Peter Gray has spent much of his career demonstrating how children learn through play. His book “Free to Learn” helped fuel the unschooling movement - but will the educational mainstream ever shift in response?

This episode explores Peter’s hopes that we will reach a tipping point - beyond which self-directed learning becomes the norm - and his fears about what may prevent it.

Timings:

01:30 Free to Learn

17:40 The Tipping Point theory of social change

36:14 Peter’s education journey

53:02 A personal update from Stan

Links:

Peter Gray is the author of Free to Learn: https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/peter-gray/free-to-learn/9780465084999/

What happens to graduates of Sudbury Valley School? https://www.self-directed.org/resource/gray-and-chanoff-1986/

Fact check: long-term trends suggests the US home-school rate is around 5%, but a Covid-era survey suggested 10% of parents intended to home-school: https://news.gallup.com/poll/317852/parents-satisfaction-child-education-slips.aspx

How should we measure educational success? Stan speaks to Ka Ya Lee, a PhD candidate from Harvard University, to discuss the capability approach.

Currently, we mainly measure success by scores on standardised tests. Our fixation with results has warped the way we treat young people, and says little about children’s wellbeing. It gives the child no say in how they want to grow as a person. Is there another way?

Pioneered by economist Amartya Sen, the capability approach to human welfare “emphasizes the importance of freedom of choice, individual heterogeneity and the multi-dimensional nature of welfare”*. Ka Ya is asking: can the capability approach be applied to education?

* The capability approach on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability_approach

Stan speaks to May Ling Thomas about Integrity. What does it mean as a parent, a teacher or a human, to stay true to one’s values?

May Ling is a home-educating Mum with powerful parenting convictions. She believes in letting go of damaging expectations about how things “should” be done so that we can put the love back in our relationships.

What does integrity mean for parents? Should we care what other people think? Should we worry for our children’s futures? Does integrity mean staying true to your feelings or to your intellectual ideals?

Guest Thomas Godfrey-Faussett turns a critical eye to season 3 of About Learning. The discussion centres around “balance”. How much autonomy should children have? What are the limits of democratic parenting? Is there a place for indoctrination in education? A former teacher, Thom recently completed an MA in Comparative Education at Oxford and is now involved in a number of research projects.

Rosalyn Spencer, author of “Why I Started a Small School”, shares her experience. What’s so good about small schools? What can be achieved within the state school system? What is human scale education? Setting up a small school: online workshop https://1abf28c1-2610-4f9d-adbf-9ef0182664e4.filesusr.com/ugd/1ad436_f9ac205ee9194cab8d987190a84573a8.docx?dn=new%20flyer.docx Why I Started a Small School by Rosalyn Spencer: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Why-Started-Small-School-nurturing-ebook/dp/B00C0XU3GQ

English schools are becoming more authoritarian. In this panel discussion, a group of educators discuss the reasons for this disturbing trend, and ask: what can we do to fight back? The panel: Emily Charkin, founder of Wilderness Wood. Meena Wood, former HMI and Principal and author of 'Secondary Curriculum Transformed' Derry Hannam, advocate of school democracy and former OFSTED inspector. Nicole Levy, Sociology & Economics teacher studying for an MA in Social Justice & Education at UCL.

Stan welcomes Emily Charkin who runs Wilderness Wood in East Sussex. The wood presents a radical alternative to school, providing space in which home-educated children learn, work and play. The discussion is wide-ranging: do schools help or hinder a sense of community? Is state education too academic? Are projects like WW just a middle-class indulgence? https://www.wildernesswood.org/ Mentioned In this episode: the Peckham Experiment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6aiCK3PGfs

Is free speech under threat in our universities? Stan speaks to Piers Benn, author of Intellectual Freedom and the Culture Wars, about cancel-culture, student activism and the recent Kathleen Stock scandal. Piers teaches Philosophy at Roehampton University and has been a lecturer in St Andrews, Leeds, Imperial College London and King’s College London. His introductory book Ethics is found on many Philosophy reading lists.

Stan speaks to Fran McCarthy, who has dedicated her career to schools in which children are free. Fran is a behaviour expert, runs workshops on conflict management, and is founding a democratic school for some of Sydney’s most disadvantaged young people. What is a democratic school? How can a school function when children have autonomy? How can learning be measured without exams? Can disadvantaged children handle freedom? Learn more about Fran’s latest project: www.communityxchange.com.au

Stan talks to Max Noble about Anarchism and education. Based in Canada, Max runs a radical project that gives children free rein to play and create collaboratively. What is Anarchy? What does an Anarchist education look like? How can we create non-coercive learning environments? Read more about Max’s Creation Stations here: https://www.tmaxrd.education/ Read Stan’s recent article about Anarchy and Education: https://stanpinsent.wordpress.com/2021/09/04/the-case-for-anarchy-in-schools/

Around the world, young people are cooped up in classrooms. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Stan Pinsent speaks to a series of experts to see how we can set learners free.

Most people in Education agree that schools are far from perfect. Should we be making small changes, or do we need a radical rethink?  In a conversation with his partner Zoë Guzy-Sprague, Stan talks about the influence of self-directed learning and unschooling on his thinking. He looks back the past few months and asks “what next?” for the podcast, his career and for Education in general. Also, Zoë gives her thoughts before she enters teacher training in the UK. Listen to the end for the bit when they accidentally get talking about having kids.

How do we decide whether schools are doing a good job? Stan sits down with three students at School 21 who have been asking whether the British inspection system is fit-for-purpose. Their project examines the mental health impact of school inspections, and questions the assumption that third-party oversight is a good thing. At the end Stan reflects on the power of project-based learning and offers a hopeful message to teenage students. Music: Tape Star by Shane Ivers - silvermansound.com

I speak to Margaret Wang about the role of a teacher. Can teachers be apolitical? Can they be trusted to take lessons off-piste? How can education policy better support teachers? At the end of the show I reflect on recognising Pride month with my students. Even with a good cause like Pride, is there danger in expecting students to adopt beliefs uncritically? Links: Subject to Climate: subjecttoclimate.org Rose Luckin on AI and human intelligence: ucl.ac.uk/news/2020/mar/opinion-ai-education-will-help-us-understand-how-we-think No Outsiders (teaching tolerance in UK schools): no-outsiders.com/about-us Music: Dark 'n' Stormy by Shane Ivers - silvermansound.com

Many of our approaches to teaching are driven by what sounds good. But can we take a more evidence-based approach? Dr Alex Blakes gives us a window into how scientists make medical discoveries. We discuss whether we could apply the same methods in education. A wide-ranging conversation that covers student activism, big data and alternatives to exams.

About Learning is back for another season! Stan talks to philosophy teacher Yoni Suissa about Utilitarianism - striving for the greatest good for the most people - and how it can be applied to Education. What are the goals of education? What are the hidden costs? What do we lose when we design schools for the masses? Skip to the outro to hear about what Stan’s been reading and how this is shaping his thoughts.

After a chaotic twelve months many of us long for a return to normal. But disruption can give us a fresh perspective on the world. What have we learnt from lockdown? Stan shares his personal thoughts and asks how schools, and the world of work, can build back better.

“Home-schooling” is something everyone has heard of but few of us understand. Why would a parent stop their child going to school? Can mainstream education learn anything from the movement? I speak to Jo Gunning, who has been educating her children at home for seven years. Links and Further Reading - “Free to Learn” by Peter Gray - “The Element” by Ken Robinson - Parentkind.org.uk

Everyone wants their child to do well in school, but few understand how best to help. What role can parents play in their child’s academic achievement? I speak to Alberto Gonzales about his experiences as a student, teacher and a parent. We touch upon a number of core questions such as: how do parents shape their children’s view of learning? Can eager middle-class parents fuel inequality? What do we teach children without realising? At the end, I summarise some of the research on the links between parental involvement and academic success. Links for further reading/listening - The parent-run school that Alberto attended is San Patricio in San Sebastian, Spain - I mention the podcast series “Nice White Parents” - For my academic source on parental involvement, go to shorturl.at/sALT4

Rita Guzy regails her time as a Kindergarten teacher in Newark, NJ. Amid race riots, “white flight” and institutional corruption, Rita’s classroom remained stable as a rock. What does a five-year-old need to know? Should your first year in school be all fun and games, or a crash-course in the three R’s? These are questions that can help us tackle a larger one: what should education be for? Want to collaborate? Contact aboutlearningpodcast@gmail.com