Unschooled

March 18, 2019
McDonald, a board member of the Alliance for Self-Directed Education, issues a passionate but unconvincing treatise for “self-directed education” outside of a formal school structure. She paints an appealing picture of how her own “four never-been-schooled” kids thrived by being allowed to pursue their personal interests. But McDonald doesn’t show how what worked in her household, and those of others, can apply to everyone’s, especially for less affluent or single parents without ample resources and time. She is most effective at providing historical context, tracing how the current educational system developed beginning in the mid-19th century, when public education became mandatory and the responsibility for educating the young shifted away from the family. McDonald contends that though “children are natural learners... born with the drive to explore and synthesize their world,” the U.S. “industrial model of schooling” extinguishes this drive. However, she pays little attention to the likelihood that her movement could widen the divide between the haves and have-nots, and offers no middle ground between educational regimentation and self-direction. As a result, her strongly argued book is unlikely to sway even those parents in sympathy with her general philosophy but who are in no position to buck the system.