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, plus a variety of unschooling books and resources. He joins me to discuss the history of unschooling (the idea and the movement), his experiences as an unschooling parent, his relationship with John Holt and the language we use to convey our ideas. Pat's Personal History of Unschooling He and his wife raised three girls, and while embracing the unschooling philosophy, they left the door into and out school open for them. The embrace was a very gradual process, from idealism about teaching to John Holt's impact on his ideas about learning. The importance of avoiding the creation of an adversarial relationship with school in the minds of children. A Mindset For Unschooling slowing down, living consciously The Legend of Zelda teaches reading appreciation of choice trying school The Language of Unschooling We discuss the words we use in relation to branding and outreach. My discomforting revelation about the low volume of searches for unschooling and deschooling. John Holt's issue with the words "education" and "educator" The interesting etymology of the word "Education" and how the meaning was changed The Professional Rejection of John Holt's Ideas Holt: learning is not the result of teaching; it's the result of the activity of the learners; teaching can be helpful, but the prerequisite is the intrinsic motivation of the learner Gatto: "professional interest is served by making what is easy to do seem hard" Escape From Childhood (1974)- advocacy needs and rights of children and the ephebiphobic (fear of young people) response The Ideas In Action Summit The downloadable version of The Ideas Into Action Summit is now available. Use the coupon code independence to can get it for 30% off now until July 5th Learn more here. Our Partners Visit Praxis Please Support School Sucks School Sucks was one of the longest running liberty-minded podcasts on the web, and the only one completely devoted to the issue of education (versus public school and college). Your support keeps the show alive, which keeps us at the top of the options for education podcasts and leads to new people discovering our work. Please help us continue to spread this important message further! One-Time Donation Options:Paypal/Venmo Crypto Addresses: DASH XcZfPP6GZGVo9VKViNBVJZja5JVxZDB229ETHEREUM 0x3c5504CE3401C028832173506fa30BD4db4b7D35LITECOIN LKNp24f5wwvZ2QzeDbvxXgBxyVwi1yXnu2BITCOIN 1KhwY836cfSGCK5aaGFv8Q7PHMgghFJn1UBITCOIN CASH 1AmqLVxjw3Lp9KT5ckfvsqfN2Hn3B1hCWSZCASH t1by1ZGJ63LoLSjXy27ooJtipf4wMr7qbu4 Recurring Options: Support Us On PATREONYou support our mission, and you want to help us continue to reach new people with our message and media. Your contribution helps us maintain presence, and to further build the legacy of School Sucks Project. And please bookmark and use this link for your Amazon shopping: Shop With Us Our Private Community: Visit The Uni-iversity Originally Released November 14, 2018 As "Pat Farenga – The Evolution of Unschooling [PODCAST #586]"Support School Sucks: Higher Education For Self-Liberation