| Life learning (sometimes called
un-schooling or self-directed learning) is one of those concepts that are almost
easier to explain by saying what it isn’t, than what it is. And that’s probably
because our own schooled backgrounds have convinced us that learning happens
only in a dedicated building on certain days, between certain hours, and managed
by a specially trained professional. Within that schooling framework, no matter how hard teachers try and no matter how good their textbooks, many bright students get bored, many slower students struggle and give up or lose their self-respect, and most of them reach the end of the process unprepared to enter into society. They have memorized a certain body of knowledge long enough to rush back the information on tests, but they haven’t really learnt much, at least of the official curriculum. Life learners, on the other hand, know that learning is not difficult, that people learn things quite easily if they’re not compelled and forced, if they see a need to learn something, and if they are trusted and respected enough to learn it on their own timetable, at their own speed, in their own way. They know that learning cannot be produced in us and that we cannot produce it in others—no matter what age and no matter whether we’re at school or at home. Life learning is independent of time, location or the presence of teacher. It does not require mom or dad to teach, or kids to work in workbooks at the kitchen table from 9 to noon from September to June. Life learning is learner-driven. It involves living and learning— in and from the real world. It is about exploring, questioning, experimenting, making messes, taking risks without fear of making mistakes, being laughed at and trying again. Furthermore, life learning is about trusting kids to learn what they need to know and about helping them to learn and grow in their own ways. It is about providing positive experiences that enable children to understand the world and their culture and to interact with it. |