Off-Trail Learning

Gifted, twice-exceptional, autistic, ADD, dyslexic: each of these labels falls under the umbrella of “neurodivergence”, and each has served to inspire thousands of families to consider self-directed learning options. Today I speak with Jade Rivera (jadeannrivera.com), the founder of Sunnyside Micro-School, a place she built to serve neurodivergent young people who don't thrive in school. We discuss Jade’s background as a chemist, how schools typically deal (or don’t deal) with neurodivergent students, how homeschooling and micro-schooling can offer better solutions, and unicorns.

Many dream of combining the principles of unschooling with the resources of public school — and Gabe Cooper is one of those few who has actually done it. In this episode Gabe discusses “Unschool” (sanjuan.edu/unschool), the program he founded in the San Juan Unified School District of Sacramento, California. We talk about his disillusionment as a public school teacher and administrator, what inspired him to start Unschool, his victories and challenges so far, his commitment to equity via public education, and his plan for keeping Unschool alive in the future. Gabe also offers practical advice for other public school teachers who want to convince their own school districts to approve such an initiative.

How much of school is about skill-building and how much is about signaling, i.e., proving to employers that you’re intelligent, diligent, and can conform to societal norms? In this episode, economist Bryan Caplan (bcaplan.com) discusses his new book, The Case Against Education. Caplan argues that diplomas remain powerful marketplace signals, despite the fact that schools don't teach much. We discuss the implications of his findings for self-directed and nonconventional learners, how he homeschools his sons, why he doesn’t buy the story that unschoolers “learn how to learn”, and why he thinks it's smart to be *selectively* nonconformist.

My review and critique of The Case Against Education: http://self-directed.org/tp/hail-the-almighty-diploma/

Bryan Caplan interviews his twin sons about their homeschooling experience: https://soundcloud.com/user-175435077/caplan-family-school-graduation-interview

(Apologies for the audio quality—I was recording from a makeshift studio at a friend’s house—as well as my voice—I had a cold!)

Jim Wiltens is a modern-day Indiana Jones, an incredibly powerful teacher, and a huge figure in my life since age 11. I’m honored to finally get him on the podcast. As the founder and director of Deer Crossing Camp (deercrossingcamp.com), an off-grid wilderness summer camp in California, Jim helps kids develop serious outdoor skills and resilient attitudes. We discuss Deer Crossing's intensive teen leadership program, how Jim teaches attitude and "meta-skills", why he chose not to pay for his son’s college, and why he almost fired me the first time I worked for him.

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Show your love for the podcast by supporting it on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/blakeboles

Frustrated as a public high school teacher in Santa Cruz, California, Wes Beach started his own one-man high school, Beach High School (http://beachhigh.education). Over 25 years Wes has freed more than 1500 teenagers from compulsory schooling by rapidly graduating them and creating transcripts that allow them to immediately dive into college, career, or further self-directed learning. Wes and I recorded our interview in his home office (i.e., Beach High School headquarters) and discussed how he started his “shadow school” while teaching in the public system, the many paths his students have taken, what colleges want to see in nonconventional applicants, and the fundamental problems of compulsory education.

Lisa Betts-LaCroix, a homeschooling mother of two and co-founder of Bay Area Gifted Homeschoolers (sfbaghs.org), talks with Blake about the huge number of a la carte classes and activities now available to homeschoolers in the bay area. We discuss how micro-schooling differs from unschooling, the incredible opportunities that independent teachers have to sell their services, how much it all costs, and what’s still missing (answer: teen drop-in centers).

Support my mission of spreading self-directed learning across the world: https://www.patreon.com/blakeboles

Work one-on-one with me: https://www.indieguidancecounselor.com/

For everything else: https://www.blakeboles.com/

On this special episode, I read from my new long-form article published by the Alliance for Self-Directed Learning (https://www.self-directed.org/tp/what-does-it-mean-to-be-educated/). In it I share my definition of "education", comment on the state of the self-directed learning movement, and tackle issues of privilege and school reform. Enjoy.

On this special episode, young adult participants on the Unschool Adventures Argentina Semester 2017 talk about the challenges of living and learning in Buenos Aires for 12 weeks: group apartments, language barriers, the blessings (and curses)of freedom, memorable moments, and Argentine comfort foods. Guests include Abby, Zane, Spencer, Leif, Grace, Erik, Sierra, Kay, Tucker, Karen, and Tom.

More about the Argentina Semester: http://www.unschooladventures.com/trip/argentina-semester-2017/

Tam Pham (tampham.co) is a 21-year-old college dropout, marketer in Silicon Valley, and author of How to Network and How to Land Your Dream Internship. We discuss why reaching out to strangers is important for self-directed learners, how to do it, and Tam's own story of leaving the conventional path.

Victor Saad (victorsaad.com) talks with host Blake Boles about the 12 apprenticeships that he did in 12 months instead of pursuing an MBA, the education company that he subsequently founded called Experience Institute (expinstitute.com), his thoughts on promoting innovation in the K-12 realm, and the magical $100,000/year school that he and I are going to start some day. Don’t miss this one.

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Provide feedback or suggest new topics/guests anytime by emailing [email protected].