Tipping Points
August,  2020

Education: Time For a Change?

“I would rather Summerhill produced a happy street sweeper than a neurotic Prime Minister.” –A. S. Neill, pioneering founder of Summerhill School
Zoë Neill Readhead

What If We Radically Reimagined the New School Year?

Monday night I sat on my back patio staring up into a rare, starry Chicago night. I squinted and made out each point of The […]
Ashley McCall
Voice of the Children

Preparing for Outdoor SDE

As more self-directed communities are considering heading outdoors this school year, some facilitators might be wondering what to pack for daily excursions. Here’s what one facilitator has been packing in his outdoor bag over the past couple of years.
Alexander Khost

Reflections of a Germinating Facilitator

Maintaining a garden can help to change one’s thinking.
Jennifer Campbell

From Democratic Free Schools to Democratic Free Communities

Our principles as a lens to look outward
Ian Campbell
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Previous Stories

What’s Outside of School?

School disengages us from life
Paul Sippil

Abolitionist Teaching and the Future of Our Schools

A conversation with Bettina Love, Gholdy Muhammad, Dena Simmons and Brian Jones about abolitionist teaching and antiracist education.

Educating the Citizens of the Universe

How do we prepare our children for the ever-changing world?
Julia Brodsky
Growing Up Unschooled

Adultism

A series on of the systemic discrimination of youth.
Bria Bloom & Alexander Khost

Can You Love What You Do?

Contrary to cultural expectations, self chosen activities don’t have to taste bad to be good!
Charlotte (Candy) Landvoigt, Ed.D.

Why are You Still Sending Your Kids to School?

A review of Blake Boles’ new book that is being released today.
Matthew Gioia

Supporting Parents During and Beyond These Uncertain Times

A webinar series in collaboration with Eclectic Learning Network & The Alliance for Self-Directed Education
Maleka Diggs

What They Need to Know

A satire about learning in and out of school.
Dr. Kevin Currie-Knight

Micro-Schools May Be the Future of Education

A discussion of how self-directed spaces are able to flex in this time of crisis.
Crystal Byrd Farmer

The Day it Became Okay to Just Be

Learning to just be during quarantine.
Jenni Mahnaz

Now is the Time to Care About Public Schools

In the scurry to assert a sense of normalcy, public school districts, educators, and families are missing opportunities to revise assumptions about how education ought to work. Now’s our chance to shift the status quo of conventional schooling.
Haley Tilt

My Unschooling Testimony

This story involves suicidal thoughts, self-harm, and bullying. Please do not read this if those topics will trigger you. In elementary school, I was the […]
anonymous

An Open Note for Families During Uncertain Times

A write-up around ways to support families during this time.
Maleka Diggs

Education is a Practice of Freedom

An exploration of the intersections between learning, education and schooling and their relationship to the society we end up with.
Zakiyya Ismail

Youth Expression Through Body Art

Some young people are getting tattoos and body piercings as an expression of their youth rights movement.
April Fuels

From the Archive

Education: Time For a Change?

“I would rather Summerhill produced a happy street sweeper than a neurotic Prime Minister.” –A. S. Neill, pioneering founder of Summerhill School
Zoë Neill Readhead

Wanted: A Few Good Females

Why is it that parents, who come to see the value in a Free School education, think it might be just the thing for their son, but don’t want to rock the boat for their “well-adjusted” daughter?
Michelle Loucas
Free. Spirited. Childhood.

“What if...”

An exploration of the “what ifs” surrounding Self-Directed Education.
Jenni Mahnaz
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