Learning outside of 4 walls – one teacher’s view

When discussing travel with kids, the topic of education on the road will always be on the agenda. Parents naturally want the best for their kids and will worry ridiculously about whether they have made the right decision. There are so many options and from my experience what works for one child doesn’t necessarily work for another child.

I come from a classroom teaching background, but also recognise the immense learning opportunities that a classroom can’t provide. I’m excited about schooling on the road and the unique experiences my children will have exploring new places. I’m not saying that everyone should immediately take up homeschooling; just understand that learning can happen whenever and wherever. Learning does not have to happen in a classroom… in fact class teachers are your biggest advocate of learning outside of school. Have you ever approached a teacher and asked them what you should do with your child while away on a holiday? I guarantee they will say that just having discussions around your adventure on the road will be the greatest learning opportunity by far. Home learning experiences can be letting your child help you write the shopping list when you go to the shops, letting them be the map navigator of a zoo you might visit on a weekend, or just as simple as helping with chores.

Homeschooling or roadschooling doesn’t necessarily mean any workbooks; it is up to the parent and child to negotiate how they wish their learning to occur. In fact I know of more homeschoolers that use child text books more frequently than a lot of class teachers. I myself haven’t used student text books in class for about 6 years.

One term that doesn’t sit well with me is the term ‘unschooling’.  It isn’t the approach to education I have the problem with but I find today’s use of this word seems to be used fashionably and it shows our current education system in a negative perspective. The word unschooling itself is just negative. It gives the perception that everything that was ever taught in school needs to be ‘undone’. Instead of acknowledging that there are many acceptable ways of educating children it gives the perception that unschoolers have a ‘holier-than-thou’ outlook. How can a child be ‘unschooled’ I wonder? School is an experience and we cannot unlive experiences. Instead we can build on these experiences, adding new experiences to build upon their prior knowledge. Wouldn’t this be a better way to look at it?

According to Pat Farenga, unschooling is “known as interest driven, child-led, natural, organic, eclectic, or self-directed learning. Unschooling, for lack of a better term (until people start to accept living as part and parcel of learning), is the natural way to learn. However, this does not mean unschoolers do not take traditional classes or use curricular materials when the student, or parents and children together, decide that this is how they want to do it.”

The term ‘unschooling’ has been used since the 1970’s and the education system has come a long way since then. Classrooms will never be able to replicate the natural surrounds of the outdoors and some planning will always have to come into place to cater for a class of 25 kids. Although, the education system is recognising more and more the importance of play and investigation in the classroom. Since the 1970’s believe it or not many classrooms display child-led learning. Although I am aware just like not all parenting styles are the same, not all schools are the same. Schools can also vary dramatically from state to state.

Just last week I worked at a school that embraces learning through play. Soon after the students arrived for school they moved to work on their own individual investigations. I walked over to a girl painting a picture of a flower garden, she commented how there were only 4 colours of paint and she wanted more colours for her flowers. I acknowledged her problem and pointed out that she almost had a different colour flower in one area where the paints where overlapping. She recognised the usefulness in this observation and jumped straight into mixing an array of colours to find one suitable for another flower.

Another girl was working on a roller coaster ride for a matchbox car. She laid out some blocks along the ground that she could roll the car along. I asked her what she knew about roller coasters and she replied, “they are so fun, they go fast, and up and down”. I asked her if her one did that. She had a bit of a puzzled look on her face; I walked away and left her to think about it for a bit. As I looked back she was inserting a cylinder block under her track so that it went up and down.

I moved on to another boy and had a chat about what he was working on. He was building a boat. I asked him what he knew about boats and he said he has been fishing in one and you can’t have holes in them or they won’t float. He was busily taping the holes of his egg cartoon with sticky tape. We talked about how he could test his boat to see if it was a success and he was keen to see if his theory was correct.

The classroom was a hive of busy children; every child was engaged with what they were doing.

If you are an unschooler… great! We applaud you for being able to take on the task of guiding your child’s life learning. But please remember most teachers are trying to create an environment as close to child-centred as they can. We are not all text book driven, blackboard scribers. Many schools actually take the same play and investigation approach that a homeschooling or unschooler parent does. The only difference is that teachers are making modifications so they can do it with 25 students in the room. Yes your child won’t receive the same amount of attention as a homeschooler, yes it is not in a natural environment, but there are lots of other beneficial skills they will learn. The sense of community a child can gain within a school environment is hard to replicate. And in the end teaching a class of 25 students is not a feat to be sneezed at.

Teachers are supporters of all learning and we would also like to hear support towards the profession instead of the #unschooling comments that bring us down. In our busy society there is often a place for schools. Without the support of these institutions many of us would not be able to work and provide for our families.

So whether you are a homeschooler, roadschooler, distance ed schooler, private schooler or public schooler; or someone like me that will likely do a mix. Don’t be hard on yourself or others. Instead share your amazing life experiences so we can all benefit.

There is no right or wrong choice. We do what is right for our families.