Self-Ed 101: A Brief History
Anna 
Basics 
Basics, history, how it all started, ivan illich, john holt, john taylor gatto, paul goodman, self-ed 101… the human animal is a learning animal; we like to learn; we are good at it; we don’t need to be shown how or made to do it. What kills the processes are the people interfering with it or trying to regulate it or control it. – John Holt
Self-education (i.e. autodidacticism/autodidactism, unschooling, self-directed learning, self-learning) is a concept new to many of today’s individuals. Despite the natural prominence of self-directed learning, modern schooling is widely accepted as being the best method of education. But before the wide-spread establishment of schools, it’s safe to say that self-education was the norm. That has changed.
Certain disciplines, such as the sciences and religion, have a long history of academic institutions, but modern schooling began 250 years ago. In the 18th century, Prussia declared education a responsibility of state. Within thirty years, all schools and universities in the Kingdom of Prussia were state institutions. Compulsory education spread across the world, and in 1918 Mississippi was the last state in the US to pass a compulsory attendance law.
In 1960, less than 50 years after Mississippi declared compulsory attendance, Paul Goodman published Growing Up Absurd, in which he criticized compulsory education. The book became the first among many during what is now called the deschooling movement.
Ten years later, Ivan Illich published Deschooling Society. Illich supported the idea of self-directed education, and he criticized the ineffectiveness of modern schools. He wrote that school confuses teaching with learning, diplomas with competence, and processes with substance. He also argued that schools prevent students from realizing their natural curiosity and instead make students focus on delivering what the teacher wants. One of his main points was that creative and exploratory learning can’t be forced, and requires an individual’s own initiative. Much of his writing can be found online, along with Deschooling Society.
John Caldwell Holt, an educator and prominent critic of compulsory schooling, said that compulsory education violates every individual’s right to freedom of thought. His first book, How Children Fail, was published in 1964, and was based off his first decade of teaching. His radical assertion that children failed not despite of schools, but because of them, brought him to public attention. After publishing Instead of Education: Ways to Help People Do Things Better (1976), Holt came into contact with families educating their children at home, and became an advocate for homeschooling. Holt was clear that as a whole, he felt schools were fundamentally flawed. He was of the opinion that coercion was not required in education, and that children will learn if given the freedom and the resources. His line of thought is now known as unschooling.
Another educator, John Taylor Gatto, was a teacher for nearly 30 years and appointed New York State Teacher of the Year in 1991 before he retired. Gatto argued that schools are designed to provide an obedient, working population. He claims that real education in not school’s purpose, since a well-educated population would be difficult to maintain. Gatto has published a thorough analysis of the American school system and its history in the book The Underground History of American Education. The book can be found online.
Today’s rising interest in self-education is supported by the evidence brought forward by dozens of critics of modern schooling. The growing number of critics and lack of success in schools have opened up the opportunity for people to discover an alternative to compulsory education. Many critics have the same solution: people can learn on their own, without instructors.
Each of us have a personal history that brought us to the decision to unschool. What’s your story?
7 Comments to “Self-Ed 101: A Brief History”
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Do you think that there is a difference (major or minor or none at all) between home-schooling and un-schooling? I’ve heard people use these two terms interchangeably, but also heard others say that they are two similar but distinct terms. It seems like “self-education” falls more under the un-schooling category also, but what do you think?
I was home-schooled all my life until college (which I began attending when I was sixteen) and graduated last spring with a music performance degree. I absolutely loved being schooled at home… you can read more of my story if you want to here:
http://playguitar4him.blogspot.com/2010/03/what-i-think-of-education-part-iii.html
@Lyssa: Thanks for the comment! It’s a good question to ask.
Depending on context, there can be a lot or very little difference. It’s a lot like a rectangle and a square: all squares are rectangles, but only some rectangles are squares. In the same sense, unschoolers are homeschoolers, but it doesn’t work the other way around.
There are quite a few different methods of homeschooling, from the extremes of school-at-home to unschooling. Self-education is more along the lines of unschooling, and in fact I don’t think there’s any difference at all. You can read more about homeschooling methods here: http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/methods/Methods.htm
In upcoming Self-Ed 101 posts I’ll be talking about what exactly unschooling/self-education is. I’m sure the posts will help clarify the difference.
I enjoyed your blog. I always love hearing about how homeschooling has played out for others: the details of their experiences, how its shaped them, how their days played out. :) I’m certainly glad homeschooling worked out for you!
Excellent synopsis. I’ve just posted part of my history in the unschooling movement here: http://bit.ly/9DuIvm
@Wendy: Thank you. The timing for your post is perfect! :)
Your story is a very inspiring one. My first experience with school was that of excitement. I was a good student and loved going to school (there’s a family story about how frustrated I was with summer vacation – I didn’t understand why people hated school so much!), until I realized that school wouldn’t give me the opportunity to learn beyond what it wanted me to. The experience of being told that I have to wait to learn something, whether I can or want to or not, opened my eyes to realizing that I didn’t love school at all – I loved learning. The ball started rolling from there, until I discovered unschooling.
The disillusion you spoke of is something I’ve seen happen with quite a few teachers. It’s interesting to me how some people react by rejecting the system, others trying harder to get the system to work, and how some stay but without any illusions (those have been the best teachers I’ve had – ones I’ve discussed homeschooling with that completely supported the decision). The many discussions I’ve had with teachers have brought me to the understanding that while most teachers are frustrated with their career, many of them never understand why. The best way I can put it is that the school system can work in theory, but it doesn’t work in practice. As you said, learning is fueled by everyone’s inherent curiosity.
Thank you for your comment!
I was really looking forward to passing this on, but I can’t because of its numerous grammatical errors. I would encourage you to consider a further edit, or ask someone to help you with it, as conventional grammar, while sometimes dull, is still a way our work is judged.
@Brooke: Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I reread the post and while I reworded a few things to clarify their meaning, I didn’t find any obvious errors. I did begin a few sentences with conjunctions, but I consider this a conversational piece. I’ll be sure to keep an eye out. It’s possible my eyes are jumping over any errors simply because I’ve written this so recently.
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