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.  read more