she has to fight. And she
could really use a vacation.”
Wow. He put a lot of
thought into that. What an interesting
superhero! Suddenly I felt inspired
again and here is why. Invited Conversations is one of my favorite
blog posts not because I feel proud of the writing but because I believe so
strongly in the message. It’s about how
important it is to surround yourself with people that inspire you, not just for
your own growth and development but for your children too. When your kids are nearby, they soak up everything
you bring in their space. Learning about
Sunbeam helped me realize that over the past two years, my son has played at
Little Seeds, Learning in the Woods, and Barn School meetings with inspiring
women talking nearby. He has played in the sun
as we shared our joys and struggles as mothers who are trying to do something
different. So of course Sunbeam is a
woman. Of course she is a
superhero. Of course she has a full
range of emotions with the power to light up the room, shock the “bad guys”,
and feel drained in her sadness. Isn't that the description of all great mothers everywhere?
Thursday morning I woke up thinking of Sunbeam again. I asked my son if I could have the painting
when he was done with it. He smiled and
said yes, recognizing that I truly appreciated his art. My heart swelled with love. All superheroes have moments when they feel like the job is bigger than they are but they keep going because that is their job. I was inspired again and if you are feeling lost or overwhelmed, I hope you find your
inspiration too because, my fellow Sunbeams, the world needs us more than ever
to shine our light and shock the bad guys.
And apparently there are a lot of bad guys and no time for a vacation!
*If you are in a place where you are processing a lot of
emotions and finding it difficult to move forward, I would recommend this read
by Yoga guru and Blissology creator Eion Finn.
It’s in line with what we are trying to do at We Learn Naturally; create
a space where emotions are processed and expressed in their entirety without
judgement or pressure to move past them in an effort to make other people more
comfortable. http://www.blissology.com/blog/light-soon-but-first-tears/
In this series of blogs, I’ll tackle how each of these
facets of SDE compare to the Ontario Public Education System (which is similar
to most other state-run educational systems), Montessori Philosophy and Waldorf
Philosophy.
Self-Directed
Education (SDE): The learner has unlimited
freedom to play, explore, and pursue own interests.
For SDE to work effectively, children need ample time to
discover the world and their interests within it. Although every SDE school is different, most
offer large chunks of time for kids to explore, create, play, and think. Most SDE schools aim to provide three hour
chunks for their learners to pursue their interests. Without a schedule to follow and the absence of pressure to perform, their motivation to take on a challenge is internal. Free time affords them the ability to think things
through to completion, reach greater depth in their understanding of concepts
or make-believe games, experiment and make mistakes, and, most importantly, feel the frustration of
a self-imposed challenge and the exhilaration of learning, creating, or
achieving. With this time and freedom, they can potentially achieve “flow”.
SDE looks to provide time to struggle with a concept,
achieve the high of performing, and down time to reflect and regroup for the
next round. This is the essence of
self-directed learning. It is intrinsically
motivated but it certainly isn't easy.
Perhaps this is why SDE’s place a high value on the ability of their facilitators
to help kids process their feelings. We
know they are challenging themselves to do difficult things and it feels uncomfortable. Non-judging, supportive adults can help kids reflect
and find ways to work through the struggle if they need it. (See the comparison post on community and
culture, link to be added at a later date.)
At the Barn School, we intend to start each day with a small
community check-in. That way the group
has a chance to connect, plan their activities, offer each other support or
join in something that sounds interesting, and facilitators can see what kids
want their support. Announcements are
made about the group activities offered that day and kids have a choice whether
or not they partake in what is being offered. Then everyone disbands to do their
thing. Snacks and meals are eaten as
kids get hungry. Outdoor time is anytime
as long as there is an adult outside to supervise. At the end of the day, kids check in with
their small groups to reflect on their day and the learning that took
place. Finally, everyone joins together
as a large group to share, reflect, let go, or express gratitude.
Ontario Public School: A system with schedules and structure
As I mentioned in my first blog, the schoolboard, school,
and teacher all play a role in deciding what the class schedule for learning
will be. The Ministry of Education is
trying to educate a vast number of children in the most efficient way possible. Curriculum is designed to compartmentalize
learning so that it can be delivered by the most qualified teachers to the
greatest number of kids. It is a system
and divided
and structured as such.
The mission statement of the Ontario Ministry of Education states
very clearly; “Learners in the
province's education system will develop the knowledge, skills and characteristics
that will lead them to become personally successful, economically productive
and actively engaged citizens.” It is a system of educating and the
focus is on efficiency with an end product that serves the individual, the economy
and the state. The system, in an effort
to be more efficient and effective in its delivery, has some funny quirks such
as class size caps that may result in a split grade with only 4 kids at one
grade level or a homeroom teacher role that is split between two teachers. Some
decisions are purely economic; small elementary community schools of 200 or
less children are shut down in favour of mega-schools that can accommodate 1500
students. (This is related to my
comparison blog post on community, link to be added at a later date). Although there are some exceptions, specialty
programs are in place because of either consistent parent demand or because they
have the ultimate goal of reintegrating students into the mainstream classroom.
The specifics of how schools run depend on the philosophy of
the superintendent at the school board, the principal, and the teacher. Generally children start the day by listening
to school announcements and some sort of routine activity. The time is scheduled according to subject
with 50 minute periods for most subjects or a double period for math or
literacy. The time spent actually
learning is less than 50 minutes considering classroom management (teacher
addressing needs of kids) and transition times (5 minutes to enter and settle,
5 minutes to tidy and gather materials for the next subject). 30-40 minutes of interrupted teaching and
learning time is probably the ideal for a teacher in a given period. Eating time is scheduled, exercise time in
scheduled, free time is scheduled, even toileting is scheduled to happen during
nutrition and movement breaks to have fewer infringements on learning time. (I infer that the province sees the other
activities as being less valuable learning opportunities.)
All this scheduling might sound a little stiff, but thank
goodness for kind and creative teachers who make the system feel more
human. Teachers in the Public system
often look for ways to make learning as student centered as possible, such as
giving kids choices within a particular unit but the choices are quite limited
by the constraints of the curriculum and keeping the learners somewhat aligned
and uniform so they can be accurately compared and assessed to other students. So for example, a teacher may allow during the
last half hour of a subject period, students can choose which game they play
from a pre-selected set of activities.
The exception to this is the play-based learning program for
4 and 5 year olds. This age group is
given chunks of time to play interspersed with scheduled eating and outdoor
play time and small and large group instruction. Every day, most kids ages 4-5years will have
1-2 50 minute chunks of time to play, often more than that depending on the
teacher’s comfort level with play-based learning. This Kindergarten program is not mandatory,
meaning that parents can choose not to send their children to school until
Grade 1, without having to inform the school board of their choice to do
so. (By grade 1, parents need to enroll
their child in some sort of school or inform the school board of their
intention to homeschool.)
As you can imagine, with this kind of scheduling and class
sizes, teaching a diverse group can be a challenge. Differentiated instruction and learning
through self-discovery is encouraged (and more meaningful to the learner!) but
much of the instruction is still direct instruction. The teacher teaches and the children are
meant to absorb the material, then the kids show what they have learned by
applying the concept individually or in small groups. This evidence of learning is used for teacher
feedback and evaluations. It’s a system
of inputs and outputs, accountability, efficiency, and economies of scale. The teacher is leading the learning and,
given the constraints, teacher directed learning often makes the most sense in
terms of efficiency and economies of scale.
Choice and individuation take time and cost more money.
Montessori: Freedom to choose from pre-selected,
independent learning activities
In a Montessori classroom, learners arrive and immediately
begin their learning activities. There
is no group check in or teacher check in other than a polite hello conversation. The intention is that children arrive ready
to learn and they should not be held back from the tasks they are excited to
begin. So for example, a child may
arrive at school and feel excited to do a math activity. The philosophy is that they should be able to
pursue that interest while they are feeling passionate and excited for the
challenge, not forced to be take part in a group activity that may dilute their
enthusiasm.
There are large blocks for work, usually 3 hours in length. The activities are considered work, not play,
as the children
are not playing or using the materials in ways other than what they have been
shown by the Montessori directress. The
directress slowly and deliberately shows the child each new activity from the
materials prepared by the directress in advance. Children are welcome to repeat activities as
often as they wish since repetition helps to solidify the skills. Once the directress has seen the child complete
the activity perfectly, she will invite the child to observe her complete a slightly more challenging version of the activity. Children do their work independently usually but may invite a
friend to share in a specific task.
Children do not play together as they would in a play-based public school
Kindergarten program for example. Older children
do engage in group lessons and work as introduced by the directress.
Although not all Montessori Schools
in Ontario are official Montessori Schools, meaning they can use the name
without necessarily being affiliated with a Montessori governing body, official
Montessori schools ensure the student has a range of activity choices from
within a prescribed range of options, three hours of uninterrupted work time and
freedom to move within the classroom (all the materials are at the appropriate
height and grasp for the age group of the children). So there is freedom of choice, for large
chunks of time, but the choices are from a defined set.
Waldorf: Structured within natural rhythms and cycles
A day at a Waldorf school is highly structured but it’s based
on rhythms and cycles rather than an outside structure that must be strictly
adhered to like in a public school.
Children spend time outdoors together, eat together, and learn together
in their age co-hort.
Until age 7, kids are given large blocks of time to play
freely with approved Waldorf toys and books that are reflective of Steiner’s philosophy
but also the era in which his educational philosophy emerged. Children play with objects and toys that are made
of natural materials without a culturally prescribed meaning so children can
apply their own story lines and imagination to the toys. In the Waldorf philosophy, activities and
toys reflect tasks and items used most often in the home. Although children are encouraged to play
freely with the toys and use their imaginations, the toys and books in
classrooms are approved Waldorf materials, much like Montessori approves
materials in sanctioned Montessori classrooms.
(See my blog post on comparisons of using tools of the culture in learning,
link to be added at later date.) Changes
in activities are signaled by the teacher singing a song or playing a song. Waldorf has weekly routines that do not vary,
at least for younger children, because the philosophy believes that young children
thrive in that predictability.
Seasonally, there are more celebrations and routines that match the natural
world and changes in seasons.
Older children have traditional classroom style settings
with chairs and desks and learning schedules that adhere to clearly defined
curriculum but their learning often involves group songs, movement, or the
arts. They are not given time to pursue
their interests or make choices of what they learn, but they may have more choice
in how they can creatively express their learning. There is still a sense that
adults need to play a big role in providing structure and guidance to children
until they reach maturity of adulthood. Choice
and freedom is a gradual process in Waldorf philosophy, aligned with Steiner’s
understanding of psychological development.
Waldorf is a philosophy that believes in nurturing the child
through each stage in biological and psychological development. As the child matures and enters a new
developmental stage, routines and structures change. It is a philosophy that sees children growing
within a pattern that reflects the natural world and universe; changes in days,
seasons, years, and 7-year cycles. Steiner’s
experience with schools was one of rote memorization and teacher directed
lessons, not to mention physical and psychologically abusive discipline measures,
so his development of a program that included songs, painting, and nurturing young
people and showing sensitivity to them as learners was quite revolutionary at
the time.
I found this comparison to be kind of difficult to compare
in broad terms because each classroom is so dependent on the people who run
it. Hopefully this gives you an overall
sense of the daily routines and how those structures reflect the overall
philosophy of each style of education.
In my next blog, I’ll compare how each style approaches culture and addresses
cultural tools. But first, did you have
a strong reaction to any of the education styles? What style would you feel most comfortable
with as a parent? What style makes you
feel the least comfortable?
From the Author: I’m
not sure when I discovered Self-Directed Education, but I do know that it has
formed the foundation of my views on education and child development. I find it
to be a continuum of many of the respectful parenting/child-care approaches I
have been trying to use. I would love for you to read this, my first blog, and
learn a little about Self Directed Education, and if this speaks to you, spread
the word to others! 
