Teachers Turned Unschoolers

Here’s another question I get pretty regularly!

Do you have any podcast episodes with unschooling parents who were teachers?

It’s fun to ponder the why behind the question. Does it seem like a strange leap to make? To me, choosing teaching indicates an interest in children and in learning, so to dive into that even more deeply with their own children through unschooling does seem like a rather natural next step to take.

But whatever the reason behind this pretty common question, the answer is a resounding yes!

Podcast Episodes

I put together a compilation episode for the podcast to specifically explore this question: Teachers Turned Unschoolers.

And knowing these guests bring this more formal educational perspective with them, it could also be interesting to listen to their full interviews to hear more about their journey to unschooling!

Here are links to their episodes:

EU106: Unschooling Connections with Kelly Callahan (always interested in alternative forms of education, she has a teaching credential and focused on wilderness education and experiential education)

EU054: From Teaching to Unschooling with Grace Koelma (studied primary school teaching at university and taught for a year)

EU243: Parenting Shifts with Sarah Peshek (former school teacher)

EU213: Unschooling and Math with Marcella O’Brien (was a public teacher, teaching fifth grade, and now tutors math)

EU193: Unschooling Younger Kids with Martha Delmore (her background is secondary education, she wanted to be a teacher from an early age and loved working at a high school)

EU254: Finding Unschooling with Daniela Bramwell (attended a Montessori free school growing up and is now completing her PhD in education and society)

And there are many more podcast guests who are teachers, professors, and/or have a background in education! What does unschooling look like for them?

EU332: An Unschooling Journey with Jae Williams, Part 3

EU331: An Unschooling Journey with Jae Williams, Part 2

EU290: An Unschooling Journey with Jae Williams, Part 1 (Jae recently decided to leave his teaching job and stay home to dive into unschooling with his two young children, you can follow along on his YouTube channel, BlackDad)

EU311: Ten Questions with Erika Ellis (she was a high school science teacher and her husband is a professor)

EU247: From Teaching to Unschooling with Kelsi Stembel (middle school teacher for nine a half years)

EU224: Deschooling with Fiona Munday (trained as a teacher and taught one year of primary school)

EU216: Deschooling with Nikki Zavitz (wanted to be a teacher her whole life and taught for ten years)

EU206: Deschooling with Kinsey Norris (former early childhood education teacher)

EU151: Escape Adulthood with Kim and Jason Kotecki (Kim taught kindergarten for five years)

EU107: Alternative Schools to Unschooling with Jessica (partial teacher’s degree in Germany and taught at an alternative school)

EU110: Unschooling Dads & Music with Alan Marshall (university professor teaching music)

EU077: Girls Unschooled with Jo Watt (high school teacher)

EU076: Choosing Home with Kerry McDonald (master’s degree in education policy)

EU067: Deschooling with Anna Black (went to a Montessori school and became a Montessori teacher)

EU063: Gentle Parenting with Shannon Loucks (got her teaching degree, then moved to alternative learning environments)

EU055: Living Unschooling with James and Taylor Davis (both went to college to be teachers, Taylor taught in an elementary school for a number of years)

EU051: Deschooling with Luminara King (former Steiner-Waldorf teacher)

EU037: Ten Questions with Carol Black (attended a teacher education program in college but dropped out after reading How Children Fail by John Holt)

EU020: Unschooling as Alternative Education with Carlo Ricci (professor at the Schulich School of Education at Nipissing University in Ontario, Canada and his research focus in teaching includes unschooling, self-directed learning, reading, freeschooling, and democratic education)

EU002: Ten Questions with Pam Sorooshian (a professor of economics and statistics)