Radical Unschooling

Submission 343

Overview

Radical Unschooling is a movement that was popularized in the United States after the 1970s. Unschooling is a form of informal learning not unlike homeschooling, however, "radical unschooling" proponents do not follow any formal education regiments and instead choose to let their children direct the course of their education. Radical unschooling gained notoriety in the early 2020s due to Facebook groups and various influencers sharing their experiences, many of which revolve around undereducated children who lack basic reading and writing skills.

Background

American educator John Holt is generally regarded as the father of the unschooling movement, largely popularized by his newsletter Growing Without Schooling, which was founded in 1977. Other unschooling propagators have devised their own methods to "unschool" children, including Sandra Dodd, who coined the term "radical unschooling" where a child is placed completely in charge of directing his or her education with no set curriculum or timed learning goals.

On March 7th, 2007, YouTuber^[2] Dayna Martin posted the earliest known video about "Radical Unschooling," gathering over 17,000 views in 17 years (seen below, left).

On April 19th, 2010, ABC News's official YouTube^[1] channel posted a segment about the "Radical Unschooling" movement, gathering over 200,000 likes in 14 years (seen below).

Online History

On June 6th, 2011, Redditor^[4] /u/unschooler posted to the subreddit /r/AskMeAnything, writing, "I am a 24 year old who was unschooled since the 4th grade. AMA." They present themselves as an unschooling success story in which they received a degree in math and a doctorate in statistics (seen below).

The Facebook group "Radical Unschooling" was created in 2012 by Dayna Martin, also known for her unschooling videos on YouTube. The group regularly produces screenshots of parents expressing concern about their child's inability to read or write. Redditor^[5] /u/JadedAyr posted one such screenshot to /r/insaneparents on August 2nd, 2020, gathering over 2,000 upvotes in four years (seen below, left).

Another screenshot showing a parent expressing worry about their 19-year-old being unable to read made the rounds on X^[6] in March 2024, gathering over 40,000 likes in a month (seen below).

Criticism

The subreddit /r/Unschool was created on April 6th, 2010,^[3] where the most upvoted post is a November 23rd, 2021, thread by Redditor Mattnovum. The post is titled, "Criticism of Unschooling from a former student," gathering over 290 upvotes in three years (seen below).

In 2024, various Unschooling proponents on TikTok drew the ire of critics, especially after they shared their children's progress online. TikToker^[7] @mami.onami posted a video showing her child's attempts at writing out "lion" and "egg" in a notebook on May 21st, 2024, a video that was reposted to X in June.

X^[8] user @imbobswaget made a post on June 19th mocking the child's notebook, gathering over 47,000 likes in a day (seen below).