Scholé news – turn of the year 2019/2020

2019 was the Scholé project’s “seven-year itch”, and that is often how it felt.

At times it looked as though all the efforts of recent years had been completely in vain: unschoolers had to pay more and higher fines than ever before. Independent learning projects got into difficulties for internal and external reasons. The number of examination schools for homeschoolers was arbitrarily restricted, and particularly friendly examiners got into trouble with their superiors.

Public debate centred on the right to childcare from the first year of life, a second compulsory year of kindergarten, compulsory education or training up to 18… Could it be that the old system is rearing up one last time before the new one breaks through? Despite everything, 2019 also brought notable progress. New education initiatives were founded that were able to learn a great deal from their predecessors’ mistakes right from the start. There were numerous talks with those responsible for education, to familiarise them with self-directed learning as an internationally recognised form of education. A cognitive scientist, a behavioural biologist, a lawyer and a business information systems specialist spoke at several information events, some of them very well attended, about unschooling from the perspective of their respective fields. As mothers or fathers of self-directed learners, all four speakers were also able to contribute their practical experience and answer the audience’s questions first-hand.

The MEHRSTERN project celebrated its 7th birthday in 2019. Some of the “little stars” have now been part of it for more than half their lives! All week long they look forward to Friday afternoon, when Brigitte Kraft invites them to their next shared adventure. In the autumn, together with Karin Schaffer, I launched an INITIATIVE FOR FREE CHOICE IN EDUCATION, whose website is still under construction. We would be delighted to hear from committed people who would like to take part!

On 20 November 2019, the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Austrian unschoolers’ association (Verein der Freilerner Österreichs) sent a carefully drafted position paper to all education authorities and to the children’s and youth ombudspersons of all federal states. It contains pragmatic proposals for how “process-oriented educational support” could create an alternative to the external examinations currently required. Some children in home education cope well with the annual exams. But there are also children whose educational paths lead in quite different directions: that, too, must be allowed in a democracy and deserves proper recognition! Support for self-educating children that is oriented towards the progress of their individual learning would give those responsible important insights into the diversity of possible learning paths. Moreover, it would be far better suited to recognising cases of neglect or indoctrination in good time than testing the school syllabus once a year!

For its ProBiB initiative to succeed, the unschoolers’ association needs as many signatures from supporters as possible. If you, too, believe that there should be an alternative to the external examinations in Austria, please sign the declaration of support at www.freilerner.at (German) or directly here (German), and forward it to everyone you know who might be interested!

My greatest wish for 2020 would be for all of us to become braver and finally dare to stand up for our rights and needs! Again and again I have seen, in discussions with adults I would actually have considered very sensible, how many people are prepared to give up their most basic needs – and those of their children! – without resistance. I tried to explain to them that crises and breakdowns are logically inevitable as long as children’s natural needs are not really taken seriously, either by school or at home.

These needs can be compared to the storeys of a house: in this picture, the ground floor corresponds to the physical needs for safety, clean water, healthy food, undisturbed sleep and enough exercise. Inseparably linked to it is the first floor, made up of the emotional needs for belonging, security, freedom, love and unconditional acceptance. The roof is essential too: it represents the spiritual needs, the individual search for meaning from which a person’s intrinsic motivation springs. Between the first floor and the roof, any number of educational storeys can be built in. But as long as the load-bearing foundations are crumbling and the roof has big holes or is missing altogether, the whole building is of course constantly in danger of collapse…! The sobering reaction of many of the people I spoke to was: “Yes, that’s true. But unfortunately there’s no other way!” As long as we are convinced of that, that is exactly how it will be…

Please believe that there is another way – stand by yourselves and your children! That 2020 may become a turning point in this respect is what I wish with all my heart for myself, for you and for all children.

Alexandra

P.S.: As newsletters are not easy to forward, here is a link where the Scholé News have been published as posts for some time now: https://gaia-energy.org/tag/schole/

Book tip – “Lernen ist wie Atmen” (Learning is like breathing)

Together with two unschooling mothers, Gudrun Totschnig and Sigrid Haubenberger, we published it ourselves.

We all feel that the time is ripe for this many-voiced account of how unschooling can be lived in practice. Order your own copy on the GAIA marketplace, with a 10 % discount for members. The book is in German.

BUY THE BOOK