Homeschooling has skyrocketed since the pandemic began. Now, a different education trend called “unschooling” is gaining momentum and sparking online controversy and debate.
In June, spiritual influencer Mami Onami made headlines when she recommended unschooling, or “free school,” for her children. “We don’t teach them anything,” she said in a TikTok video. “Everything they learn is in response to their interests and questions.” There’s no set curriculum or class hours, and she and her partner “just answer whenever they want.” [her kids] “I want to know something and I’m trying my best to really understand it.” Mami Onami’s declaration sparked backlash on social media, with many commenters questioning her parenting. But she’s not the only one pursuing this alternative approach to educating her children.
What is Unschooling?
Unschooling can be broadly defined as “a method in which there is no forced curriculum for children,” said Peter Gray, a research professor of psychology at Boston University and one of the founders of the Alliance for Self-Directed Education. Rolling StoneThe approach puts children in charge of their learning and is “based on the idea that children naturally learn what they’re naturally curious about,” he said. The concept “encompasses a wide range of educational philosophies,” the outlet added. Some unschoolers stick to a schedule and provide brief instruction in subjects like reading and math, while “others eschew structure altogether and allow children to make their own schedules.” The total lack of structure distinguishes them from traditional homeschooling.
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The anti-institutional idea of unschooling is rooted in the teachings of 8th-century philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who believed children should be free to explore their own interests. Former teacher and homeschool advocate John Holt coined the term unschooling in the 1970s. “After decades of relative obscurity, interest in this unorthodox method of education has grown during the pandemic,” said John Holt of the Unschooling Committee. New York PostInternet searches for the term have skyrocketed in 2020. Google Analytics Reports, “And it skyrocketed to a similar height in April 2024 due to a social media trend,” the Post reported.
Like homeschooling, the unschooling community was once dominated by conservative white Christians. But the movement is increasingly diverse and embracing families of all backgrounds. Black families in particular are increasingly drawn to the approach, and see it as an integral part of the “larger Black liberation movement,” Gray told Rolling Stone. Contrary to the common belief that only middle- and upper-class families can afford to homeschool their children, unschooling families tend to be lower socioeconomically, he added. People who choose this path have “non-materialistic values” and are “not high-achieving in the usual sense.”
“People are saying the system is broken.”
As public school systems have come under increased scrutiny since the pandemic, people are gravitating toward alternative education paths for a variety of reasons. Unschooling advocate Akira Richards sees it as a social justice practice, defining unschooling as “an approach to parenting and caregiving that is centered on child-trust, anti-oppression, and liberating love.” Youtube Video. Some worry that unschooling denies kids the social interactions that would help them fit in, but Onami told Rolling Stone that’s by design. “In many ways, people are saying the system is broken,” Onami says. “And school is the institution that prepares people to exist in that world.”
Still, in an increasingly polarized world, unschooling in siloed environments can lead to kids growing up isolated, Robert Kunzman, an education professor at Indiana University and managing director of the International Family Education Center, told Rolling Stone. One of the roles of public schools is “to develop young people as citizens of a democracy,” he said. “When these alternatives come to the fore, do they share the same sense of responsibility?”
