In this podcast episode returning guest Peter Gray, retired professor of psychology at Boston College, makes an argument for why we should consider other ways of understanding and structuring learning in and outside of school. We talk about college and access to working life, possible alternative ways of learning an occupation, David Geary’s evolutionary theory of biologically primary and secondary abilities, what we need to learn and when we need to learn it, what we can observe in kids who aren’t taught in the conventional ways, kids who learn to read on their own or who learn the whole math curriculum in a couple of months in their late teens, how our expectations influence learning, consequences for not reading when society expects you to, how and when children learn to walk and what we do when they don’t, whining in different cultures, the summer slide, and what to say when people complain that they wish that someone had forced them to learn something earlier in life, how children’s independence and autonomy relates to their mental health, how we try to fix problems by taking away children’s liberty and responsibility, why we should teach them about dangers instead of trying to get rid of them, and many other topics. 

Even if you don’t find yourself agreeing with all of Peter’s arguments, we would love to hear more about what points he’s making that you think are valid and worth considering. How can we let alternative views on education actually widen our current understanding of learning and schooling, instead of just assuming the worst about each other? Send un an email to larsogpaal@gmail.com, we’ll be thankful to every kind of criticism, feedback and suggestions of further explorations and interviews that we should do on these topics. 

See more of Peter’s writings on his Substack https://petergray.substack.com/

Here’s his 2017 article about the summer slide, mentioned in the episode: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-learn/201707/facts-and-fiction-about-the-so-called-summer-slide

Mentions and recommendations from the episode: 

• Jim Rietmulder, 2019. When Kids Rule the School: The Power and Promise of Democratic Education. New Society Publishers. 
• Kerry McDonald, 2019. Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom. Chicago Review Press. 
• David Graeber og David Wengrow. 2021. The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity. Allen Lane.
• Harriet Pattison. 2016. Rethinking Learning to Read. Educational Heretics Press. 
• Elizabeth Marshall Thomas. 2007. The Old Ways: A Story of the First People. Picador. 
• danah boyd. 2014. It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. Yale University Press. 
• Peter Gray. 2013. Free to Learn: : Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life. Basic Books
• Peter Gray, David Lancy, David F. Bjorklund. 2023. «Decline in Independent Activity as a Cause of Decline in Children’s Mental Wellbeing: Summary of the Evidence» February 2023, The Journal of Pediatrics 260(2)

Peter was previously a guest on the podcast in episode 53: 

https://larsogpaal.libsyn.com/episode-53-peter-gray-on-self-directed-education-and-schooling

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Our logo is by Sveinung Sudbø, see his works on originalkopi.com

The music is by Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen, see the facebook page Nygrenda Vev og Dur for more info. 

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Thank you for listening. Please send feedback and questions to larsogpaal@gmail.com

There is no better way for the podcast to gain new interested listener than by you sharing it with friends, so if you find what we do interesting and useful, please consider doing just that. The podcast is still most in Norwegian, but we have a lot of episodes coming out in English. 

Our blogs:

https://paljabekk.com/

https://larssandaker.blogspot.com/

Alt godt, hilsen Lars og Pål

Christian Lomsdalen, den produktive mannen bak Lektor Lomsdalens innfall (startet i 2016, 559 episoder per dags dato), er en av veteranene i den norske skolepodkastverdenen. Christian har i mange år vært lektor i videregående skole, men er nå stipendiat ved Universitetet i Bergen, hvor han forsker på fritaksretten i skolen. Siden 2021 har han vært styreleder i Human-Etisk Forbund. Han lager også podkastene Tanketrigger, PedSexPod og Frokostkaffen, og er en aktiv samfunnsdebattant. 

Nylig ga han ut boken Burde vi det? Profesjonsfaglig etisk kompetanse i skolen på Fagbokforlaget, og det er i den forbindelse at vi slår av en prat med ham på podkasten. Vi snakker om etisk refleksjon i læreryrket, etiske og juridiske rammeverk for den jobben vi gjør som lærere, behovet for individuell tilpasning og en pragmatisk holdning, friskoler, foresatte, fritaksretten, betente tema og innflytelsen fra den amerikanske offentlige debatten, søksmål i skolesaker, sosial mobilitet, veier til arbeidslivet, barns selvstendighet, revolusjon eller reform i dagens skolesystem, forsøk i skolen, og hvorfor han kanskje bør bli rektor en gang i fremtiden. 

Du finner mer info om Christians arbeid på følgende nettsider:

https://burdevidet.no/

https://lektorlomsdalen.no/

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tanketrigger

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pedsexpod

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/frokostkaffen

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Logoen vår er laget av Sveinung Sudbø, se hans arbeider på originalkopi.com

Musikken er av Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen, se facebooksiden Nygrenda Vev og Dur for mer info.

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Takk for at du hører på. Ta kontakt med oss på larsogpaal@gmail.com

Det finnes ingen bedre måte å få spredt podkasten vår til flere enn via dere lyttere, så takk om du deler eller forteller andre om oss. 

Både Lars og Pål skriver nå på hver sin blogg, med litt varierende regelmessighet. Du finner dem på disse nettsidene:

https://paljabekk.com/

https://larssandaker.blogspot.com/

Alt godt, hilsen Lars og Pål