If, it is the best on offer yes. But school leaders will already tell you they tried this and it didn’t work. In the late nineties early 2000s they had drop down days or afternoons where learners did different things.
I went a bit further including putting two options back to back and creating whole days of learning. We also had year 7 in a learning base for 60% of their time. Year 8 had one day a week of self directed time. We focused on building attributes, skills and metacognition.
I took on a school where learners went to do SDL and I didn’t think that worked as it should, it was entirely separate to the rest of their experience. So, I created a much more self directed approach to the whole curriculum , learners being in charge of their learning albeit not necessarily having the choice of what to learn and where to learn. However, as it was, it still built through self determination. We called it planning for freedom. At its core was a blended approach, coaching, fail forward, attributes, skills and knowledge.
I’ve been running a self directed, democratic setting for a decade and I strongly disagree with this policy. Over the years I’ve seen the outcomes of this approach both within my work and heard from colleagues at other settings about how - in practice - it has the opposite of the intended outcomes.
When a young person is in coercive education any of the time - especially if that’s the majority of their experience, but even if not - that leads to a very specific condition. How they choose to spend that self directed time looks very different to their purely self directed peers. Self directed young people do not make a distinction between work and play or learning and fun and that is the crucial advantage of this approach. They freely choose activities that adults perceive as “real learning” because they haven’t been taught they are something they are supposed to be doing and is therefore a chore. In sharp contrast, part time self directed young people tend to only use that SD time for activities that most adults (teachers and parents) see as distinct from “real learning”, for example socialising, gaming, anything fun.
This has disastrous consequences for those young people and the views of teachers and parents who witness it because they invariably come to the conclusion that it doesn’t “work”, i.e. young people don’t choose to learn when given freedom.
There’s a particular school (that I won’t mention) that has been trying this for years now. Instead of becoming more self directed the school has become increasingly curriculum based, as I would expect given the part time nature of the self direction, which I consider a contradiction in terms.
Also, professionals mostly do not have the skills to proactively support self directed learning and tend to either not give any guidance at all (chaos) or control too strongly (still relying on coercion). You cannot expect teachers and parents to effectively switch between an authoritarian dynamic and a human dynamic because it’s impractical and confusing for young people.
This policy is not only unhelpful but could actually hinder a move to a fairer and freer eduction system, as under-resourced teachers witness a method that they see as utterly failing in terms of both behaviour/relationships and short term measures.
Sorry Derry, I have a lot of respect for you and the work you do but this is an extremely misguided policy.
Thank you for taking the trouble to respond to my 20% proposal. I think we are agreed that self-managed learning or self-directed learning or self-organised learning is a desirable, powerful and potentially very successful approach that draws on the innate qualities of curiosity, creativitiy and questioning of human beings, particiularly young human beings.
Where we part company is around the question 'Is it possible to introduce this approach in a proportion of school time -20% - when the rest of the school experience is directed with prescribed curriculum?'
My answer to this question is 'Yes, it is possible' based on my own experience and that of others.' As a student teacher I had two great experiences where I was able to introduce self-managed and directed space and time into Y6 primary classes - in one case the class teacher was ill and the head was delighted for me to fill-in, in the other I worked closely with a creative and courageous experienced teacher who was keen to innovate. I also had a disastrous experience in an authoritarian highly academic secondary school where I came close to being thrown out for mentioning the word democracy. On qualifying I was offered jobs in two small private progressive special schools but decided I wanted work in the state sector as that was most of the kids like me were.
My first post was as a teacher of 'integrated humanities' to a Y7 class of 34 in a secondary modern school. I had responsibility for about 60% covering English, social studies, RE, geography and history. I introduced self-directed opportunities and class democracy. The other 40% of curriculum time went to Maths, science and arts taught by generally kind but conventionally authoritarian teachers. The response of the kids was very positive as was that of their parents and the head teacher. I insisted that projects should be negotiated with me and if possible lead to a presentation to the rest of the class. I was embarrassed when some parents asked the head if their kids could transfer to my already over-large class as they had heard about the class democracy and self-managed learning. Nobody said 'it doesn't work' - quite the opposite. In my second year of teaching I moved up to Year 8 with my class and was put in charge of all 7 Year 8 . classes for humanities. I have written a book about my first two years as a teacher - I will send you a pdf of the final draft rather than go into any more boring detail here. The point is that the self-direction worked and I am still in touch with some of those kids now as they come up to retirement. After 2 years I was head hunted as Head of Humanities into a large 12 form entry comp. just over border in Oxfordshire by a progressive head with a purpose built brand new Y7/8 Humanities block complete with recording studios, a drama room, a craft bay and the freedom to appoint my own team - originally 6 becoming 12 in the second year. The team was united around trying a large component of self-directed learning in the 30% of curriculum time we were responsible for working closely with Science and music and art departments that shared our aims. Again the support of parents was heartwarming and many became involved in mentoring. Once again there was no sign of 'it doesn't work' and I am working on a second book about my 3 years in this schools. After 5 years in teaching I was getting interviews for headships and ended up a community school vice-principal in Derbyshire never missing an opportunity to create a self-managed learning space - most effectively in the English, Humanities and combined arts departments. I evaluated a six school Y8 combined arts self-managed project for my M.Phil by research dissertation - thus scaling up from 230 to 360 to 1400 students.
So I'm afraid my experience does not support your view of disastrous consequences for young people and parents do not invariably come to the conclusion that it doesn't work. My experience is in many ways similar to James Mannion's set out in his "Fear Is The Mind Killer" who also introduced SDE at scale in a large secondary school. Another example of the ideas at work in the mainstream can be found in the academically evaluated work of Ian Cunningham's self-managed learning college team in Sussex secondary schools.
Self-directed learning can be introduced into mainstream settings - But it needs to be done with thought and care as I hope in make clear in my proposal in order that the fears
that you reasonably express are not the result and harm is not done.
I have visited 30+ democratic schools around the world, including 2 weeks at Sudbury Valley, about 2 weeks at Summerhill (I worked with them on the court case when I was an inspector), a week at Hadera school in Israel, 5 schools in Germany, 4 in the Netherlands etc etc, I worked closely with Peter Gray on the Ammersee Sudbury school defence in Bavaria - I have never ceased to be amazed by the learing potential of self-directed education. Two of my grand-children have flourished through it and another completed her A level EPQ on Democratic Education. We have to move its potential into mainstream settings so that more young people can benefit. That's what the 20% is all about - a way of making a start that will not force teachers to get involved if they don't want or feel able to but to create opportunities for the kids.
I have been lucky in the teachers with whom I have worked who have all been enthusiastic innovators able to relate well with young people and avoid the chaos/coercion pitfalls though I have also met a few of your 'I tried that years ago- it doesn't work,' as well.
Thanks again for your interest Artemis. I look forward to having an opportunity to share experiences in the future even if we have to agree to disagree!
I think I recognise the school to which you refer by the way and if I am right am actually in touch with the founder/director about just this issue - which may relate to the extra support and structure needed by some neuro-diverse young people.
Loved reading this blog thank you for sharing. As a founder of a CIC who support patents and carers of children and young people experiencing mental health issues and from listening to their experiences over the last 11 years I know how the current education system has become a large part of this current surge in poor mental health. (Alongside other factors). Having seen how so many schools have evolved during that time to remove play-based and creative opportunities for children when previously having those (I’ve always maintained) saw my own children bouncing into school every morning, enthusiastic and ready to start the day, it continues to sadden me that those in control refuse to acknowledge that something so simple could bring such a difference in outcomes for so many. I will certainly be sharing this piece with everyone I know, support and work alongside.
If, it is the best on offer yes. But school leaders will already tell you they tried this and it didn’t work. In the late nineties early 2000s they had drop down days or afternoons where learners did different things.
I went a bit further including putting two options back to back and creating whole days of learning. We also had year 7 in a learning base for 60% of their time. Year 8 had one day a week of self directed time. We focused on building attributes, skills and metacognition.
I took on a school where learners went to do SDL and I didn’t think that worked as it should, it was entirely separate to the rest of their experience. So, I created a much more self directed approach to the whole curriculum , learners being in charge of their learning albeit not necessarily having the choice of what to learn and where to learn. However, as it was, it still built through self determination. We called it planning for freedom. At its core was a blended approach, coaching, fail forward, attributes, skills and knowledge.
I’ve been running a self directed, democratic setting for a decade and I strongly disagree with this policy. Over the years I’ve seen the outcomes of this approach both within my work and heard from colleagues at other settings about how - in practice - it has the opposite of the intended outcomes.
When a young person is in coercive education any of the time - especially if that’s the majority of their experience, but even if not - that leads to a very specific condition. How they choose to spend that self directed time looks very different to their purely self directed peers. Self directed young people do not make a distinction between work and play or learning and fun and that is the crucial advantage of this approach. They freely choose activities that adults perceive as “real learning” because they haven’t been taught they are something they are supposed to be doing and is therefore a chore. In sharp contrast, part time self directed young people tend to only use that SD time for activities that most adults (teachers and parents) see as distinct from “real learning”, for example socialising, gaming, anything fun.
This has disastrous consequences for those young people and the views of teachers and parents who witness it because they invariably come to the conclusion that it doesn’t “work”, i.e. young people don’t choose to learn when given freedom.
There’s a particular school (that I won’t mention) that has been trying this for years now. Instead of becoming more self directed the school has become increasingly curriculum based, as I would expect given the part time nature of the self direction, which I consider a contradiction in terms.
Also, professionals mostly do not have the skills to proactively support self directed learning and tend to either not give any guidance at all (chaos) or control too strongly (still relying on coercion). You cannot expect teachers and parents to effectively switch between an authoritarian dynamic and a human dynamic because it’s impractical and confusing for young people.
This policy is not only unhelpful but could actually hinder a move to a fairer and freer eduction system, as under-resourced teachers witness a method that they see as utterly failing in terms of both behaviour/relationships and short term measures.
Sorry Derry, I have a lot of respect for you and the work you do but this is an extremely misguided policy.
Hi Artemis,
Thank you for taking the trouble to respond to my 20% proposal. I think we are agreed that self-managed learning or self-directed learning or self-organised learning is a desirable, powerful and potentially very successful approach that draws on the innate qualities of curiosity, creativitiy and questioning of human beings, particiularly young human beings.
Where we part company is around the question 'Is it possible to introduce this approach in a proportion of school time -20% - when the rest of the school experience is directed with prescribed curriculum?'
My answer to this question is 'Yes, it is possible' based on my own experience and that of others.' As a student teacher I had two great experiences where I was able to introduce self-managed and directed space and time into Y6 primary classes - in one case the class teacher was ill and the head was delighted for me to fill-in, in the other I worked closely with a creative and courageous experienced teacher who was keen to innovate. I also had a disastrous experience in an authoritarian highly academic secondary school where I came close to being thrown out for mentioning the word democracy. On qualifying I was offered jobs in two small private progressive special schools but decided I wanted work in the state sector as that was most of the kids like me were.
My first post was as a teacher of 'integrated humanities' to a Y7 class of 34 in a secondary modern school. I had responsibility for about 60% covering English, social studies, RE, geography and history. I introduced self-directed opportunities and class democracy. The other 40% of curriculum time went to Maths, science and arts taught by generally kind but conventionally authoritarian teachers. The response of the kids was very positive as was that of their parents and the head teacher. I insisted that projects should be negotiated with me and if possible lead to a presentation to the rest of the class. I was embarrassed when some parents asked the head if their kids could transfer to my already over-large class as they had heard about the class democracy and self-managed learning. Nobody said 'it doesn't work' - quite the opposite. In my second year of teaching I moved up to Year 8 with my class and was put in charge of all 7 Year 8 . classes for humanities. I have written a book about my first two years as a teacher - I will send you a pdf of the final draft rather than go into any more boring detail here. The point is that the self-direction worked and I am still in touch with some of those kids now as they come up to retirement. After 2 years I was head hunted as Head of Humanities into a large 12 form entry comp. just over border in Oxfordshire by a progressive head with a purpose built brand new Y7/8 Humanities block complete with recording studios, a drama room, a craft bay and the freedom to appoint my own team - originally 6 becoming 12 in the second year. The team was united around trying a large component of self-directed learning in the 30% of curriculum time we were responsible for working closely with Science and music and art departments that shared our aims. Again the support of parents was heartwarming and many became involved in mentoring. Once again there was no sign of 'it doesn't work' and I am working on a second book about my 3 years in this schools. After 5 years in teaching I was getting interviews for headships and ended up a community school vice-principal in Derbyshire never missing an opportunity to create a self-managed learning space - most effectively in the English, Humanities and combined arts departments. I evaluated a six school Y8 combined arts self-managed project for my M.Phil by research dissertation - thus scaling up from 230 to 360 to 1400 students.
So I'm afraid my experience does not support your view of disastrous consequences for young people and parents do not invariably come to the conclusion that it doesn't work. My experience is in many ways similar to James Mannion's set out in his "Fear Is The Mind Killer" who also introduced SDE at scale in a large secondary school. Another example of the ideas at work in the mainstream can be found in the academically evaluated work of Ian Cunningham's self-managed learning college team in Sussex secondary schools.
Self-directed learning can be introduced into mainstream settings - But it needs to be done with thought and care as I hope in make clear in my proposal in order that the fears
that you reasonably express are not the result and harm is not done.
I have visited 30+ democratic schools around the world, including 2 weeks at Sudbury Valley, about 2 weeks at Summerhill (I worked with them on the court case when I was an inspector), a week at Hadera school in Israel, 5 schools in Germany, 4 in the Netherlands etc etc, I worked closely with Peter Gray on the Ammersee Sudbury school defence in Bavaria - I have never ceased to be amazed by the learing potential of self-directed education. Two of my grand-children have flourished through it and another completed her A level EPQ on Democratic Education. We have to move its potential into mainstream settings so that more young people can benefit. That's what the 20% is all about - a way of making a start that will not force teachers to get involved if they don't want or feel able to but to create opportunities for the kids.
I have been lucky in the teachers with whom I have worked who have all been enthusiastic innovators able to relate well with young people and avoid the chaos/coercion pitfalls though I have also met a few of your 'I tried that years ago- it doesn't work,' as well.
Thanks again for your interest Artemis. I look forward to having an opportunity to share experiences in the future even if we have to agree to disagree!
I think I recognise the school to which you refer by the way and if I am right am actually in touch with the founder/director about just this issue - which may relate to the extra support and structure needed by some neuro-diverse young people.
It’s good to hear this kind of common sense in the world of education!
This was a fascinating and encouraging read thank you
Loved reading this blog thank you for sharing. As a founder of a CIC who support patents and carers of children and young people experiencing mental health issues and from listening to their experiences over the last 11 years I know how the current education system has become a large part of this current surge in poor mental health. (Alongside other factors). Having seen how so many schools have evolved during that time to remove play-based and creative opportunities for children when previously having those (I’ve always maintained) saw my own children bouncing into school every morning, enthusiastic and ready to start the day, it continues to sadden me that those in control refuse to acknowledge that something so simple could bring such a difference in outcomes for so many. I will certainly be sharing this piece with everyone I know, support and work alongside.