Good Morning America's host, George Stephanopoulos, opened the segment on unschooling with the statement, "I think it sounds crazy." The reporter, Juju Chang, followed up shortly with "most educators say there is often a huge gap between the Utopian ideal and reality."
What does the host think sounds crazy? The video showed older children playing and laughing. Does the host doubt that children learn through play or that learning can be fun? Many studies suggest that children learn most effectively through play.
What "huge gap" do most educators refer to? Academic performance? Statistics suggest that homeschoolers of all types consistently outperform schooled peers. The huge gap that does exist between unschoolers and the school children educators refer to is one of freedom. Unschooling parents don't force their children to do learning activities.
What Utopian ideal? What reality? Perhaps the most basic "radical" idea proposed by unschooling philosophy is that children will learn what they need without coercion and compulsion from adults, and that children don't all need to learn the same things.
The GMA video segment didn't show children poring over books, as my unschooling children spend a significant time doing. It didn't show children engaged in self-assigned learning activities, in pursuit of larger goals. It didn't show unschooling parents helping their children to find information, develop skills, and achieve goals. In my family's unschooling reality, the children pursue knowledge and useful skills, and my husband and I (and other family and community members) help them and provide guidance.
The GMA segment didn't represent the reality of unschooling as it exists in my family or in any unschooling family I know. Unschooling as a Utopian ideal doesn't fit. A Utopia, by definition, is impractical, whereas unschooling is a practical, hands-on way of learning. Contrast an active unschooling life immersed in the reality of life outside a school building with the idealistic notion of school, where children sit quietly in rows while professional teachers verbally distribute useful knowledge and skills.
Read more Strong reactions to the GMA unschooling put-down.
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