October 21, 2024
6 minimum read
World schooling is all the rage. Here’s what you need to know
People are taking their children away from traditional education and learning while traveling. Data on educational success is limited, but there are other reasons to consider a world school
Bali Green School students are a popular choice for parents who want to send their children to world schools.
This article is part of Scientific American’s “The Science of Parenting” column. For more details, here goes.
Ten years ago, I began researching a new trend among middle-class families to take their children out of school, sell their homes, and quit high-paying jobs to travel the world. . At the time, World School was for self-proclaimed counterculture rebels. Today, it has become mainstream. The pandemic may have temporarily halted travel for many families, but enthusiasm for the world school lifestyle has only grown in popularity. When parents realized they could work and their children could learn remotely, there was nothing stopping them from leaving the house once pandemic restrictions eased. You’ve probably seen such families featured in the news or on social media. And you may have asked yourself, should I do the same for my children?
There is little scientific research to answer that question, and there is also a lack of long-term research on the long-term educational and developmental outcomes of world schooling. For wanderlust parents, the opportunity to break free from society’s constraints, foster family bonds, and raise children with a global perspective may seem too sweet to pass up. Some of these aspirations may align with the academic needs of children, but they do not always align. So, in the absence of hard data, how do parents make the decision to uproot their lives and make the world their children’s classroom? Dozens of families have traveled in the past decade Based on my ethnographic research with children, here are some factors to consider when considering whether and how to world school your children.
About supporting science journalism
If you enjoyed this article, please consider supporting our award-winning journalism. Currently subscribing. By subscribing, you help ensure future generations of influential stories about the discoveries and ideas that shape the world today.
When it comes to educating your child on the go, the options seem endless. As one of the mothers in my study said, “There is no perfect option, but there are a thousand good options.” These options range from highly structured online programs to more laissez-faire schooling practices. Where the parents at the world schools I studied fell on this continuum was determined both by their own goals and values and by the needs of their children. If you are generally satisfied with your children’s traditional school experience in your home country, or if you want to ensure that your children qualify for post-secondary education, consider a formal or accredited online education program. There was a tendency to join. They forced their children to follow a regular school schedule.
If learning another language is a priority, or if homeschooling is not legal in the destination, some parents enroll their children in a local school for a semester. Parents who want a structured but alternative option may send their children to a local Montessori or Waldorf (also known as Steiner) school, or to a school such as the Green School in Bali, Indonesia or the Jungle School in Huatulco, Mexico. We are enrolling children in private schools. Scholars have tracked the social and academic outcomes of alternative schooling models like Montessori and Waldorf, but the details of the Bali Green School study and graduate outcomes are less focused on students’ long-term outcomes than on academic performance. They tend to focus on conservation behavior and attitudes towards sustainability. .
The majority of families in my research sample adopted an approach known as unschooling. Inspired by the writings of educational philosopher John Holt, unschooling advocates natural, self-paced learning guided by children’s inherent curiosity and innate desire to explore their environment. . Parents accompany their child on their learning journey, but do not direct it or insist on a set outcome. My research sample was wary of the standardized curriculum, high-stakes testing, single-age groups, systemic racism, or rote learning associated with traditional schooling. Out-of-school education was particularly appealing to parents with
The lack of schooling also appealed to parents who worried that their children would be restricted by an ADHD diagnosis in institutional schools. Staying out of school allows us to accept a child’s endless energy and need for movement as a means to learning rather than an obstacle, but it also withholds mandated resources from special education and related services. could mean. Unschooling provided an antidote to these concerns about formal schooling, aligning well with the lifestyle values of freedom, autonomy, and independence that drew many parents to World School in the first place. And it didn’t hurt that the relaxed schedule of not attending school matched the flexibility needed for frequent travel.
But is refusing to attend school effective? Assessing learning outcomes in the unschooled is a difficult task, especially since this philosophy eschews standard measures of educational outcomes. Several scholars have attempted to quantify its long-term effects. According to one study, survey data from adults who were not educated at home as children showed that the majority continued on to higher education and had little difficulty adjusting to college or university-level coursework. It has been shown that they have not experienced this. The results also show that the majority of preschoolers end up being artists, entrepreneurs, or careers in STEM fields. Whether these findings apply to unschooled children in global schooling contexts remains to be seen without systematic longitudinal research. Anecdotal evidence from parents in my study suggests mixed results.
Many parents of schools around the world declare that unschooling is a success, at least according to their standards. They reported that their children were far above grade level in most subjects, rediscovered their passion for learning, or were accepted into the university of their choice. Others were less sure. They were worried about what to do with kids who were thinking of playing video games all day instead of going to school, and kids who weren’t naturally interested in learning chemistry. Some parents I interviewed regretted the fact that there were gaps in their children’s knowledge, such as not knowing the presidents of the United States or all the elements on the periodic table. So why do some frustrated parents insist on it?
Even in these cases, parents insisted on what their children should do. did Learn what makes up for it on the road I didn’t learn. In particular, these parents valued what I call an “emotional curriculum” over academic norms. What I mean by this is that parents realize that their children are learning important life lessons and emotional skills. They teach children how to become independent, how to deal with risks in a healthy way, how to communicate across cultural differences, how to be enterprising, how to make new friends quickly and how to say goodbye easily. , I watched How to Cope with Homesickness and Learn How to Cope. With change. Parents felt that these emotional skills would probably be more useful to their children as they entered an uncertain global labor market than anything learned in school.
But without data, it’s difficult to know whether these lessons will later pay off in the way parents hope. That’s why we need more scientific research on the long-term outcomes of world schooling, which would have double benefits. Not only will this help aspiring World School students decide whether to travel with school-age children, but the findings will also help students understand what works at World School and how similar experiences can may provide information to community-based schools on how they can be incorporated into children’s classrooms. The shift to remote work and online education has made world schooling increasingly viable for many middle-class professionals, but this lifestyle requires a lot of time, money, and planning. World schooling remains limited to relatively privileged families. Further research could help fill this gap.
If you think the benefits of world schooling seem to outweigh the drawbacks, but you don’t have the resources or environment to start this lifestyle, rest assured. Most World School students agree that World School is more of a mindset than a practice. If the idea of educating your children beyond the traditional confines of institutional education appeals to you, but you’re not yet ready to take them on a world tour, how can you bring them into the world? Please think about what you can do. Some World School families who only travel for summer vacations or weekends intentionally include educational destinations and activities. Others try to find other ways to take their children on day trips, expose them to different cultures, and foster their natural instinct to learn about the environment. No matter where you are, it’s the perfect place to make the world your child’s classroom.
This is an opinion and analysis article and the views expressed by the author are not necessarily those of the author. scientific american.
