I’d like to invite you to think for a moment about those activities that you enjoy doing most now, as an adult, and see if you can remember how you learnt to do them.  Were you taught in a formal way? Did you teach yourself? Did you learn through performing tasks, reading about it or some other way? What motivated you?

How I learned to swim

I have a great affinity with water and my favourite way of exercising is swimming. It’s something I look forward to doing every week and I enjoy a reasonable level of competency. When I think back to how I learned to swim, what emerges is a hotch potch of different events. Some of my education in this area was very much “free range” in that I was introduced to a variety of opportunities at various times in my childhood and was free to choose for myself those which suited me at the time. At other times swimming lessons were forced upon me.

To begin with, I went swimming with my father at our local swimming pool on a Saturday morning. I remember having mixed feelings about this. I wanted to spend time with my father and I wanted to learn to swim, but the water was very cold and very highly chlorinated, so these sessions often resulted in my eyes feeling sore and I remember feeling sick in the car on the way home. I think I progressed reasonably well with my swimming skills this way, but the conditions were not at all ideal.

Then there were a few summer holidays when we stayed in a hotel with a lovely, warm, indoor pool and my progress was much faster during these few weeks. I plucked up the courage to swim under water and to dive in. I remember feeling much happier during those times. The atmosphere was more relaxed, more fun, and I was learning in an environment that was much more physically comfortable.

Later on I had compulsory swimming lessons at school which I did not enjoy and in which I made little progress. These were followed by private lessons with an army swimming instructor who was cruel and ruthless in his methods. He motivated his students through fear and humiliation and, whilst I obeyed his commands at the time (I really had no choice if I wanted to avoid drowning!) and improved my stamina as a result, the experience left me angry and resentful.

As an adult, I returned to swimming lessons voluntarily, improving my technique and stamina alongside my children with an instructor we all regarded as a friend.

What do I mean by “free range education”? It is when we are at liberty to choose what we learn, in an environment, at a time, at a level and in a way that’s right for us. When I first took my children out of school and decided to home educate them, my main concern was that they might not make progress. So, I decided to stick with what I knew worked for them and, although they were 8 and 6 years old at the time, I re-visited the methods I had used with them as pre-schoolers because I knew they had been happy and well-rounded in their education at that point.

So, I just presented them with opportunities, made a variety of resources available to them, a bit at a time and watched to see what would happen. Leaving them free to choose seemed to be the key. Yes, of course sometimes they chose to do things that I didn’t consider to be very “educational”, but I came to understand that learning happens in the most surprising of places and in a very wide range of ways if we let it and don’t get in the way! The most amazing outcome for me at the same time was that I was starting to take a similar attitude with my own learning and to learn from the methods I was watching my sons adopt. They were starting to teach me how to learn!

They taught me that:

Firstly – it’s important to be in the right frame of mind and in a comfortable environment. If you’ve just been kicked in the teeth by your older brother, now’s not a good time! Chill out first doing nothing or something relaxing or easy and then come back to it later.

Secondly – is it really you who wants to do this? If you feel you’re being forced into a learning situation and it’s just not right for you, object in the strongest terms! Find out what’s behind the coercion and get the adult involved to reconsider their motives – grown ups can be very devious!

Thirdly – if someone says “Did you copy that?” stick up for yourself and look proud of the fact that you did! What’s more, introduce your accuser to the person you copied and explain what a wonderful friend they are! Modelling is an excellent form of learning and children know the importance of finding someone they admire, who’s an expert at what they want to learn, and then apprenticing themselves to that person.

And finally – if it’s something your friends are doing and it looks like fun to learn something together, go for it! Learning as part of a group can be stimulating and enjoyable in many ways. There are opportunities to practice social skills and working with others, as well as taking on board a range of ideas and perspectives.

So, in conclusion, the lessons for the adults are: notice what you really want to learn – be honest with yourself about what’s motivating you (forget the “oughts” and “shoulds”). Give yourself permission to explore, experiment and make mistakes. If you want help from a teacher or prefer to learn some parts with others, make sure you find people you get on well with. Above all, enjoy yourself!