Lessons About Learning Freely from Pathfinder Community School (w/ Hope Wilder)

Learning By Living Podcast

Our guest today, Hope Wilder is the founder of Pathfinder Community School, a learning community where kids truly learn by living. A lifelong learner herself, Hope had an accelerated experience of the public school system, graduating from the University of South Carolina at the age of 19 with degrees in Biology and German. For the dozen years before starting Pathfinder, she worked and played as an alternative outdoor educator and science teacher at private schools and local nonprofits. Hope, Kevin, and I sat down to talk about Hope’s experience watching kids learn through freedom and play, and what can happen when learners are truly in charge. Full disclosure: Kevin is also a member of Pathfinder’s Board of Directors where he currently serves as Board President.
1:39 - From Outdoor Educator to Founder of Self-Directed School: “I kind of made a vow to never teach somebody again who didn’t want to learn what I was teaching.”
6:10 - Stores from Hope’s Internship at Self-Directed Schools: “I saw a fifteen year old turn to a thirteen year old and said, ‘Hey, what’s the stock market?’”
14:24 - Giving Everyone an Equal Voice in Running a School: “Chore time came and we said, ‘Nope… we're trying out this idea from this one kid to not do chores to see if they’re necessary.’”
12:54 - What Types of People Choose Pathfinder? “People come to self-directed education for all different kinds of reasons.”
35:09 - How Kids Learn at Pathfinder: “They knew what they wanted to learn, so it was easy peasy.”
44:47 - Lessons Learned from a Self-Directed School: “The negative way to say it is ‘Don’t squish them.’”