One of the problems facing those challenging compulsory education is how organized the education establishment is for maintaining, even extending, the status quo versus how scattered the opposition is. Towards that end, on April 27, 2013 from 9AM to 2PM, Cevin Soling is organizing the Alternatives to Compulsory Education Conference at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Gutman Conference Center, 6 Appian Way, Cambridge, MA 02138. Admission is free and open to the public; just register in advance so we’ll know when the room is hitting capacity.

The event features four speakers: me, speaking about homeschooling and unschooling; Cevin Soling, a filmmaker (The War on Kids) speaking about why schools cannot be reformed; Peter Bergson, founder of Open Connections in PA, speaking about community support for learning; and Peter Gray, author of Free to Learn (Basic Books, 2013), speaking about the importance of play.

We want to urge you to tell as many people as possible about this event and, if they can’t come in person, to send us information about their work with alternatives to compulsory schooling so we can share it the day of the event. One of the goals for the day is to encourage networking among people who are concerned about the increasing lack of freedom for children in today’s society.

Contact me via email (Pat Farenga at JohnHoltGWS dot com) if you can’t attend but want to send some materials or to get a free line listing in the handouts we’re printing for the event.

From the website:

The Alternatives to Compulsory Education Conference is an opportunity to hear new ideas, share resources, but most of all to develop a community among those who are interested in ways to promote education to everyone interested in learning without the involvement of compulsory institutions. It is hoped that attendees will actively support other individuals and organizations through a process of transparency whereby best practices can be shared and the viability of educating without compulsory schools will be firmly entrenched and legitimized. Organizations are encouraged to bring brochures as well as flyers about their upcoming events for distribution. Everyone is encouraged to network.