Isn't Art Democratic? The Importance of Self Initiation

Our homeschool group has decided to do a craft or project each month led by a different parent. This month Jaime led the group in making Thanksgiving banners. I dropped Jaz and the supplies off and ran back home to finish up something. By the time I returned, Jaz was well on her way to creating her own banner. The other mother's were quite impressed--I think particularly by her initiative. All the other families with younger children were working together with mom directing the action.

Jasmine's thanksgiving banner

One of the many gifts of natural learning--sometimes called unschooling--is the ability to initiate and complete a project of one's own choosing. This is complete opposition to way children "learn" in school. Virtually, every moment is directed by the teacher and even when the students have a choice, it is a very limited one.

Because of her experience with natural learning, Jasmine sometimes comments about art projects she's done at summer camp or Brownies, "They made us do it." She understands already that compulsion is the antithesis of true creativity.

Jasmine went to public school for 4 months last year on her own initiative. And so I found myself entering the school setting for first time in many years. Every day, as I entered campus to pick up Jasmine, the words "passive consumption" came to my mind. I was struck by the way the children just passively sit and consume whatever the teacher tells them. It's strikingly different from a life lived learning in freedom. Left to their own devices children are active initiators of their own learning.

Maybe because I knew the art teacher and watched her struggling with "behavior problems", I was really struck by the incongruity of art being taught in a dictatorial system. Is this really art? Being told when to turn on, when to turn off, and exactly how?

I picture art being taught in a democratic school. The art room is stocked and available to students whenever they want to do art. The teacher is available to help student with technique etc if they ask for it. Isn't this a much more beautiful vision'than what public schools offer our children?

To learn more about democratic schools, start by visiting The Sudbury Valley School on-line. They have numerous articles and book chapters to read. Their book A Legacy of Trust: Life After the Sudbury Valley School Experience by Daniel Greenberg and Mimsy Sadofsky was influencial on my path to natural learning. It is a compilation of research and surveys done on graduates of Sudbury Valley School. Reading it helps put to rest any nagging worries about college and adult success for those of us who choose to allow our children to determine their own educations.