Welcome to Adversarian

In a failing economy, public education can seem like the perfect answer. It’s freely available, and it provides a well planned education for today’s young minds. When millions of American families are overworked, school is a stress-relieving solution. Letting others do the work of planning your child’s education is much more preferable.

Or is it?

Schools tell you children need rules, discipline, and the safety net of expectations. Many parents agree.

As an advocate for self-education, I don’t. I believe in every individual’s ability to control their own education. I question the idea that learning is something we can’t do on our own. Instead of rules, discipline, and expectations, I’m telling you that children need freedom.

Learning in freedom is a scary thought for most schooled minds out there. The principles of formal education and its expectations are familiar, and reassuring. But those formal expectations of school limit us. The standards students are held against limit their individual personalities, their own curiousity, their personal motivation.

The freedom of self-education instead embraces the curiousity and unique mind of the learner.

My favorite analogy is that of a library.

Imagine a student entering the library. In his hand he holds a list of books to check out, given to him by his teacher. In the library of hundreds of thousands of books, he takes out only those on his list. Many of them he’s not interested in, and some of them he’s not able to comprehend. A handful are books he’s read before, and some of the books cover subjects he’s passionate about.

At the same time, a self-directed learner enters the library. He goes there with no specific idea in mind, just his curiousity. In the library of those hundreds of thousands of books, he has no guide or list to follow. Instead, he browses the shelves. Titles that interest him are picked off the shelf, and read to different extents. As he reads, the knowledge he gains peaks his curiousity. Without a formal guide, he starts to browse the library to answer the questions he has. Along the way, he looks at more books that interest him. His natural curiousity leads him to far more books than the student, and everything he’s learned he’s been interested in, when he’s been interested in it.

Of the two, the self-directed learner has taken better advantage of the library. Without expectations limiting his search for knowledge, he’s introduced himself to far more than the formal student, to the depth he’s able to handle.

I’m here because I believe in the power of every individual to guide their own education. I believe in an alternative to the limitations of our cookie cutter education system. I believe in the power of curiousity.

Do you?

Welcome to Adversarian! To celebrate the launch, you can expect great new content every other day. Be sure to subscribe, and follow me on twitter to receive updates. You can look forward to a Self-Ed 101 series, some great resources, and more. Stay tuned!