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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Unschooling in the Art of Self-Direction | Lefty Parent

Unschooling in the Art of Self-Direction | Lefty Parent:


Unschooling in the Art of Self-Direction

From my own experience and what I’ve read of the wisdom of others, directing ones own life is not a science that can be taught through instruction but an art that is best developed from self-initiated efforts. Unfortunately, conventional school up to now has not been a good venue for young people to learn to direct their own development, rather serving mainly as a venue for the larger community (or maybe more specifically the state) to attempt to program young people’s developmental path. Looking back at my own youth that was certainly the case. Most of the developmental experiences that helped me learn to direct my own life happened outside of the classroom and outside of the context of school.
Directing ones own life is one of the most critical skills you learn in the process of “unschooling”, whichWikipedia defines as…
A range of educational philosophies and practices centered on allowing children to learn through