Learning Through Unschooling | Callie Vandewiele | TEDxCambridgeUniversity

Callie, As a former neighbor of yours I never once heard my parents call you and your siblings hooligans. They had us running around with you guys all the time after school. I was so jealous of you and your siblings because of the unschooling you all got.

As a homeschooler, I can't tell you how many people i have run into that feel our son is getting no education at all. I am college educated. I have a BA in Comparative Theology and an AS in Elementary Education. My husband is equally educated. So, when someone hears us say our son is homeschooled, they ask how. We say we use a Waldorf Inspired Interest Led curriculum (which sounds really great until....). They say "huh" and we say "he is being unschooled, but has a daily routine because he is Autistic and it works for him." They go from thinking everything is wonderful to we are horrible people, lazy, and that child will never learn anything other than picking his nose and how to use his tablet. My point is, I am so glad you did this TED. That you explained it in a way that needs to be done. Thank you.

We unschooled our daughter in the later 80's through "high school". John Holt was one of my mentors. It was absolutely a grand experiment! Unschooling is a lifestyle that is creative for the whole family. Great presentation!

Seems we could take unschooling to another level by having a network of apprenticeships for teens. Different parents of unschooled teenagers could coordinate to allow other people's kids to work with them if their career aligns with the teen's interests.

Great talk! I'm 18 now and left school when I was 16 after I had started my own travel booking business and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I'm also a musician, so I was able to spend more time pursuing music on my own rather than being "tested" on it. I am now in 2 bands, traveling the world, and living on a boat (which I set out to do at age 17). So thankful that my parents were supportive of my decision to leave. I had a clearly formed plan of what I was going to do when I left, which was definitely helpful in the transition.

I am getting ready to unschool my 8 yr old son. He is gifted and I am a single Mom. I am looking forward to this

In my community, a lot of people think unschooling mean uneducated,which is absolutely a mistaken conception.

This is cool. I learn this way now, as an adult. Best thing ever. I'm constantly engaged, thoroughly entertained and I make good conversation generally speaking, as I have a lot of interesting things I can usually talk about! Highly recommend doing this, at any age. Just have a passion to learn and you'll never be bored.

First time I've ever heard about unschooling. Thank you for making this known by speaking out. I have been researching alternative education for my 13 year old daughter who has no desire to return to the out-dated traditional schooling system. I am presently a student teacher and this is my third and last year to gain a degree for Bachelor of Education in Teaching. I am currently trained in an alternate university from a Maori perspective and absolutely love it. I hope many more seek a better way for their own children's individual educational needs!

This talk was incredibly empowering for me, as a mother of a one year old navigating this world of traditional education systems. Thank you so much

I've always felt so trapped at school artistically and that the teachers don't notice me at all. It's like I'm just another kid, and then they make you feel bad when you get a bad grade instead of further helping you in the subject.

If you agree with the unschooling technique then you should listen to "Don't Stay In School" by Boyinaband. He also toches up on certain points in the school system that tie in with this video, just in song format.

I unschool one and homeschool another. Both have multiple diagnoses. My then 11 year old by had severe difficulty reading but in one year of playing Minecraft he not only taught himself but exceeded the lexile of his peers in ability. He needed to read so he learnt to read. The need to know is a far more effective motivator than "being told to". At present, he is all about gaming (at 13). Previous obsessions have included marine biology of the tidal and intra-tidal zones, fossils, dinosaurs (of course), mythology of the world, and many others. Should he decide on a career that needs further education, he can learn material in many ways, sit many exams, gain entry to college and go from there. He knows there is a chance he will need to engage with formal education but he doesn't need to be there yet. My daughter, the homeschooler, is creative. She isn't academic at all and her diagnoses would make it difficult for her to be academic. Instead, she dances, she sings, she vlogs, she creates musicals, she paints. All to a higher-than-peer level standard. My kids are doing just fine. Is it for every child? I wish but probably not for a very long time. We only have one working parent and he can work from home a lot. By the way, our kids are adopted and we are nearing 60 and both are the product of very traditional educations so it isn't as if we didn't consider that for our children. trexgamer, thank you for entering the discussion. I am amazed at adults that took time out of their day to criticise you for your spelling - keep powering on!

As someone who has received tradicional education and went on to graduate from architecture school and to this days still sucks at math, I realize I have studied so many things I didn’t have to learn. Like biology, chemistry... maybe basic algebra and geometry for the university course I chose. But I could have done that bit by myself preparing for it. On the other hand I have more knowledge on history, geography and languages than my general peers.

Thank you for this! Your witty and easy to listen too! I'm currently homeschooling and transitioning to unschooling with 4 of my 7 kids! The other 3 were traditionally schooled and I regret that. Seeing your story helps me know I'm on the right track

This was a grate talk for me to watch cuss I am unschooled. It's made me feel better about what im doing in life and makes me werry less about the rest of my life I have still to come. Thx

Short and sweet, got the message across. The definition was the best I've seen.

Congratulations Callie! You did such a great job :)

I even lose my talent in playing chess because of homework. I am also now a freshman that has no motivation at all. It will be a great opportunity if this "unschooling" stuff would be implemented in my country.

As someone that works in the finance industry, I can vouch that school and university is absolutely what desensitized me enough to work with numbers for 8 hours a day. Your brain fights it at first but then it becomes what makes you comfortable. Well, so does the money but you get my drift. School changes us in remarkable ways.