Schools of Interest

It may seem contradictory to mention schools of interest to unschoolers, since unschooling rejects the foundation of institutional schooling. However, some radical schools purposely offer children a place to learn with freedom. Such schools also reject the authoritarianism of conventional education, and to that end they focus on respecting children's self-autonomy and creating an environment where children can voluntarily learn in their own ways.

For example, the "free skool" movement shares much of the philosophy of unschooling, in regards to the rejection of authority-based education. Additionally, many other schools may offer unschooling children another learning tool for them to use.

Unschoolers do not need to reject every school or organization. Additionally, even if unschoolers themselves still would prefer not to attend such schools, they may want to keep these schools in mind to recommend to others, especially parents who do not have time to unschool but still have become disaffected with conventional schooling.

Below we will explore a few well-known schools that may interest unschoolers or other people involved with unschooling.

Summerhill School

A.S. Neill founded Summerhill School in 1921. Neill's daughter, Zoe Neill Readhead, currently runs the school, which serves as a boarding and day school for primary and secondary education in a democratic fashion. Summerhill works under the philosophy that children learn best with freedom from coercion. All of the school's lessons are optional, and pupils can choose what to do with their time. Website: Summerhill School

Sudbury Valley School

Founded in 1968 in Massachusetts, the Sudbury Valley School has over 35 other schools based its Model in the United States, Denmark, Canada, Japan, Israel, Australia, Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. The model has two basic tenets: democratic governance and educational freedom. Children from the ages of 4 to 19 attend the school. The school's educational philosophy contends that giving children responsibility and trust at an early age enables them to learn what they want, why they want it, and how to achieve it. The school allows children to choose how to spend their time. Website: Sudbury Valley School

Do you know of any schools?

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