Our Favorite Books
- Apr 16
- 4 min read
There are so many incredible resources centered around youth liberation, deschooling, and self-directed education. To start, here is a list of my favorite books that I refer back to regularly. I use the Libby app to listen to audiobooks from the library for free. When I buy physical books I like to use Better World Books for online shopping. If you use Amazon, please consider using the links provided to help us earn a little commision. Otherwise, purchasing directly from the author is likely the most supportive.
Our Favorite Books
This is a powerful, must-read book helping us to understand why this work is so important. Akilah coined the term "schoolishness" as a way to describe our ingrained habits, fears, and control-based approaches that come from modern schooling. Read this book as you start your deschooling journey. Her podcast is also incredible!!
This is the first book I read on self-directed education and it changed my life. They way Peter explains the history of modern education is mind blowing.
A classic on learning how to identify your needs and the feelings behind them; an integral part of our liberation and autonomy. I personally think the audiobook from the 1990's is a hidden gem that ought to be required reading for life.
Again, an incredible audiobook! Listen (or read) and let Tricia cast a counterspell on hustle culture and the grind of living in a capitalist society. Then, take a nap.
This is a lovely read for anyone who socializes and wants to learn how to be host any sort of gathering. Priya shares how to gather from a place of intention that is value driven. Easy read and filled with so much wisdom.
Maybe this doesn't fit into the SDE sphere but, to me, this is an important read to move through life with a more zen attitude.
This is the most beautiful book to read. It is full of stories to support our desire to live in community with each other, the earth and all that resides here. Robin is a botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation urging us to live in reciprocity. You will want to read this book again and again.
If you are a white or white-passing person ready to dismantle white supremacy culture then this is the book for you. Its short but filled with journal prompts to go deeper.
If that's not enough, I am also sharing a compilation of books that have been suggested to read in the SDE circle:
Self-Directed Education Centered Books
"Schools have failed our individual needs, supporting false and misleading notions of 'progress' and development fostered by the belief that ever-increasing production, consumption and profit are proper yardsticks for measuring the quality of human life. Our universities have become recruiting centers for the personnel of the consumer society, certifying citizens for service, while at the same time disposing of those judged unfit for the competitive rat race. In this bold and provocative book, Illich suggest some radical and exciting reforms for the education system."
"Unschooled reveals the parallels between unschooling, online movements, indigenous teaching, and hacker culture. Through anthropology, biology, history and technology, it offers an alternative vision of the future, where freedom, curiosity, and cooperation reign, no child is hindered by their background, and networked communities flourish together."
"Former New York State Teacher of the Year John Taylor Gatto reveals how compulsory schooling creates dependent workers instead of independent thinkers, replacing natural curiosity with rule-following conformity. Over 30 years of classroom experience led to his revolutionary discovery: genius is as common as dirt, but conventional education systematically destroys it."
"First published in Portuguese in 1968, Pedagogy of the Oppressed was translated and published in English in 1970. Paulo Freire's work has helped to empower countless people throughout the world and has taken on special urgency in the United States and Western Europe, where the creation of a permanent underclass among the underprivileged and minorities in cities and urban centers is ongoing."
"The only complete guide to unschooling written for youth."
Deschooling and Liberation Work
"Trust Kids! insists on youth autonomy, listening to youth, and questioning adult supremacy on every page. At the heart of the book are conversations about all the ways that children can be included, loved, and cared for in more generative, just, and egalitarian ways. Its essays explore the liberatory potential of consent and autonomy in relationships among children, youth, and the adults in their lives."
"Radical, compassionate, and profoundly hopeful, this powerful new book signals the start of a long-overdue conversation about how we treat children. Featuring practical solutions and the voices of children and adults who are working towards them, It’s Not Fair is a call to embrace children’s liberation and the possibility of a better, fairer world."
"In the newly revised and expanded Second Edition of Free-Range Kids, New York columnist-turned-movement leader Lenore Skenazy delivers a compelling and entertaining look at how we got so worried about everything our kids do, see, eat, read, wear, watch and lick -- and how to bid a whole lot of that anxiety goodbye. With real-world examples, advice, and a gimlet-eyed look at the way our culture forces fear down our throats, Skenazy describes how parents and educators can step back so kids step up."
Comments