Documentaries about Learning Without Going to Conventional Schools
Approaching the Elephant
Year one at the Teddy McArdle Free School in Little Falls, New Jersey, where all classes are voluntary and rules are determined by vote.
Being and Becoming
Invites us to trust children more and question our learning paradigms and options.
All across America, parents are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the state of public education. The current state of our educational system & economy shines a spotlight on problems with traditional schools. Class Dismissed showcases a growing trend in alternative education strategies that are working for many families across America.
Peter Kowalke was unschooled as a child. Now an adult, he interviews 10 homeschoolers to find out how they managed to find work and to reflect on how homeschooling has shaped them.
Self-Taught
Through the stories of six extraordinary individuals, Self-Taught explores what self-directed education means to them and the impact it has had on their lives, ambitions, work, and beliefs.
Schools of Trust
A German film about democratic schools.
Writer/director Carol Black's poignant and insightful documentary about poor village children in India who leave their rural areas for schools in the big city and what happens to them and the people they leave behind. It also examines the growth and influence of worldwide compulsory schooling as domination justified by "manifest destiny."
Jason Marsh created three portraits of unschooling families, each one featuring different backgrounds and ages. Parents wondering if unschooled teens will get into college will be inspired by the young man whose passion for blacksmithing and other non-school interests help him gain admission to the University of CA–Berkeley.
Cevin Soling's powerful examination of what life is like for students in public school today, what can be fixed, and what should be abolished.
A documentary film about the Danish free school, Ny Lille Skole, produced by John Holt. The writer/director, Peggy Hughes, writes about the Danish school system and this film in her essay in The Legacy of John Holt.
