What if learning is everywhere, even in the interesting and fun and “pointless” endeavors? What if it’s something we seek for ourselves as babies before anyone convinces us we have to be directly instructed? What if children are people, whose desires and goals and biological rhythms matter even when valuing them means insisting the child’s life satisfaction and relationships are more important than what any policy-makers, think tanks, or governments would like their life to be? Such a relationship to learning and knowledge as experiential, everywhere, and ongoing isn’t new. Neither is the particular significance it has in informing societies’ relationships to children, who are so obviously engaged in growing and learning. Any history of self-directed education has to start from this longer and deschooled view of history, where the concept isn’t just a counter to mass schooling institutions but stands on its own as a way of being in relationship to kids and to knowledge. Formal or informal, named or unquestioned as a norm, self-directed education has been a human practice across many places and times.

This guide starts with a brief look at the history of schooling and at a selection of common philosophies guiding various alternative schools. It then introduces the concept of self-directed education, with its history and some key influences. The following two sections articulate why we know kids can be trusted to learn and how supporting them requires more than just encouraging their interests (although that’s part of the process, too!) The final two sections explain the philosophy and functioning of an Agile Learning Center, the specific kind of self-directed education community where I’ve practiced as a facilitator and educator for over a decade. The conclusion of the guide includes suggestions for where to find more stories from folks in Agile Learning Centers, as well as suggested next steps for folks wanting to do or learn more.