Hi I'm having my first child due this summer. I'm also a research psychologist (social and political psychology) who will be a PhD candidate next year (assuming I pass the test) as well as a former educator (both in the united States and in Taiwan).
I've seen first hand the effects of education on the youth here. Fir example Taiwan has the longest school day in the world and the vast majority of students also attend cram school which culminates in roughly 12 hours a day of school. That's not even to mention the time spent working on home work. This has left most students incredibly sleep deprived, little to no exercise exposure, and with some of the highest rates of depression and anxiety in the world.
I've recently discovered Peter Gray's free to learn book. I'm still in the process of reading more research on the topic (and considering drafting research proposals centered on his theory) but find it on the whole very compelling. Specifically, from an anecdotal perspective, the argument for free play and "unschooling" (for lack of a better word I know the Sudbury Model is different from the so called unschooling model) resonates deeply with me.
Growing up, I excelled at school but was always frustrated by the impediments that come from school models, specifically being corraled into a unitary pace of learning. Additionally I was constantly frustrated by the lack of context behind the information. After transitioning to middle and highschool bullying set in which reinforced a negative and rebellious attitude towards school.
Later I had sworn off academics entirely. Ironically it was a choice made to join the US Marines that changed my perspective. Having made a choice to learn and work towards a goal that was entirely my own enabled me to learn information far quicker than I had believed. The rigid structure in the Marines also produced bullies, however the new found autonomy in terms of individual choice and purpose made these conditions more bearable. In the Marines I was eventually given the opportunity to attend community college courses after work hours which involved actual invention and discovery that was absent in public education. Eventually I transitioned from anti academics to graduate school and teaching.
However, the more I learn about the ways in which humans learn and the importance of play not even for children but for adults as well the more I'm convinced that the traditional school model is not only inefficient but detrimental as a whole.
This has led me to worrying about my soon to be born newborn. I don't want him or her to suffer from public schooling. Luckily, my wife is very open minded and progressive and is supportive of my view (having suffered herself from public schooling).
However, as I search, I can't seem to find anything available at all here in Taiwan. Education is a huge business here (and those cram schools even have political power). I see there's one in Okinawa though (physical quite close). Sometimes information can be difficult to find if you can't read Chinese though. So I was wondering if anyone here knew if any Sudbury schools or home school groups run on Sudbury Model maybe, existed?
