Month: January 2020

The educational model and philosophy of The Freedom Academy draws heavily from multiple sources of democratic and self-directed education. We draw inspiration from long-standing and well established institutions such as Summerhill School in the UK (founded 1921) and Sudbury Valley School in the USA (founded 1968), to more recent models such as the North Star Self-Directed Learning Centers (founded 1996) and Agile Learning Centers (founded 2012).

These alternative methods were born mainly out of frustration and disillusionment with the current traditional education system, which has remained essentially unchanged for hundreds of years. John Taylor Gatto, once a multi-awarded public school teacher in New York City (awarded Teacher of the Year in 1989, 1990 and 1991, as well as New York State Teacher of the Year in 1991), turned his back on the system and became one of its harshest critics when he saw the extensive damage it was capable of causing.

He authored several books such as Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling (1992), The Underground HIstory of American Education (2001), and Weapons of Mass Instruction (2008) describing in detail the way schools are used primarily for social control and for creating a docile and compliant workforce.

Sir Ken Robinson, a recognized expert on creativity and education, authored the book Creative Schools (2015), where he presents some of the most innovative learning systems in the modern world. The common thread I discovered running through all of them is that one way or another, they broke the mold of traditional schooling. They encouraged students to explore and develop their own interests. They respected the individual’s learning process and methods and allowed each to take as much time as they wanted, or to utilize whatever methods suited them best.

Daniel Greenberg, founder of the Sudbury Valley School, authored Turning Learning Right Side Up (2008, with Russell Ackoff), and he asserts, “No matter how ‘good’ the teaching or the opportunites to learn, an unmotivated student learns nothing.” What schools have been trying to do is to force this motivation on students, to enforce a social agenda by threats or enticement — e.g. “if you don’t go to school, you’ll become a bum,” or “if you want success and to earn a lot of money, you need to finish school,” and so on.

However, Greenberg argues that “the key role of an educational system…is to provide a setting in which the various internal motivations each child possesses can flourish into active pursuits. It is not the role of adults to attempt to replace the motivations already present in children with others that the adults wish the children had.” And this is the kind of students his school has been producing (and is still producing) for over 50 years.

It is upon this foundation that the Freedom Academy stands — to provide a venue for nurturing each child’s interest and motivations, where they can express themselves freely and not be judged, in a space that is open, supportive, energetic and caring.

Email me at andy@freethinking.me. View previous articles at www.freethinking.me.

There is an internet meme going around which says, “Imagine if schools actually helped kids identify their strengths by exploring their talents from a young age and growing their skills over the 12 years, instead of letting them all follow the same routine and leaving them confused in life after graduation.”

The Freedom Academy is a Self-Directed Learning Community built on the idea that people (from childhood and all the way until they die) are naturally curious about the world around them and are always working at increasing their knowledge and understanding of it. Given the freedom, time, opportunity and resources to pursue their interests, they can learn whatever they deem necessary to become independent, responsible and productive individuals of society. As such, learning is self-directed, self-motivated and achieved without coercion or artificial inducement.

There is no defined curriculum or set material that students “must” go through. There are no exams, homework, seatwork, and the like that supposedly measures competence and ability — unless the student so desires and makes a prior agreement or arrangement (i.e. the student asks to be taught a certain subject and part of the teacher’s condition is for the student to perform drills, homework or tests and to be evaluated based on these). 

Also, the term “teacher” may not necessarily refer to an adult but another fellow student from whom the learner wishes to gain knowledge or skills. Adults who work to keep the school in operation are simply called staff or facilitators (from the French word “facile” or Latin “facilis” which means to make things easy or effortless — thus it is the facilitator’s job to support children in their interests, to make it easier for them to learn and develop).

Children can and will educate themselves. The academy provides a supportive environment where they:

1. Can play, explore, converse, socialize and interact freely with all age groups;
2. Can learn what they want and at their own pace;
3. Have access to various learning tools and materials;
4. Are free from bullying and harassment;
5. Have a voice in the day-to-day affairs and governance of the community.

Imagine kids, and even teens, excited to go to this school that is not a school, where they are happy learning and doing things they love, where they are free to explore their interests and try out new things without judgement or criticism.

In a few months, there will be no more need to imagine as the Freedom Academy pushes forward to become a reality in Davao City.

Email me at andy@freethinking.me. View previous articles at www.freethinking.me.

The Freedom Academy is my vision of what an educational center ought to be. 

It is not a school — certainly not as we traditionally understand schools. Mention the word “school” and what comes to mind are classrooms, lessons, homework, quizzes, exams, recitation, grades, curriculum, teachers, uniforms, requirements and class schedules. Most of these are thrust on kids who have almost no say on the matter and have little choice but to comply.

A kid can’t say, for example, “I don’t feel like doing Math today. Can I skip Math for today? Can I skip Math for a week?” or “I don’t like my teacher. Can I have another teacher? Can I just watch Youtube instead? I understand the guy there more than our teacher” or “I don’t like all these subjects. I want to learn how to fix things around the house like fixing a leaky faucet or a squeaky door. Can I learn those instead?”

In school, students have to do as they’re told, and perform tasks as required of them, and they are judged, graded and labeled based on how they perform. It doesn’t matter if they like it or not, if it is important to them or not, if they’re interested in it or not. What’s worse is they are expected to master these tasks at more or less the same timeframe. Too bad if a kid can’t figure out how to add and subtract polynomials in 3 days, the teacher has to move on to multiplication and division, and the kid will just have to struggle to catch up. Some just give up.

And so kids get tired of school, and because learning is so often associated with school, they get tired of that too.

Now that’s a shame, because people, especially as children, have that inner curiosity, that burning desire to learn things. It’s a shame that school kills that desire. Don’t believe me? Ask kids if they’re excited to go to school, especially those who are just beginning — you’ll get a lot of nods, “yes’s” and smiles. Of course, it’s a new experience for them.

Now, ask any teenager if they’re still excited to go to school. You’ll be lucky to get 1 yes out of 10, or maybe 1 out of 100.

The Freedom Academy is not a school, but I envision it to be a center of vibrant learning. There will be no classrooms — or rather, anywhere is a classroom. There will be no teachers — or rather, anyone can be a teacher, whether an adult or a fellow student. There are no imposed schedules or subjects, no curriculum except what the student wants for himself or herself. There are no quizzes, exams, homework or grades except if the students ask for them, maybe to measure their own understanding.

The Freedom Academy is so named because we believe the cornerstone of learning is freedom. A child who is forced to learn will only learn enough to to satisfy the teacher or the parent. Learning is a chore, done only for compliance, and whatever they learn may be easily forgotten after the exam. But a child who learns out of their own free will, out of their own interest and volition, will retain that knowledge and will even delve deeper into it on their own without any prodding or coercion.

Email me at andy@freethinking.me. View previous articles atwww.freethinking.me.