EU308: Unschooling Dads with Philip Mott

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Philip Mott, a former teacher and unschooling dad to three young children, joins me this week. Philip shares how his unschooling journey began and how his experience as a teacher and what he learned about educational philosophy shaped his path. We talk about the challenges of deschooling and how ingrained our cultural beliefs really are.

For Philip, the opposite of unschooling is authoritarianism, and deschooling is all about questioning authoritarian practices and replacing that model with a focus on relationships. He also invites dads on this journey to question their own gut instincts, wondering how much of what we think is our gut is really societal messages.

Philip is passionate about sharing the philosophy of unschooling and we have a wonderful conversation!

Questions for Philip

Can you share with us a bit about you and your family? What is everybody interested in right now?

I understand that you were a teacher before diving into unschooling. I’m curious how you discovered unschooling and how your teaching experience wove into your family’s choice to move to unschooling. What did that look like?

Having been a teacher, I imagine the need for deschooling made sense pretty quickly. What has been one of the more challenging aspects of deschooling for you? Can you share a bit about how you worked through it?

Deschooling often quickly grows beyond school to exploring the kind of person we want to be. When we connected, you mentioned that lately you’ve been redefining your role as a father. I’d love to hear your thoughts around that process.

What is your favorite thing about your unschooling days right now?

As an unschooling dad, what piece of advice would you like to share with dads who are considering or just starting out on this journey?

Things mentioned in the episode

Philip is on Twitter and Instagram

Transcript

Read the transcript

Video

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The Living Joyfully Network community

The Network is a wonderful online community for parents to engage in candid conversations about living and learning through the lens of unschooling. Our shared goals are to embrace lifelong learning, develop strong and connected relationships with our children, and cultivate a thriving unschooling lifestyle in our families.

This month, our theme is The Joys of Unschooling and we’re exploring it through the lenses of presence and kindness.

If you’re curious to learn more, click here!

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I deeply appreciate all my patrons. Your generous support helps pay for the hosting and transcription, as well as my time spent creating new episodes each week. It’s instrumental in keeping the growing podcast archive freely available to anyone who’s curious and wants to explore the fascinating world of unschooling. If you’d like to join my community of patrons and scoop up some great rewards along the way, check out the Exploring Unschooling page on Patreon.