{"id":237,"date":"2013-09-16T09:16:28","date_gmt":"2013-09-16T14:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/?p=237"},"modified":"2015-11-10T08:26:07","modified_gmt":"2015-11-10T14:26:07","slug":"can-lutheran-schools-employ-child-led-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/2013\/09\/16\/can-lutheran-schools-employ-child-led-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Lutheran Schools Employ Child-Led Learning?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Written by Liz Koester<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/i>At a recent training, the teachers at my campus were asked to reflect on why we went into teaching. A number of educators responded partially in jest, but with some seriousness, \u201cI went into teaching because I like being in charge.\u201d This led me to think about the system of education as it is currently known. Teachers hold most of the power in education, and students have very little control over their learning journey. I began to contemplate the concept of \u201cunschooling\u201d\u00a0and how we can allow students to take greater ownership of their education.<\/p>\n

The term \u201cunschooling\u201d was coined by the late John Holt, one of the godfathers of the home-schooling movement, who wrote about alternative ways of educating children. The basic tenet of unschooling is that the child decides what, where, who, how, and why they learn. Mintz (2004) defines learner centered education as \u201ceducation where students are actually empowered to make decisions about their own education.\u201d<\/p>\n

The system of education that seems to be the most prevalent in schools today is teacher- led learning. As teachers we need to assist students to take interest in and responsibility for their own personal learning journey. The website whyunschool.info <\/i>states:<\/p>\n

Educational institutions on the other hand tend to suppress and eventually extinguish this natural tendency by enclosing children in an artificial environment where they cannot touch, taste, see, or experience the world, but rather they read about <\/i>others who have explored the world for them. Children are taught not to wonder about things, because that\u2019s coming in a future chapter or grade. They\u2019re taught not to become too interested in a subject because classes are rotated every 45 minutes. They\u2019re taught <\/i>that they can\u2019t be entrusted with their own education\u2014because only the professionals <\/i>know how they should be educated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Children can be guided to take control of their learning, and by putting into practice some of the aspects of the unschooling movement, we can create a more learner-directed environment in our classrooms and schools. Allowing children to take a more active role in their education can be a scary thing, but children by nature are able and ready to learn on their own. There must be patience, acceptance, and willingness on the part of teachers who want their students to discover their natural, innate curiosity.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn important aspect of unschooling is that it allows children to learn from experiences and activities that are matched to their own abilities, interests, rate of learning, and learning styles\u201d (Wheatley, 2009).\u00a0 Children possess natural interests and fascinations individually, and without adult guidance children naturally educate themselves on their own about things that are of interest to them.<\/p>\n

Allowing younger children to play freely instead of planning activities (as is often found in traditional schools) allows them to develop and navigate through an important psychosocial stage, Eriksen\u2019s stage known as Initiative vs. Guilt. Children naturally learn to plan activities, face challenges that arise, and then accomplish tasks. If children are not allowed to play and take initiative to discover and maneuver around their world, or their attempts are stifled by adults or caregivers, they often begin to feel guilt or failure, and children fail to feel that they as individuals have a sense of purpose.<\/p>\n

In middle-to-late elementary school, allowing students to have their own time to participate in free study gives them freedom to take their interests in their own hands. Wheatley (2009) states that test-driven education ignores most areas of a child\u2019s development. Teachers are strongly encouraged to ask higher-level questions so students can develop their critical\u00a0thinking skills. Students will be far more likely to think critically about something that is of interest to them and something they know.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnschooling may help American educators make the paradigm change that America\u2019s schools so desperately need\u201d (Wheatley, 2009). Children can be guided to take control of their learning, and by putting into practice some of the aspects of the unschooling movement, we can create a more learner-directed environment in our classrooms and schools.<\/p>\n

Liz is a Martin Luther College graduate student. Liz earned her BSE with a secondary music major from MLC in ’02. Currently, s<\/i>he is a special education teacher\u00a0working in\u00a0resource\/content mastery at Kennedy-Powell Elementary in\u00a0Temple, TX.<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/i>References:<\/p>\n

Mintz, J. 2004, July 28.\u00a0 Building democratic schools. Radio Free School. Talk retrieved from \u00a0http:\/\/www.radio4all.net\/pub\/archive\/07.30.13\/grassroots@hwcn.org\/<\/a>\u00a0125-1-20040729-0728rfsc10.mp3<\/p>\n

Wheatley, K.\u00a0 (2009).\u00a0 Unschooling: An oasis for development and democracy. Encounter<\/i>,\u00a022<\/i>(2).\u00a0 p. 27-32.<\/p>\n

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