Astra Taylor on the Unschooled Life

[dubified89]

The thing about a market economy is that your ability to be successful is reliant on your ability to serve the wants and needs of others. So while it's good to teach kids to think independently, they also need to be encouraged to develop skills that are marketable. Doing your own thing is great but for example if you're an artist you don't just have the right to live as an artist exclusively if no one wants to buy your art. You have to have something that's of interest to others.

[dubified89]

This is the nature of freedom, because otherwise some people would have to do all of the hard work while others just get to have fun and pursue their interests regardless of whether they're beneficial to anyone else.

[hotfudgemoney]

@kelseyja LOL stop questioning our government? LOL

[hotfudgemoney]

Sorry I forgot to add, comrade

[hotfudgemoney]

Keep your trash democracy out of our republic, kthx.

[Muffinfordinner]

Education needs to prepare people to become citizens of a democracy.

[UsedOfGod]

A very good presentation for anyone who wants to know how home schooling would affect your kids. This how the great people of the past became great, they learned because their choices were not BOXED in around them!

[simonroxs]

i loved the part when she talked about unschooling but the socialist crap was.. crap

[ion010101]

You only have to ask yourself two questions. Do you think coercion is necessary for growth and learning? If you do, why do you think that?

[azh753]

Excellent, I absolutely love it!

[kelseyja]

@GrigoriSom I agree with you. I think the world would be a better place if we all just stopped questioning our government and society; we should just move on to bigger and better things. But I'm curious as to what your bigger and better things are? Do you really have that "life" we should all aspire to have? If you do, and the NWO does not affect it, then please reach out to us in the throes of desperation, since we are obviously kicking against the pricks (no pun intended). Any suggestions?

[veronicatomorrow]

I do enjoy her conclusion, and generally agree with her points. The self obsessed journey getting there was a bit nauseating, though. Maybe more stories of other unschoolers that are not relatives would help.

[veronicatomorrow]

Bored children are children who are unable to entertain themselves. I usually had an agenda for the time when I was done with my work. If I had mastered a concept, I would go back and do the problems again a different way or write extra pages to the assignment. Talented teachers know how to encourage children, and untalented ones dont. It is as simple as that.

[veronicatomorrow]

My sister and I went to public school and yet we somehow managed to spend countless hours playing in the woods, writing our own plays and acting them out, building weird inventions, etc. Wow, to listen to Ms. Taylor talk, we are miracle children. I actually really believe in alternative education and child directed education, but her case for it is pure narcissism. And using ivy league institutions to validate your rejection of institutions is flawed logic.

[f4ust85]

a person from the former soviet bloc like myself must feel amused by the current agenda of western leftist intellectuals - these people cant stop dreaming of free medical care, free education, non-conformal schooling methods, flirt with trockism, while we have been dreaming of the opposite. of course mrs taylor is an "independent-thinking bohemian" herself, shes the prototype of a radical jewish intellectual from socialist upperclass family that never had to work for a minute of her life.

[stephendufrechou]

@f4ust85: "shes the prototype of a radical jewish intellectual from socialist upperclass family that never had to work for a minute of her life. [sic]" ... Whew. If that's not ideological scape-goating, I don't know what is. You fail to see Astra Taylor as Astra Taylor, herself. Instead, you superimpose this non-rational figure of the "Jewish intellectual" in the symbolic space, where you otherwise would have had to confront a three-dimensional person (Taylor), whose values conflict with yours.

[audazsevero]

liberals talk this way because conservatives have their heads up their ass.

[ckordiolis]

I loved this speech and when I first saw that the video was 1 hour and 15 minutes long, I didn't think I'd stay engaged throughout the entire speech but I did. Astra Taylor delivers an articulate speech that offers thought-provoking insight into our school system. I wish she'd give more speeches promoting unschooling throughout the country.

[elephantshoo]

I LOVE THE NAME ASTRA!!!! OMG IM GONNA NAME MY KID THAT :O like if u agree

[jumpnjza2]

"I'm committed to this idea of some sort of intellectual community that doesn't end at the age of 22 that can be a part of your daily practice"

Spot on, woman.

[vidkidxyz]

Why are effete liberal pseudo-intellectuals always irritatingly nasal in tone??

[porkchop745]

Great talk.

[ssoswaldo]

It is easy to develop and maintain an inquisitive personality when your father is a professor, but when your family is composed of non-intellectual members then it is quite difficult to learn as much as the professor's daughter.

[EMTCEE]

Unschooling is the most hilarious thing I've ever heard of!

[romanac]

Really excellent. Former unschooler here who also went to school. I love the nuance she brings to the discussion as it relates to class and race.

[StarlaMom]

Very cool :) I thought about this concept a lot when I was younger and in school. I didn't know it was something people actually did until after I had my son. I really like the idea of unschooling him.

[Poncho151500]

@StarlaMom Damn, wish I was your son in this regard xP.

[amacfieY]

she sounds intelligent and well educated of course, but she made a noncritical documentary of Zizek, who is very controversial ("psychoanalyst")

[logotrix]

I think that education is getting less and less formalized and professionalized all the time - at the same time, there is much to be said for good teaching - education is great as a free-range enterprise - but I think it really is most effective as a dialogue.

[JaredLangdon]

This is blowing my mind.

[junskey]

hard to find girls as beautiful as this

[KneelingAtlas]

I really enjoyed the concepts presented in the video, but I was disturbed by the dichotomy of conservative/liberal when discussing approaches to education; much more appropriate is authoritarian/libertarian. A more construction division than support of homeschooling/unschooling, theist/atheist or capitalist/socialist is one which separates those individuals willing to use the violent and coercive force of the state to inflict their educational strategies on others and those who are not.

[kvokvek]

What movie are they talking about from 56:21? I'm not a native speaker and don't understand the title exactly. Soulflies? Sour flies? Surprise?

pls, someone help

[giddymoon]

I want something to be clear here...unschooling is NOT a "progressive" movement..it is a nostalgic movement, back to the liberty, conservative value roots this country was founded on. Parents have their children at home, family CAN educate their own kids, the state does NOT have control of our kids, less govt, more liberty, more faith in humans being able to lead their own lives. The Ed Dept system is a liberal funded goal oriented program meant to indoctrinate our kids for a NWO, LOOK IT UP!

[GrigoriSom]

@giddymoon Wow, thanks for clearing that up. Characterizing the unschooling movement as conservative (or, to use your terminology, "nostalgic") is every bit as misguided as characterizing it as liberal... doing so, however, is typically conservative, as is your laughable characterization of the Dept. of Education as an arm of the mythical New World Order we've been hearing about for decades.

[Ridd333]

@GrigoriSom except the Dept of Education IS an arm of this mythical "New World Order". I suppose your criticism of this gentleman's statement is the laughable part. I of course did not read his posts, so maybe this is sarcasm from you... 

[GrigoriSom]

@Ridd333 "the Dept of Education IS an arm of this mythical 'New World Order'." - So, do you believe in the NWO or not? If so... evidence? Hard, indisputable evidence? What can be asserted without evidence can easily be dismissed without evidence.

"I suppose your criticism ... laughable part." Suppose away.

"I of course did not read his posts" - BIG surprise.

"maybe this is sarcasm from you..." - my first sentence was, the rest is my opinion.

[Ridd333]

@GrigoriSom Listen to Charlotte Iserbyt talk. Then read some of what she references. Rinse, Repeat.

[GrigoriSom]

@Ridd333 Let's see. . . searching the (vaguely familiar) name of Charlotte Iserbyt. . . Alex Jones. . . David Icke. . . Illuminati. . . NWO. . . Andrew Carnegie. . . Skull and Bones. . . "the consummate whistleblower!"...

Yawn; thanks, but no thanks. I have an actual life to get on with.

PS: Did you even notice that I didn't criticize unschooling, but merely noted a false characterization of it? Or do you just troll around, looking for NWO posts to comment on?

[Ridd333]

@GrigoriSom You can choose to ignore the backbone of the crooked education system all day. This "NWO" you speak of is out in the open. Been talked about for decades, by the people involved. You just gotta step away from your 'actual' life (whatever that consists of) and do some research.

But I suppose someone like you would still balk at the idea of a global conspiracy even if it's admittance came out of the mouth of someone like David Rockefeller. The list goes on...

[GrigoriSom]

@Ridd333 Ridd333, I have a Facebook friend with whom I've discussed this same topic (NWO), and I'm seeing the same assumptions in you that I do in him: why are you assuming that I don't see problems in our educational system? I said ABSOLUTELY NOTHING regarding this, yet you read it into my posts. You must also think that anyone who has researched NWO conspiracy theories will reach the same conclusions you have, and if we don't, we're delusional or complacent. Sorry, but "real life" beckons...

[giddymoon]

Please do yourself a favor and look up the KINSEY SYNDROME..it makes the reason for public school very clear.

[TTunczz]

@giddymoon Idiot. Public schools are more dangerous than your own home if you don't live in a getto or something.

[GnomesAmok]

@TTunczz

"IF you dont live in a ghetto or something" what an ignorant fuckface you are.

[TTunczz]

@GnomesAmok Uh, how so? Your argument is still not valid. Also, educate yourself.

[GnomesAmok]

@TTunczz

Shut. The Fuck. Up. Don't talk about the ghetto, don't talk about danger, don't talk about school, don't talk about a goddamn because its clear your completely ignorant on ll fo these subjects. Public schools are sometimes the places people get away from violence. Public schools save lives. Get off your high horse you privileged piece of shit.

[TTunczz]

@GnomesAmok "Public schools saves lives". First of all, if someone is educated enough to know about homeschooling, it's very likely them to have a good standart of living, economically, socially, etc. so they wouldn't need to worry about their child being safe around/in their home. (even writing such thing sounds ridicilous, and I'm not sure if you actually do have an argument) *Not sure if troll or very stupid*

[mark0978utube]

@GnomesAmok Just because it wouldn't have worked for you, doesn't mean it doesn't work for someone else.

[MusicBoOmBoxXx]

any one in CA unschooling? we will be planning for the transitioning out of private umbrella school program to UnSchooling. any advice, tips, steps, even from those already doing it, especially in CA that'd be helpful as well. VERY good video,here!!;)

any Unschooling advice?

[ForAVoluntarySociety]

sounds like an Anarcho model of schooling. I like it

[jruizdemena]

anyone knows where is the first appearace of astra (this is the second one) 1:34

[issanel]

While it may be fine and great for some kids I believe that this will only cripple the vast majority of children to cope with the demands of adult life. I have met some brilliant kids who I know could do a far better job of teaching themselves then the schools. But they are very few and far between. But what happens when they need to learn something that they don't want to learn?

[Celestein]

@issanel- Part of unschooling still means being a parent and being attuned to your own child's needs and specifications. If a kid has developmental issues, or 'crippling' problems, you find ways to deal with such problems. What happens when kids don't want to learn something *in school*? They get punished, they get threatened with suspension... These 'solutions' don't always work either. You gotta be open-minded and creative in finding solutions that fit each individual child.

[issanel]

@Celestein Like I said I am not shut off by the idea just saying that some kids need school and structure. Granted punishment doesn't always work but they need to learn discipline. Also I don't think that kids can get suspended for doing poorly in school, at least I have never heard of it. But do you think we should never punish kids? What happens when they become adults and realize they have to do something they don't want to?

[KiddoBeastPro]

@issanel Who gets to decide what people have to do? Why do they get that authority? Why do kids need to learn "discipline". Who gets to define "discipline"? What if the kids disagree with the given definition or agree that the concept is to vague to define at all?

A society is mostly a collection of myths that one generation passes on to the next. Advertising and schools are the primary method by which this is done.

[issanel]

@KiddoBeastPro This so called myth has been working for thousands of years. In order to make progress people need to research the next level, schools do that. They lay out the facts and its up to us to take the next step. Do you seriously think we would have modern technology if we were not pushed to learn? Also who is going to pay for 90% of the people who don't want to learn and are unemployable. Great another way I can get taxed because someone else is useless.

[KiddoBeastPro]

@issanel Curriculum based, compulsory education has not been around for thousands of years, it hasn't been around for 300 years even. As for modern technology, do you think the millions of people who were killed at the alter of "progressing" technology would agree the system has been working if they were alive to speculate on the issue?

[KiddoBeastPro]

@issanel Schools indoctrinate people to be depend on an emotionally abusive and anti-intellectual system, but that system gives its subjects status in return, thus making them dependent on it. Since most people derive their identity from said system, and schools have trained them to value identity and status over knowledge and substance (grades, degrees, jobs, wealth over critical and analytical thinking), they'll go to amazing lengths to defend it.

[logotrix]

@KiddoBeastPro

Arguably, the family does an even better job of indoctrination and emotional abuse - but I get your point.

[KiddoBeastPro]

@logotrix Sure, schooling in any form (home, public or private) is ultimately anti-intellectual in nature. The key should be to define a difference between Intellectualism and credentialism, the former of which is always necessary and is usually the exact opposite of the latter, which is itself sometime necessary, but how often so and what standards should be used to provide credentials can only be provided by a society that values knowledge over status.

[logotrix]

@issanel I agree - in some ways these ideas are really regressive, given what was required historically to even get an education. Context is everything, however....home, or school.

[guitarsmoker420]

*bored*

[dmydlack]

I love that the Walker presents this speaker but I'm dismayed that she chose to read from a paper. It's simply unacceptable. As my 8-year-old would say "Epic Fail."

[kastnmagic]

@dmydlack Oh good gawd... She speaks very well and is clearly intelligent. She read from a paper... Big Deal... It's NOT simply unacceptable. Your attitude certainly is however.

[Celestein]

@dmydlack - Won't you enlighten all of us with your oratory skills and provide a link to your own hour-long, spontaneously delivered lecture?

[imjustthatonegirl]

I was unschooled until I chose to attend college classes part time at 15. When Astra was talking about her childhood it sounded SO MUCH like my childhood... Extrodinarily similar... it could have been my eldest sister talking. We played my sister's grand schemes... we drew, we painted, we read, we played outside... even down to the horse, our neighbor's horse.

[BabyGirlGoddess]

i don't want to send my kids to public school. The school system is going down the drain here in Georgia.

Also alot of people say that if you homeschool/unschool your kids it will lead to them being socially awkward & shy. NEWSFLASH! I attend public school and I know alot of people who are shy. My next door neighbors homeschooled their kids. One of them joined a sorority and she is the most talkative person I know.

[candyjunkie101]

What am I supposed to do at age 15? I feel like it's pretty late to switch, even though I'm totally into what she says.

[RowRowChaosPowah]

@candyjunkie101

just look into your own interests. whereas kids of ye olden days had to go to the library whenever they needed something, the literature available on the internet is amazing. Learn to give things honest chances, and not just try them once and throw them if you don't have some "natural affinity." Realize that success in anything isn't the result of a combination of dedication and talent, but that loving something enough will cause dedication and talent to follow.

[ion010101]

@candyjunkie101 I was in my 20s. One thing I had to learn to ask myself is, what is it that I actually want to do. There were a lot of things I thought were the answer, but they were things I thought I needed to do in order to make money, to be "smart" or what majors were offered at a college. It took a long time for me to ask, if I were free to do whatever I want, if I were to just stand here and be free of all pressures, in which direction would I naturally drift?

[ion010101]

@candyjunkie101 The next key thing about unschooling is this; we (all organisms, I believe) learn by asking our own questions. For me this has meant skipping chapters in books to get to the answer I wanted... We learn by asking our own questions.

[candyjunkie101]

Too bad I didn't watch this when I was five.

[kastnmagic]

@Muffinfordinner You're an idiot

[ion010101]

The question I ask people who don't get it is, why do you think coercion is necessary? Is it because you think without it people wouldn't learn. Ok, why do you think that? Where did you hear that? is it because you think armies of xian fundies would be creates? Ok. Why do you think that, exactly? Because if coercion isn't necessary (and it isn't) then what does an entire childhood being told what to think and when to think it do to a human mind?

[researchologist]

You know "public" education is a very recent thing. And it's all about control. They want to control "what" you learn, "who" you are and "where" you'll be going. To think what we might have accomplished by now with self-educated free thinkers like Einstein & Tesla. Naturally our Gov became alarmed at what a nation of self thinking citizens might be capable of.

[ion010101]

The under privileged need what the kids who do well, in or out of school, have - supportive, mature parents. The underprivileged got that way because of them, not anyone else. Bad neighborhoods are bad b/c bad people live there, not because of anyone somewhere else.

[glowingdarkmatter25]

The best part about being an unschooler/autodidact is you don't have to wait for approval. Unless your parents don't agree, but I'm an adult, working, autodidact, so I don't have anyone's approval: except maybe my wallet and job time. This is by far the best speech on unschooling I have found. (And I'm certain I've seen them all; even read several books on the topic by both Holt and Lewlyn.)

[zjtheman]

She is hot.

[CTYFOLK]

"Uh, what about Socialism?"

"Oh, honey, we don't agree with Socialism. That's why we homeschool."

[CreatorChannel]

Thank you .. as unconventional as I am now, I was on the Ivy league thing as well, Even later in life... deciding against this scam early 1 year of honors.. ... I can thank the "disgruntled" retired Columbia Professor who the scholl had me running around to, happening upon him trying to sublet an extra room.

[PeaceUdo]

I wonder if drop outs count as unschoolers. Flippin' McD burgers.

[dangeroftime]

Thanks for marrying Jeff Mangum.

[angus500]

"there were issues such as grades" "the teacher would throw a dart at the dart board" WTF?

[GodownEd1]

I am very impressed by Astra's speech and agree that her path is inspiring. It seems that her path would be different if she did not have access to all the resources she did. Being surrounded by adults that model learning (have interests, research interests, explore creativity) is essential. There really is no one specific way that is right for all people. At least this topic gets people thinking.

[bigajosep]

as long as you can read, you can learn a profession in a couple months and don't need to waste 21 years of your life in school

[shmee1961]

How sad that, as is the case with so much on YouTube and elsewhere on the Internet, what could be an interesting and productive conversation is taken over with foul-mouthed self-righteous unintelligent name-calling by those who claim to be "educated". Really. Have you nothing better to do?? IF YOU DON"T LIKE IT, YOU CAN'T HAVE ANY. Now go on and do something useful instead of putting other people's choices and opinions down.

[alottahufford]

If you enjoyed this video and/or are upset about your child's education, I would encourage you to check out Sri Atmananda Memorial School in Austin, Texas. SAMS captures the best of the unschooling approach while also providing the social interaction with peers and connection with caring teachers that unschooling at home lacks. My daughter attends SAMS and LOVES it. We love that it is developing her as a whole person, not just the academic portion. It is a revolutionary place.

[lev24free]

@alottahufford Those who unschool at home have plenty of opportunity for their kids to get social interaction in my opinion, and they have caring teachers too. They have many people they can go to and find to ask questions and get advice and information on for all kinds of topics. Don't misunderstand me though. I'm not at all putting down the way you school your daughter, and I think that method of schooling sounds great too.

[jcr610]

i want to be sympathetic to her discussion on "unschooling," but she spends more time on hokey school-bashing rhetoric than actually describing the benefits, values, and nuances of her unschooling experience. my biggest question about unschooling is how it avoids being an ideologue-factory, as family and the "home", much more so than the institution of schools, are breeding grounds of naively emotional, uncritical, intensely darwinian ideologies in our culture. ms. taylor seems to confirm that.

[bigajosep]

@jcr610 ur use of commas makes ur comment hard to understand but i think i got it. unschooling vs mandatory schooling is a question of slavery vs freedom, not darwinian ideologies vs famliy/home ideologies

[traccan]

@jcr610 Good point. I think it all depends on a more nuanced view of schooling, and recognizing that within the overall institutional framework, there are individuals and programs that make a difference to children with a certain degree of motivation or aptitude, that busts out of the ideological prison. Likewise, if Astra Taylor herself had been 'unschooled' by a couple of inbred hicks in rural KY, what are the chances that she would be able to do what she does now?

[bigajosep]

@traccan it sounds like she was unschooled in a rural area, because she mentions playing in streams etc. Sure some people have bad/dumb parents and plenty of kids probably like to go school just to get away from abusive parents. And I'm sure there are also parents who don't have books or a computer for their kids to look at, so the kids are limited in their exposure. The kids should go where they are happier, without regard to how much they will learn, or how exposed they will be to new ideas.

[logotrix]

@bigajosep

The argument seems to be predicated on the existence of crap schools that no kid wants to go to. I think conversation about how to improve education is more productive than the elaborating the virtues of dropping out - which really, is symptomatic of a rather sorry state of affairs and is a pretty cynical "solution", when you think about it.

[traccan]

@jcr610 The most radical ideas of people like Ivan Ilich and Paul Goodman are over-the-top anarchistic formulations that would only work in a society populated entirely by free-thinking, artistic, autonomous individuals who've achieved some kind of plateau of Maslowian self-actualization. On the other hand, if we allow right-wing, Tea Party populists to pull all their kids of out of state institutions and teach them at home, we'd be back to Nazi Germany.

[traccan]

@jcr610 Once again, I think striking some kind of balance is necessary, and I think humanists like the Canadian education theorist David Solway, or Jonathan Kozol in the US, generally do a good job of it. The key is hiring good teachers who love their work, who aren't doing it for the summer vacation or the salary and the benefits, and who aren't polemical in their views; who encourage free-thinking, but who also discourage mindless regurgitation of the status quo ante. A tough tightrope act

[58robbo]

her seeming intolerance for opposing points of view ie grover norquist, have me now questioning whether independent thought is a given product of unschooling.

[alennna]

fantastic talk ...

[Ravel87]

wynyna ryder?

[MartinRonky]

John Taylor Gatto ~

After a long life and 30 years in public school trenches, I've concluded that genius is common like dirt. We supress our genius just because we haven't yet figured out how to manage population of educated man and women.

Educated man and women do not need to be managed. But that does not suit politicians and interest groups which want access to violently extracted money "taxes".

[davyjames]

All the gender and race stuff lost me. Unschooling and education freedom is the ends, not a means to an end.

[RangerKozak]

I completely disagree with the anti-consumerist overtones, her self-admitted progressivism, and the egalitarian critique of home schooling but the critique of public schools is downright inspiring.

[selfrealizedexile]

I agree very much with most of her presentation, however, I think her misgivings on Capitalism is unfounded and, ultimately, derived from a lack of understanding where she is merely echoing her unsupported zeitgeist. Everything else is spot on though.

[davyjames]

@selfrealizedexile 100% agree. Real free-market capitalism is just freedom to trade with who you want. Much like the freedom of unschooling is to learn what you like. Public school is a perfect example of what happens when you don't let people set up schooling in a free way but instead hand it over to government.

[Panpiper]

I taught myself to read Narnia, before entering grade one, because I 'wanted' to read. I read the encyclopedia for any and all subjects that aroused my curiosity. I was more than capable of educating myself. What school did for me more than anything was to learn to reject their force feeding attempts at education. Far from educating me, school retarded me whilst simultaneously wasting much of my childhood. That's my experience..

[LibertasRAC]

@Panpiper That about sums up my experience with school & the "education" I received.

[riethc]

This sounds like people trying to be cooler than everyone else and raising their kids that way.

Bringing your kids to a rock concert? How cultured.

[shmee1961]

@riethc What's wrong with a rock concert?

[riethc]

@shmee1961 It goes to the fact the un-schoolers are interested in seeming, rather than actually being, educated. Rock music has no educational value. If they took their kids to hear Mozart, then they'd be onto something.

[boltsc]

This explains unschooling better than anything I have read or viewed anywhere!

[ReviewrOfGames]

I don't understand you people. Sure, somethings in school you don't really need to learn, but kindergarden through 8th grade is extremely important. You learn math, language, science, social studies. Being on your own will drastically decrease the amount you learn. High school is also important. You choose basically what you want to learn. Then college. College is the most important because you master what you want to learn. Being unschooled will make you unqualified for a lot of things.

[ion010101]

@ReviewrOfGames "I don't understand you people". You're right about that.

Why do you think you need school to know math, language, science, social studies? Why do you think unschoolers/homeschoolers are "on their own"? Even school teachers will tell you that kids who do well come from stable SUPPORTIVE home lives. Do highschools work like a Sudbury model school (google it)? If not, you're still being told what to think and when to think it. That teaches obedience. Think about it.

[Panpiper]

@ReviewrOfGames The point is not that you do not need to learn. The point is that left to their own devices, kids will tend to learn on their own. That is especially true in an environment in which the people around them are literate and educated (not necessarily formally).I learned to read on my own at age four. The only math school taught me was long division, the rest I learned on my own. The same with virtually all subjects. Schooling is not necessary for education.

[ReviewrOfGames]

@Panpiper Fail. Sure you learned to read at 4, i'm pretty sure you meant learning to spell four letter words. Good job! You think you can get anywhere in life without an education? In this day in age? Ha. Hahahahaha. Ahhahahaha!

[Panpiper]

@ReviewrOfGames You are still not getting it. School and education are not synonymous. Yes, you can get an education through school (if you are comfortable with conformity), but you can also educate yourself without school. And I was reading at a grade six level on day one of grade one. I spent my first year of school in the library, all day, because they didn't know what to do with me.

[ReviewrOfGames]

@Panpiper Getting what? This is sad. You really expect me to believe this story? You would at least be mentioned on the news. Well, I must say, you can go fuck yourself my friend. I learned how to read at a 3rd grade level in my 1st grade year, no one else could in the county including home and nonschooled.

[bKiwiD]

@RoG What does "Getting anywhere in life" mean to you? To me, it means living a life of exploration, love, learning, growth and spiritual/philosophical fulfillment; connecting with others and being changed by others for the better; helping others to change for the better. And that doesn't require school 'education'. When you die, are you going to feel like you "Got somewhere in life" just b/c you got some coveted job? Or will you wish you got somewhere else in life?

[ReviewrOfGames]

@bKiwiD Actually, douchebag, i'm becomeing a director so you can suck my cock, by the way, you can do everything YOU JUST MENTIONED with an education. Except I will have more money than you, while you cry in a corner wishing you had gone to school to get a well paying job and actually support a family.

[bKiwiD]

@RoG: I'm glad you expect your chosen career choice of becoming a director to make you happy, and I hope you do experience all the things I mentioned (and I never said it couldn't be done by a schooled person. I'm schooled myself). I guess you're putting those things off until after you've nailed down your career, though? Because from your over-defensive, aggressive reply, you don't actually seem to consider the cultivation of a loving, peaceful, fulfilled character a priority.

[ReviewrOfGames]

@bKiwiD It just pisses me off when I see idiotic assholes like you.

[bKiwiD]

@RoG: I'm sorry that your emotions are so wildly out of your control that you actually become aggressively upset simply by being exposed to an opinion or a way of life that differs from your own. I hope you learn to calm down, accept that other people can legitimately come to different conclusions than yourself, and not feel the need to try to fight with or insult them.

[logotrix]

@ReviewrOfGames Yeah, I hear you - fine preparation for future artists and filmmakers - but not so great for say - future dentists, or accountants..

[atrios28]

Wonderful presentation; Brian Wilson famously learned piano after his father forbade him and his brothers from making any sound on it, by watching where his father placed his fingers on the keys to make the sounds which he would one day make ... the natural state of human beings is joyful curiosity.

[adinfinitum77]

I am a supporter of unschooling, however, I feel that there is always going to be an element of cultural bias. Her father has a PHD, and both her parents were "bohemian". Of course, instilling empty values and capitalist mindsets in young children is a bad thing, but many children simply do not have the opotion to be left to do as they please. Those who live in highly industrial or poverty stricken areas, or those with parents who have decided to commit to full time jobs, are all but excluded.

[Panpiper]

@adinfinitum77 Instilling 'capitalist' mindsets is a 'bad' thing? "Of course...?"

I suggest you probably have a rather skewed idea as to what it means to be a capitalist. Do a poll of most homeschooled/unschooled people. You will find a hugely disproportionate number of them to be Libertarian. Liberty breeds liberty.

[kungfujones1]

@adinfinitum77 Please explain what you mean by "capitalist mindset".

[auroraslaugh]

I remember reading in Agatha Christie's autobiography how she was unschooled and how she learned to read simply by being read to & then developed a natural curiosity about how it all worked. She credited her parents w/ taking this natural approach to their children's upbringing in general and called it "healthy neglect."

[mikaris01]

0:36:10 to 0:37:08 sums it up exactly.

[keggerous]

i think schools should be different but chirldren should still attend them at least for a few years to get basic knowledge. i think higher education should be publicly avalible too.

[PanzerDivisionBOM]

I'm still kind of iffy on unschooling. It's going to be better than public school, but that's not saying much. I agree that intrinsic motivation is desirable, but so is a specialized mentor figure, who knows what skills you will need and how to best help you learn them.

Am I the only one who is kinda spooked about the complete lack of direction in the program? Unschooling will always be superior to public school, but how do you think it would compare to competitive, consumer-driven teaching?

[bigajosep]

@PanzerDivisionBOM i've never heard to comsumer-driven teaching. are you refering to things like online schools?

[PanzerDivisionBOM]

@bigajosep

As an example, yes. More generally, I was referring to any form of education where neither funding nor participation is mandated at gunpoint by a state, and which is not subject to the purview of cartels like the American Federation of Teachers or a school board.

In short, free market education.

[MRSketch09]

Interesting Vid. Liked it.

[Eldel15]

I laughed when she mentioned the part about reading Things Fall Apart in the 9th grade, because I am a 9th grader in school and just finished working on that!

[FrankenKitteh]

This was a fantastic talk. I really enjoyed Astra's views on making education meaningful in terms of school leavers being more than "useful" workers and consumers etc.

I found this talk far more refreshing than a lot of the unschool "experts" and I would love it if she wrote or talked more on unschooling.

[1lisarussell]

This was awesome. I'd like to direct people who are interested in learning more about unschooling to Dayna Martin's youtube channel (just search her name) because she has a lot of videos that help parents learn how to be unschooling parents.

[4stinkydogs100]

This should be required viewing for all naysayers of ANY kind of homeschooling. Robin West, a professor at Georgetown U., wrote a scathing article in Law Review about how homeschooling should be criminalized - it can be seen on the HSDLA website. She obviously never had real interaction with unschoolers/homeschoolers, nor does she understand why families and students choose this style of education. Ms. Taylor is so well spoken - I hope Robin West sees this video. Thank you so much for posting!

[perceival]

@4stinkydogs100

I agree with you, but also please note the important distinction Astra makes between homeschooling and unschooling - it is a key point.

[Clarion13]

Wow, this is one of those life changing moments for me, watching this! Last week I was frustrating myself, trying to find a good school for my son who is bored and unhappy at his own "good" school. Today I watched this and I am suddenly considering Unschooling! It occurs to me now that perhaps school itself is the issue, not which one, or where. ;)

[LarsTheHonest]

@Clarion13 I wouldn't recommend it. How can you get a job if you havent even finished 1st grade? Even if you can "transfer" your years home into school years, and thereby get the papers needed to go to college, I still think it's a better choice to go with traditional school. But hey, what do I know.

[ion010101]

@LarsTheHonest People who say, "but how can you git a jerb if ya don't go to school!?" remind me of the mom character in the movie, "Ordinary People".

[Clarion13]

Wow, this is one of those life changing moments for me, watching this!  Last week I was frustrating myself, trying to find a good school for my son who is bored and unhappy at his own "good" school. Today I watched this and I am suddenly considering Unschooling! It occurs to me now that perhaps school itself is the issue, not which one, or where. ;)

[LadyLetheSiren]

This is an excellent piece on unschooling.

I'd like to make the comment, since the question was asked so much, that one's parents needn't be rich nor "educated" to be good facilitators of unschooling. I consider myself a fine example of this, and would be happy to elaborate via pm.

Also, her saying that unschooling is a lifelong thing is one of the truest things i ever heard.

Thanks so very, very much for uploading! :)

[mum2lpb]

Wow, I have been reinspired to continue on this unschooling adventure as my eldest child encourages me to do whenever I wonder if I am doing enough.....and when those around me start to 'teach' their kids because they follow that feeling of "I'm not doing enough".  Life is school...really and I just need to trust my amazing children! Thank you, what an amazing talk!

[perceival]

This was a fascinating lecture. I identify deeply with Astra's personal story, and the things she says about the boredom, petty tyranny, and unspoken indoctrination into the values of consumption-driven society at public school really ring a bell. I'd love to hear more on this topic from such a clear thinker!

[vathelokai]

@perceival look up schoolsucksproject