The reasons for why someone would choose a learner-led education are various, from seeking personal freedom, to not fitting into the box of standardized education, to preferring personalized attention or a personalized program.

A wonderful thing happens when a student is given this freedom in their education and in their life.  Students who have gone through free schooling or unschooling, especially those who have started at a young age, end up with more self-esteem, self-motivation, self-initiative, self-discipline, self-control, and self-confidence than is usually seen in adults.  All this comes from respecting an individual’s self-determination.

When the student stops waiting for someone else to tell him or her what to do next, and must make the decision him or herself, a powerful exploration of the self results.  Chris Mercogliano, who was the director of The Free School in Albany for 35 years, speaks of defending a child’s “inner wildness”, or what in Greek is called a person’s daimon, an inner guidance system.  In Greek, the word for happiness is eudaimonia, meaning a well-pleased daimon.  This respect for a student’s inner guidance and a student’s happiness, to say the least, is very often lacking in standardized, compulsory education.

When the compass for the student’s learning is in the hands of the student, they can find their way in most any situation.  When the compass is in the hands of someone else, like a teacher, and the student must always rely on someone else to tell them where they are expected to be headed, they can easily loose their own navigation tools.  What happens when a student leaves the classroom or graduates?  They must figure out who owns their compass next.  What if they can’t find someone to tell them where to go and when? 

The standardized public school that we know today came into being in the U.S. shortly before the industrial revolution. Inspired by the Prussian army’s use of public schooling, it was started by Calvinists in Massachusetts to indoctrinate puritan values and Christianity.  In the early 20^th century, the public school system has nationalized.  It was a time when there was a large influx of immigration.  Public education was a tool for turning these immigrants into good workers for the factory.  It came out of the same assembly line mentality that the factories were built on.  Public education’s goal of creating the standard for what a child should be squashes critical thinking skills and creativity.