If you're looking for progressive alternatives to conventional methods in education, you’re not alone.
This online hub explores progressive approaches to education which are forward-thinking and aim to equip students with appropriate skills for the 21st century.
We present a variety of options so that parents/carers, teachers, students, policy makers and other professionals can make informed choices. Our directory includes a list of progressive schools and learning communities in the UK, and our Voices section showcases innovation from the state and private sectors.
We are committed to sharing the voices of key stakeholders so that together, we can reimagine education.
Why Do We Need Alternative Approaches to Education?
There are many reasons why progressive alternatives are becoming more popular, and why a growing movement of people are calling for our state education system to be reimagined.
Articles, News & Research
School’s Out… Arguments for Self-Directed Education
“I set out to find out more about education where children are active agents. Perhaps the most radical type of all is self-directed education, where the children are not made to follow any curriculum at all, unless they want to. I interviewed psychologists researching learning in home educated children, and others focusing on children in […]
Coronavirus Reminds Us What Education Without Schooling Can Look Like
“The coronavirus outbreak might help some parents discover better alternatives outside of traditional schooling.” Read the full article here: https://fee.org/articles/coronavirus-reminds-us-what-education-without-schooling-can-look-like/ Published by: Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) Date: March 10th 2020 Author: Kerry McDonald, Senior Education Fellow at FEE and author of Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom (Chicago Review Press, 2019).
Home School Vs State School
Specific Differences in the Educational Outcomes of Those Students who are Home Schooled Vs. Students in a Traditional School Setting This report (by Kathi Moreau, 2012) examines home education in the United States. It describes the families who are most likely to choose home schooling* as an educational option and the level of success that […]
Home Schooling: From the Extreme to the Mainstream
A study by Patrick Basham, John Merrifield, and Claudia R. Hepburn This is the 2nd edition of a study published by The Fraser Institute (2007). The paper considers the educational phenomenon of home schooling in Canada and the United States, its regulation, history, growth, and the characteristics of practitioners before reviewing the findings on the […]
Children Love to Learn, by Polly Cheer
Since qualifying as a teacher in 1994 I have learnt so much more about how children learn. Out of those 30 six year olds, there will be approx. 10-15 of them who can sit and listen and don’t really mind being passive. I was one of those children as a child. I was quite happy […]
Education – What For? By Fiona Carnie
Successive governments, concerned about the underachievement of British children and the detrimental effect of this underachievement on the economy, have been determined to raise academic standards in education. This aim has underpinned changes to the state education system since the early 1980s, in particular the introduction of the National Curriculum in England, with its associated […]
Research into Children’s Rights Education
A Review of Recent Research into Children’s Rights Based Education in State Schools in Hampshire, England by Derry Hannam for the Spring 2011 edition of the EUDEC newsletter In 2002 one of the county education officials in Hampshire, England learned of research carried out by researchers at Cape Breton University, Nova Scotia, Canada, into the […]
What is a Successful Education? By Ross Mountney
That’s a heck of a question! When you think about it deeply that is, and don’t just accept the conventional answers that education is to get intelligent enough to get qualification and thus a good job defined by high pay and so on and so on… We’re sucked into that conventional definition of education and […]
Soft Skills Training in Schools Improves Health and Behaviour
A trial of a new curriculum to improve soft skills in secondary school children has shown that it can boost their physical health and behaviour, as well as changing their career aspirations, according to research from the London School of Economics (LSE). The LSE report is available here: Widening the High School Curriculum to Include […]
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Voices from the Sector
Parent Voice 3
Jessica – Unschooling Mum and Educationalist Educationalist, Jessica* currently home educates her four-year old and has chosen to follow the ‘unschooling’ approach. Jessica has worked in education for nearly 20 years in a number of capacities. She has been a teacher in colleges and universities, been involved in teacher training and the design of learning […]
Parent Voice 2
Ross Mountney – Home Educator and Author Ross Mountney is a parent, home educator and author. She started her career as a teacher which she says “was a bit daft really” as she was never at ease with the school environment. That was when she began to suspect that much of what went on at school was […]
Parent Voice 1
Kirstie Gran – Parent and Trainee Holistic Family Health Coach Kirstie has a son in mainstream school and a younger daughter at home. She’s become interested in progressive education since she started studying the brain and how it develops in children. She’s currently studying to become a Holistic Family Health Coach and previously completed a […]