

Ask PG: Thoughts about "Free To Learn" - KedarMhaswade

I am reading Peter Gray&#x27;s Free to Learn. It&#x27;s a refreshing look at schooling. You have expressed thoughts about &quot;how to fix schools&quot; in H&amp;P. What do you think of Peter Gray&#x27;s book?
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merlinsbrain
Unschooling - I believe that's the philosophy that a successful YC startup
(Hacker School) has imbibed in helping programmers get better at their craft.

Although I haven't read the book (yet - sample on Kindle), I have tried to
apply principles of unschooling to my own learning process.

Background: I'm 25 with a bachelor's degree in CS and currently leading the
platforms & analytics efforts of a tech startup. Stellar academic and co-
curricular record till high school.

The degree took 6years (I withdrew two years in the middle) instead of the
usual 4, and I think one of the reasons (although not primary) that
contributed to that was sheer boredom. I am undoubtedly opinionateed here, and
what I speak of is a personal experience, but I just couldn't get the point of
what they were quizzing us on. The books were great, the content amazing, the
lecturers okay, but sitting in a class of 60 only to be asked in the exam:
"List the five things about..."; "How does this work, explain with a diagram";
etc.

Although one can argue this is probably more reflective of the university I
attended, I would argue back saying that I've attended 3 of them to get the
degree, each time looking for a challenge and failing miserably to deal with
the mundane teaching and exams.

The books became my lectures and the authors my gurus of their domain. I found
the right peer group to discuss problems and developments in the field but
more often than not this was done over a drink or 5. That's how things worked
out for _me_, my lecturers from 2 of my alma maters (so to say) now invite me
for guest lectures (1.5 years out of a degree).

I didn't do anything special. I just skipped classes to watch videos from MIT
OCW (pre-Coursera/Udacity/edX) on anything at all that interested me (while of
course retaining an emphasis on the semester subjects) and read the books they
recommended.

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KedarMhaswade
Nice! I hope the online education is going to be a big contributor here. This
book, however, puts several things in perspective -- one of which is making
children of almost any capacity increasingly responsible for themselves
without having to go to schools. Peter compares schools to prisons. This may
seem extreme, but the (copious) evidence he provides is eye-opening.

~~~
merlinsbrain
It may seem extreme to some, but I'm actually willing to hear what he backs it
up with, especially after your comment.

"making children of almost any capacity increasingly responsible for
themselves without having to go to schools" \--> this is _pure gold_. It took
me years of boredom to finally push me to control my knowledge path and not
have to rely on other institutions.

I feel the best thing to teach someone is "how to learn". MIT even had a
course on this, the concept of which I really appreciated (Disclaimer: I
didn't actually get through the course, I was enrolled in too many Coursera
courses at the time ;)

And if you're helping children understand the concept early on, I can't help
but wear rose tinted glasses.

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pg
This is the first I've heard of it.

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011011100
The message in the book, based on my understanding from online reviews and
summaries, resonates with me. I usually have a hard time with school and I've
found that if I study on my own, under my own control, and that I get an
opportunity to figure things out when I need or want to, I will usually do
well when the material is formally taught. University doesn't really offer
this for me because there's always a necessity to progress.

~~~
merlinsbrain
As mentioned in my other comments, I am quite similar in this approach. I've
never done 'academically well' after high school but this is the exact
approach I use to gain whatever knowledge I need for mental
stimulation/curiosity/to get the job done.

Where I live, however there's a strong emphasis on degrees - the brand value
of your institution defines you unless you prove otherwise, a chance which is
rarely given and even more rarely chosen (due to personal reasons I guess -
family, finances, general need for stability etc).

Degrees do work well for some people however, and I really respect the
students who manage to make the most out of university education and the
experience.

I guess the issue just comes down to scalability again, and people like you
and I are not the masses (in this context).

I'm actually interested to know more about how exactly you go about learning
something - would love to share ideas! [Email and Twitter in my profile]

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Bsharp
Just ordered it off Amazon. From reading the description it seems like I
already agree with the premise of the book so it might just reinforce my
existing beliefs, but it seems interesting nonetheless.

