Unschooling: If You're Bored You're Boring

There are three schools surrounding our apartment. Up the hill is the Portland Jewish Academy, one of the best private k-12 schools in Portland. A block to our left is Mary W Rieke elementary and Wilson High School, both public schools. During our walks I can see the kiddos at recess and I have to steer clear of the 15-year-olds that were somehow given drivers licenses. It's nostalgic and makes me smile to watch the kids play tag and shriek with joy or listen to the teenagers gossip as they loiter in front of the gas station. My twelve years in public schools gave me some good memories. But the ratio of those good memories against the blur of monotony is not so good.
I've shared my opinions on compulsory traditional schooling before and I don't want to be redundant, but I recently came across a speech that so wonderfully articulates my feelings about homeschooling and unschooling that I had to share it and expand my own thoughts. Astra Taylor is a successful filmaker who, along with her brother and sister, were "unschooled". Taylor uses her experience to distinguish "homeschooling" from "unschooling"; describing homeschooling as a system that still keeps the ideas of a curriculum and scheduled, segmented times to learn different subjects. "Unschooling", on the other hand,  is premised on the belief that people learn naturally and that if we create environments in which to learn, along with support and resources, then get out of the way so to speak, kids can direct their own learning.

"Do we trust people's capacity to be curious? Do we trust them to be in charge of themselves or not? Do we trust people to be inquisitive? To follow their innate desire to investigate? To seek knowledge? Or do we believe people need to be led?"

"Our curiosity and creativity was not regulated or controlled [. . . ] it was influenced and facilitated."

The idea of never sending your kids to school can seem scary, but I think that's because we tend to elevate what actually happens in school. Wes and I recently had a discussion on the "return on investment" of traditional schooling. Yes, you do learn a lot of skills, but we're in school eight hours a day for twelve years and most people, including myself,  come away with only a little knowledge of this and that. Taylor states that school is where we're indoctrinated to become "professionally bored". And after all the movie days, pointless worksheets and days spent looking out the window or with your head on your desk, wouldn't you agree?

The ability to think outside the box and try new things isn't promoted in traditional schools. It can't be because the structure in school doesn't allow for any kind of divergence. For example, Seeley and I went for a walk today and she was so engrossed in the trees lining the road. I thought, "When she's a kid wouldn't it be awesome if she could say, 'I'm interested in trees' then spend however long she wanted learning about different kinds of trees, looking at trees, drawing trees, etc?" That is unschooling. Having the ability to pursue something vigorously on your own is a skill needed for success as an adult, and with twenty other kids in a classroom the teacher just doesn't have time to offer needed support. Taylor sums it up well:

"My mom would say 'when you're bored you're boring' [. . .] you don't have to learn because you'll get in trouble, or because you'll fail a test[. . .] you want to learn because there's something in you that wants to touch the world and communicate with it"