Free to Learn

This film demonstrates how effective schooling can be when it takes into account the motivation and interests of the learner. Traditional schools force students to learn a compulsory curriculum, regardless if they’re interested in the topics or not. At the Free School however, students can choose what they will learn. Many educational philosophers have noted the central importance of student interest in learning. When children are giving control to pursue their individual interests, learning transforms from an obligation to a self motivated process. At this school, students were allowed the freedom to pursue a variety of different projects including the creation of a basic action film. Students took responsibility of their own learning. For example, one child remarked that after playing for many hours, he decided that it was time to read a book.

In addition to taking responsibility for their education, students also took responsibility for their physical school building as well. When a student broke a window, he had to repair it himself. Throughout the documentary, students were mopping and cleaning the school. If students themselves are the ones responsible for keeping their school clean, they’ll come to respect it. Schools based on the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner share the same practice. Students themselves build the school, and thus do not want anybody to destroy that which they’ve created with their own hands.

Both Makiguchi and Dewey contended that the gap between learning and living should be closed. While traditional education often separates the realms of schooling and the real world, the free school supports the idea of learning while living. This is in line with Makiguchi’s concept of the half day schooling system in which students would go to school for half the day and then go work in that community for the second half of the day. Education must relate to the life of the learner as he or she lives it.

And what if, with all this freedom students do nothing at all? As one child aptly put it, “That’s their problem.”

Nonetheless I still have some questions about this school. What is the role of the teacher? The school cannot possibly be completely free, or else there’d be no adults. And while I understand the importance of self motivation, there’ve been many times when a teacher has the urged me to go farther than I wanted, or believed I could go.