naomi fisher

Published with the permission of Naomi Fisher.

As we learn how to 'do school', do we forget how to learn?

School isn't the only way to get an education, and the school way isn't the only way to learn. In fact, some of the skills we need at school are quite different to the skills we need in order to direct our own learning.

This table from my new...

Published with the permission of Naomi Fisher.

Do we really want our teenagers to spend their adolescence on a conveyor belt of high stakes exams?

What a strange thing we do to our young people in this culture and time.

We make them spend several years learning things that they often have no interest in, that they have not chosen and that they will in many cases...

Published with the permission of Naomi Fisher.

What is a childhood like, when it's not defined by school?

When my children first didn’t start school, I saw a hole where school would have been. The absence loomed large. I saw empty years ahead with no Back to School Septembers, and no Sports Day in July. No school plays and no class assemblies. No chatting with other mums at the...

Published with the permission of Naomi Fisher.

How Do Children Learn When They Don't Go to School? Won't they end up behind?

Most people have no idea what child development and education looks like outside school when young people have autonomy. I've been told that children will endlessly move from whim to whim, or that they'll never learn to set goals or work hard. Here's what...