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
Misuse of Key Terms by Children’s Commissioner and Local Government Association in context of Education Select Committee Hearing on Home Education
Open letter to the Education Select Committee The following letter was sent on 17 December 2020 to the Chair of the Education Select Committee Mr Robert Halfon MP, to the Clerk, to the Children’s Commissioner and to the Local Government Association and signed by the parties below. Misuse of key terms by Children’s Commissioner and […]
If it works don’t fix it. Leave Home Education alone as it works. Sort out the problems in schools, by Ian Cunningham
There is no need for a change in current arrangements for home education. The law on the ‘otherwise’ criterion is clear on the right to an education that is not in school. Below is some evidence for the need for schools to change, based on the book ‘Self Managed Learning and the New Educational Paradigm’ […]
Another Way is Possible: Becoming a Democratic Teacher in a State School, by Derry Hannam
Transcript from Derry Hannam’s talk at the International Democratic Education Conference (IDEC) on 30th October 2020 #WebIDEC2020: I must warn you that although this lecture is not a lecture or a speech or even just a talk – it is a story – and that still gives me the opportunity to say a lot!! “Another […]
The gifts that home-schooling parents give their children, by Joe Atkinson
I’ve worked with families that home-school for a variety of reasons. Some enforced and some consciously. Like many things on the edges of a society it is a place that is so often misunderstood, but a place where you can learn so much from the community and I am glad that I found this community […]
Don’t Go Back, Recreate the School, by Helena Singer
After six months of school buildings being closed, debates, balance sheets, proposals, controversies multiply around questions about “recovering learning”, “automatically approving or failing”, “how to follow protocols on returning to school”, “when closing the school year”, ” how to diagnose learning loss “, among others that address education with language of accounting. More extreme positions […]
Reaching out: when learning doesn’t look like school, by Rachel Evans
Recently there have been renewed concerns from the media and policy makers about home educated children who are not formally taught, and who may be classed as Children Missing Education. This blog is intended to speak directly to anyone with concerns. Children are hard wired to learn from the moment they are born. There is […]
Going, going, gone. What the sudden rise in home education does (and doesn’t) tell us about the school system, by Anna Dusseau
Recruitment, retention, results. This was what I gathered from my first meeting on the Sixth Form Management Team (SMT), back in the early teens of last decade. We called it the ‘3 Rs’ and it formed the basis of decision-making within our Sixth Form, an ambitious offshoot of the competitive inner-London academy I was employed […]
The impact of school on young people’s mental health: a UCL doctoral student shares his findings, by States of Mind
With our youth-led research project, Breaking The Silence, we’re exploring the impact of the UK’s educational system on young people’s mental health and wellbeing. Today we hear from Jaspar Khawaja, a doctoral student at the UCL Institute of Education, who has been collaborating with us in recent months to develop the research. Asked about the […]
Schools are prioritising academic achievement over wellbeing and growth, by States of Mind
With our youth-led research project, Breaking The Silence, we’re exploring the impact of the UK’s educational system on young people’s mental health and wellbeing. Today we hear from Jaspar Khawaja, a doctoral student at the UCL Institute of Education, who has been collaborating with us in recent months to develop the research. In our previous […]
The Case for Un-Learning, by Ross Mountney
You maybe don’t realise but in order to home educate successfully parents have some serious un-learning to do! Un-learning? That’s a bit contrary for an education blog isn’t it? How is that going to help with home schooling when there’s so much new stuff to understand? And that’s the whole point; there’s a lot of […]
Let Us Unleash All Potential, by Katy Zago
Diversity? Financial sustainability? Creativity? Let us unleash all potential! As an active member of the Luxembourg Treasury Association (ATEL) for about 20 years, I had the honour of being one of the rare guests to attend this annual conference like no other, given the health circumstances. Indeed, times are changing, and for the first time this […]
Creating a Democratic Class and Curriculum, by Derry Hannam
Rather than impose my own idea of the kind of structures that the class democracy should have I decided that we would make it up as we went along by dealing with issues as they arose. The one thing I was clear about was the need for a class meeting. As the school required that […]
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 […]