The terms Unschooling and Homeschooling are being used more and more, however, do you know what the difference is between them? First of all, you must be clear that these two expressions refer to “homeschooling”.
What is Unschooling?
This expression was used by an elementary school teacher named John Holt, who in his concern for students who were in class and did not show significant motivation for studying, concluded that going to school was not enough and that education from home was also necessary. So he used the term Unschooling to refer to education from home, which is not schooled and is natural and autonomous.
What is Homeschooling?
To begin with, the English term Homeschooling means “education from home”. It includes a study program established for people to develop a complete and innovative education, since this education arises from technological societies.
Unschooling VS Homeschooling
As you have noted in the previous paragraphs, the distinctions between these two expressions refer to two important aspects:
Unschooling is an education system that does not have a defined curriculum, but rather proposes a free and autonomous education that complements schooled education and where the person chooses what to learn.
On the other hand, Homeschooling is an education system that has an established program and a series of goals and objectives to be achieved and is carried out through digital media.
Homeschooling emerges as an opportunity based on technology to bring education closer with a more personalized, dynamic, and flexible methodology, and this is possible in the digital era we live in.
Which is better?
Discussing which education system is better is irrelevant since the two are complementary and respond to a social and educational problem.
If we put these two forms of education together, we create an “integral” education that combines personal learning and interactive learning. With them, we can achieve success in education because at the end of the day, it does not matter if education comes from a school or from home, virtual or traditional. As an educator, Ivan Illich says that education “makes you believe that you need the society as it is”.
