Thread by @naomicfisher

It is strange how many seem to believe that if we didn’t send children to school, they will remain in early childhood forever, playing, running around and exploring. 1/

School teaches that it is essential, and it seems we grow up to believe that. We can’t imagine how otherwise a person can develop into an adult. 2/

It is particularly strange because in many countries in the world today, lots of people do not go to school, and yet they grow up and become functioning adults. 3/

For most of human history, there was no school, and yet people grew up and became competent adults. 4/

There is a basic confusion between what is human development, and what is learnt at school. At lot of what we think is learnt at school, is in fact human development. 5/

When I see children who do not go to school, they learn through play and exploration for longer. Their play gets more complicated and sophisticated, but they are still very much in the moment. 6/

This is particularly good for kids who are on different developmental trajectories - they often come to imaginative play much later than others, and they might only start aged 5, 6 or 7. 7/

Then as they get older, they start to develop the skills they need for mastery learning. This is developmental. No force is required. They start to set goals, and they start to want to improve their skills. They practice. They seek out knowledge. 8/

They start to think to the future, and to deliberately plan their learning. But they might do this much later than their parents were expecting. And they might want to learn quite different things to what their parents would choose. 9/

I know self-directed learners who are spending hours practicing the piano, learning Chinese, doing maths problems, playing Dungeons&Dragons, coding games, doing art, studying psychology, writing novels - but all because they choose to do it. 10/

The playful exploration of the early years have given way to something very special, the curiosity and exploration is now combined with the ability to focus, acquire knowledge and develop skills. 11/

If you’ve only ever known children who go to school, you can’t imagine that it could be like that. But that’s a failure of imagination, not reality. The studies are out there if you look. 12/

And without even thinking about self-directed education, just think of all the adults in the world who never go to school. To assume that they are developmentally childlike is offensive cultural myopia. It’s saying, our way of education is the only way to become an adult. 13/

This isn’t to say young children can’t focus or acquire skills and knowledge. They can. But in my experience older children and young people do it more deliberately and intentionally, whilst young children do it as more of a side effect of play and exploration.