What is education?

Contrary to what most educators would tell you, I believe that school is only a small - and non-essential - part of education. In my experience first as a child, and now as an educator and parent, I know that school is just one piece of life. I am far more interested in the collection of many little and big experiences that contribute to a satisfying and meaningful life. If school is the source of strife, stress, and disconnection, you can live life without it. At the very least, you can change how it looks and how it is centered in your house.

What is education anyway? It is far beyond anything that school offers. The Alliance for Self-Directed Education defines education at least partly by saying: Education is the sum of everything a person learns that supports them towards living a satisfying and meaningful life (from self-directed.org/sde). This means that school can be a part of this lifelong gathering of information and skills; and it doesn't have to be. I know it might sound radical to live life without school as a central component. What's really radical though is the idea of truly supporting our kids' social and emotional needs above all else.

As a human out supporting learning in community, I am grateful to the Alliance for Self-Directed Education for the many resources they make available to the public when considering (or re-considering) how we honor and support the youth in our communities.

Thanks to ASDE for the information and education on this topic. ASDE has been a rock of a resource connecting all versions of unschooling and self-directed lifestyles, particularly those that support and strive for collective liberation. As an umbrella alliance, ASDE brings together the many various organizations, schoolish places, and alternative spaces to school around the world.