Unschooling: Brilliant or Lazy?

Is there any research behind the philosophy of unschooling? People who believe in learning styles and multiple intelligences would point to the evidence that school doesn’t appeal to people with kinesthetic intelligence, and that audio-visual learners also have a difficult time in school. In his book Punished by Rewards, Alfie Kohn points to hundreds of studies that conclude that rewards are not effective in the long term and discourage the behavior, meaning that the way schools and classic curriculum are set up are counterproductive to learning. Kohn said that intrinsic motivation is what we should be after, and unschooling makes that possible. Edward Deci, Howard Gardner, and Thomas Armstrong have also written about research that supports an unschooling philosophy.

What about the thinking that unschoolers are lazy parents? I’ve learned that too is a fallacy. Unschoolers may have to work even harder to keep their children stimulated, because unschooled kids are always wanting to learn something of their own choosing. Sometimes an unschooling parent has to exhaust outside resources such as other people, institutions, books, libraries, etc. An unschooling parent is a facilitator, and a busy one! For unschooling families, life is learning and everything is a learning opportunity.

Unschooling helps kids understand that people are unique. While one seven-year-old who is unschooling may not read as well as another seven-year-old unschooler, it makes little difference. The one who isn’t reading as well may be a better musician. And that’s okay. When people are allowed to choose how they will work, they can become more competent. They can really hone their skills and work on their strengths instead of trying to be squeezed into another’s mold.