I have been reading a series of feature newspaper articles about brain science and its relationship to education. Believe it or not, the education community – especially the public school system – has never paid much attention to neuroscience. You’d think that understanding how people learn would be at the very basis of how schools function. But any number of writers – me included – have demonstrated and complained for years about the disconnect that puts tradition, misplaced accountability and vested interests ahead of creating optimum conditions in which children can learn. The series of articles makes for a fascinating read. But unschoolers should beware: You’ll be left shaking your head at the apparently radical suggestion that paying attention to how the brain learns would revolutionize the education system. It’s about time that several centuries of science is put to use, although I wonder if the vested interests will actually allow that to happen. And the degree of change required is immense.

And you’ll also likely choke – as I did – on the notion that this sort of understanding isn’t being applied anywhere. I’ve often said that the life learning community provides a wonderful example of best practices in education and that professional educators should be looking carefully at us, rather than always being so hostile. And here is science-based back-up for that opinion. The understanding that children learn best by doing rather than by listening; that more learning happens through movement and socialization than when sitting quietly;, that adults and children can explore and learn together rather than one dictating to the other; that learning happens best when there is interest, motivation and context…these are the foundations of the unschooling lifestyle. And they’re often scorned by teachers and others who are quick to disregard the unschooling lifestyle. In her first article, the author of the newspaper series describes the neuroscience discoveries in this way: “Have you ever seen a baby mastering the task of climbing stairs? The infant will try and try again, utterly absorbed, relentless, until he or she figures it out. A 7-year-old playing an intense game of soccer? What about a teenager trying to figure out a new video game? The climbing baby, the soccer player and the teenaged gamer are submitting to the biological imperative to learn. Each is driven by something within. Each desperately wants to learn.” Of course, that’s how my daughters and so many other life learners have learned. The simplicity and elegance of these ideas – not to mention the need to put control of learning in the hands of the learner – are probably why they have been kept such a secret for so long. But now that they are slowly creeping into mainstream consciousness, not to implement them is a crime against children and against the future of humanity.