School Sucks, but Learning Doesn't Have To

The School Sucks Project began in 2009 when host Brett Veinotte started digging into the problems of modern education, and over the course of 732 episodes, he built a community around finding solutions to those problems. After 12 years of that podcast, he decided it was time to "graduate" and work on new projects, but he has been releasing a top-50 series covering the highlights of the show with 10 episodes each on 5 themes.

As I draft this post, Episode 17 is the most recent entry in this ongoing series. This is largely a repeat of Brett's interview with Pat Farenga of John Holt GWS about the work of John Holt and John Taylor Gatto, how kids learn versus how schools want to teach, and the diverse opportunities for real learning available to anyone willing to break the mold.

I know summer is here, and school is perhaps the last thing on your mind. If you are a parent or a student, now is the time to consider what to do when autumn rolls around and enrollment time comes again. Just ask yourself: by what metric has education improved as more money has been spent and more central control over the youth of the nation has been seized by government schools?

I suggest listening to this episode for solutions, or going through these highlight episodes to get a broader overview of the real problems and how people are making changes already. New releases are coming out every couple days, so Episode 18 may be out by the time this publishes. If you need a summer podcast binge, you could even go through the entire archive.

What are you willing to do to make change happen in your own life? Just remember,

The schools will not improve. Higher education will not improve. The politics around these institutions will not improve. Only we can improve.

• The School Sucks Project