Fed up with the restrictions at his conventional school, 10-year-old Scott Gray convinced his parents to transfer him to one where children control their own education.
Scooped by Kathleen McClaskey |
The Sudbury Valley School — a “democratic school” where children are involved in setting and enforcing the rules of behavior, and are free to decide what to do with their time — had been around since the 1960s. So Gray, based at nearby Boston College, began his exploration by surveying its graduates to assess what happens to kids after they leave such a low-pressure learning environment.
“The school totally violates our cultural beliefs about what children need to do to become educated,” he says. “They’re free to play and explore. Yet kids from a variety of backgrounds and personalities seemed to do well there.” The survey revealed that its graduates had had no difficulty pursuing higher education and careers that interested them, and almost all reported feeling better prepared for adult life than if they had attended a conventional school. Says Gray: “That first study convinced me that the school works.”
Gray has authored a book "Free to Learn" on his experiences and research of the graduates of the Sudbury Valley School.
FREE TO LEARN: Conclusiones del psicólogo Peter Gray en un estudio realizado acerca de qué es lo que ocurre cuando los niños son parte activa y deciden acerca de su aprendizaje.
“Children can educate themselves and are good at doing so if the conditions are right."
They also need guidance, in the ways put forward by both Piaget and Vygotsky.
Materials in the form of educational toys, games, books, where they can make their own selections are crucial.
Audrey curating for www.homeschoolsource.co.uk
Mind opening article on the effective ways children teach themselves and others..