The Essential School Sucks, #24 of 50 Theme Three: What It Means To Be Educated We move from self-directed learning to its outcome: critical thinking. Today I'll discuss one of the MOST IMPORTANT aspects of it: our persistent uncritical thoughts and feelings. (November, 2016) What is wrong with John Oliver? What's wrong with Donald Trump? What's wrong the anti-Trump anti-reality protestors? What was wrong with me the other day when I suddenly felt impelled to hatch a conspiracy theory...

The Essential School Sucks, #23 of 50 Theme Three: What It Means To Be Educated Kerry McDonald is a home-educating mother of four, who holds an M.Ed. from Harvard University, where she studied education administration, planning, and social policy. She is a writer for Natural Mother Magazine, the Foundation for Economic Education, Forbes, and Intellectual Takeout. She is a founding member of AlternativesToSchool.com, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Self-Directed...

The Essential School Sucks, #22 of 50 Theme Three: What It Means To Be Educated Scott Hambrick returns for a discussion on "how people learn and how we help them do that," as he aspires to be a more effective home-educator, Starting Strength coach, and leader at Online Great Books. We begin our discussion with an exploration of the common learning theories practiced in public school and higher education, along with a cost/benefit analysis of each: behaviorism, cognitivism, and (social)...

The Essential School Sucks, #21 of 50 Theme Three: What It Means To Be Educated Today's show is intended as a resource for listeners looking to share the ideas of alternative education and self directed learning with their friends and family, or with anyone wants to learn more about these subjects. Blake Boles builds exciting alternatives to traditional school for self-directed young people. He runs the company Unschool Adventures and is the author of The Art of Self-Directed Learning,...

The Essential School Sucks, #20 of 50 Theme Two: Leaving Institutional Schooling and Finding Educational Alternatives In the previous episode you heard my first podcast with Zak from 2016. Today we'll fast-forward five years for updates on life and career advice in times of increasing uncertainty and instability. Favorite School Sucks neighbor Zak Slayback returns to offer some key 2021 updates to his past advice for young people at the beginning of their careers. Our previous...

The Essential School Sucks, #19 of 50 Theme Two: Leaving Institutional Schooling and Finding Educational Alternatives Zak Slayback is an entrepreneur who writes, speaks and takes action on issues of education, innovation, and philosophy. He is an Ivy League dropout and a founding team member of Praxis - an organization that creates apprenticeships for college-age people that lead directly to full-time jobs. Learn more about Zak at ZakSlayback.com. Discussion: the power and...

The Essential School Sucks, #18 of 50 Theme Two: Leaving Institutional Schooling and Finding Educational Alternatives Today, an Essential School Sucks compilation of two conversations with natural learning legends: Sandra Dodd and Pam Laricchia. PART ONE: Sandra Dodd is a world-renown unschooling and natural learning advocate, and the mother of three adult unschooled children. Her website SandraDodd.com is one of the most comprehensive unschooling resources on the internet. She joins me...

The Essential School Sucks, #17 of 50 Theme Two: Leaving Institutional Schooling and Finding Educational Alternatives Pat Farenga is a leading unschooling advocate, and the father of three adult unschooled children. He worked closely with unschooling pioneer John Holt on the Growing Without Schooling Magazine, and in the mid-1980s he took over as publisher of GWS and the president of Holt Associates. Today Pat runs the website JohnHoltGWS.com, which archives all the issues of the magazine,...

The Essential School Sucks, #16 of 50 Theme Two: Leaving Institutional Schooling and Finding Educational Alternatives From (#SchoolSucksAcrossAmerica - DAY SIX - OCT 20 - Harrisburg, PA) Tony Myers and I ask and answer questions with Circle School students and staff. From the The Circle School website: A pioneer in integral education, The Circle School’s program balances freedom and responsibility in a self-directed, democratic community. Students are free to choose their own activities,...

The Essential School Sucks, #15 of 50 Theme Two: Leaving Institutional Schooling and Finding Educational Alternatives Diane Murphy taught in public schools for 30 years before she retired early to build BigFish, an innovative self-directed learning community in Dover, NH. I had the pleasure of speaking with Diane at the FreeCoast Festival and of hearing her presentation on BigFish. We sat down to discuss her past experience, current efforts and passion for self-directed learning and...

The Essential School Sucks, #14 of 50 Theme Two: Leaving Institutional Schooling and Finding Educational Alternatives (but also for everyone else) Matt Beaudreau returns to map out a hero's journey for teens. We'll also discuss how students are guided through this process at Acton Academy, and how homeschooling and unschooling parents can help nurture this process in their own children. Plus much more on goals, systems, habits and routines self-knowledge and challenge resisting...

The Essential School Sucks, #13 of 50 Theme Two: Leaving Institutional Schooling and Finding Educational Alternatives Kerry McDonald returns to discuss the growing Micro-School movement. What is a Micro-School and why should we be talking about them? (and why am I excited about a school?) We'll also cover blended learning, the question of screen time for children, and a thriving micro-school network in Arizona Kerry recently profiled in Forbes Magazine. That article is called How...

The Essential School Sucks, #12 of 50 Theme Two: Leaving Institutional Schooling and Finding Educational Alternatives Connor Boyack is a home-educating parent and the founder of the Libertas Institute. He joins me to discuss his book Passion-Driven Education, which is definitely a nice companion piece for the School Sucks Podcast. Discussed: School is a tool for social transformation; education is a tool for self-transformation Addressing Concerns: Structure, "assessment," and...

The Essential School Sucks, #11 of 50 Theme Two: Leaving Institutional Schooling and Finding Educational Alternatives Lenore Skenazy was one of the first people to sound the alarm on the dangers of safety. Now, two decades into the "century of the safe" - where safety is the trump card in almost every policy argument - we must recognize that letting go of overprotectiveness is an important step towards treating young people with more dignity. 2013: Lenore joins me to discuss the Free...

The Essential School Sucks, #10 of 50 Theme One: The Real Problems With Public School This show concludes our first section of shows on the problem of institutional schooling. We're told the primary purpose of K-12 is get into a good college. So in this installment we'll use a single news story about corruption to create a comprehensive argument against the content, culture, and cost of higher indoctrination.(for most people) Scott Hambrick and I discuss the so-called biggest scandal in...

The Essential School Sucks, #9 of 50 Theme One: The Real Problems With Public School This final show - thoroughly remastered - about the problems of K-12 public schooling, is primarily focused on the recent dark history, Outcome-Based Education, how it was applied to the children of the 90s, and how it has been "perfected" since then. Original Notes: Today's show is a followup to the previous conversation with Dave Smith - a deeper level of exploration of the history of school, covering...

The Essential School Sucks, #8 of 50 Theme One: The Real Problems With Public School March 27, 2018 - This past weekend hundreds of thousands of ill-informed teenagers participated in a nationwide accidental fundraiser for the NRA called #MarchForOurLives. Thaddeus Russell returns to examine the bigger picture. We'll discuss the fetish-ization of children by both the left and the right. Other themes include politics as a performance on a stage, dangers of absolutist thinking, Manichaeism...

The Essential School Sucks, #7 of 50 Theme One: The Real Problems With Public School How will the draconian "safety" measures from the past pandemic (or maybe a future pandemic) affect school children? These measures are new vectors for punishment and surveillance, and they will certainly remain in place beyond any health crisis. Jay, The Honest Teacher returns almost exactly one year after our last conversation. I asked him to offer some up close and personal accounts (from students...

The Essential School Sucks, #6 of 50 Theme One: The Real Problems With Public School The story of mass public schooling: a shocking intrusion takes place, and then it becomes normalized, and then it becomes invisible, until another shocking intrusion takes place. And so on... Dave Smith and I discuss a brief history of this intrusion into family and community life, and then we assess the condition of public school and college, as they were, heading into the pandemic (where they...

The Essential School Sucks, #5 of 50 Theme One: The Real Problems With Public School Dr. Peter Gray was a research professor of psychology at Boston College, and author of Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life. Peter serves on the Organizing team for the Alliance of Self-Directed-Education. He also runs a blog on Psychology Today called Freedom to Learn, where he regularly explains and promotes...

The Essential School Sucks, #4 of 50 Theme One: The Real Problems With Public School In 2019, teen anxiety and depression levels had reached startling new highs. Then 2020 happened. Dan Sanchez is the Director of Content at the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) and the editor-in-chief of FEE.org. Dan is also the main writing coach for our friends at Praxis. He joins me for a fresh take on a familiar problem: young people are drowning and purposelessness, searching for meaning....

The Essential School Sucks, #3 of 50 Theme One: The Real Problems With Public School Corey DeAngelis is the director of school choice at Reason Foundation. He is also an adjunct scholar at Cato Institute. He returns to discuss some very promising developments for school choice and educational freedom. A great opportunity is upon us, but it's likely the real fight is just beginning. Corey and I will also talk about the mindset and strategy that he brings to that fight. Mentioned:...

The Essential School Sucks, # 2 of 50 Theme One: The Real Problems With Public School School decision-making is moving further and further away from parental control, supervision, and awareness. And this is not a new problem; it's been gradually but steadily progressing for over a century. It's a history worth knowing, because it affected all of us. This episode examines the origins of, and ideologies and motives behind controversial (yet bi-partisan!) school legislation like Common Core...

The Essential School Sucks, # 1 of 50 Theme One: The Real Problems With Public School A monologue about the courageous life and work of John Taylor Gatto, and the story of how he changed my life.How many teachers reluctantly acknowledge the failure of mass compulsory schooling? How many become disheartened but then relegate themselves to quiet conformity? How many hunt for the villains, but simply wind up sniveling behind the closed doors of the teachers’ lounge, choosing to blame children...