Education Beyond School

I come from a culture in which education is highly valued and traditionally understood as something delivered through schools. It was therefore surprising when I first watched a BBC documentary about families who educated their children at home. At the time, I had scarcely considered that education could exist outside a conventional classroom.

That moment opened a much larger question for me: where does education happen, and who decides what it should look like?

My curiosity led me to explore homeschooling, charter schools, Montessori education and other approaches to organising children’s education. The work of thinkers such as Ken Robinson and Ivan Illich also helped me examine the historical purposes of schooling and question whether inherited systems remain suited to contemporary human needs.

“Education is not confined to a classroom; it is shaped wherever people are given—or denied—the conditions to grow.”

Looking at Educational Systems

Having taught in higher education for a significant part of my professional life, I have witnessed both the possibilities and limitations of institutional education. I have seen students arrive with curiosity and determination, but also with deeply established doubts about their abilities.

Educational structures do more than deliver information. Through their expectations, assessments, timetables and definitions of achievement, they can influence how learners understand themselves. A system can create opportunity, but it can also discourage participation when it recognises only a narrow range of strengths or ways of demonstrating knowledge.

Rapid technological, environmental and economic change has made these questions increasingly urgent. A qualification gained over several years may lead into a field that has already changed substantially. Education therefore cannot be concerned only with transferring established knowledge; it must also help people develop adaptability, judgement, confidence and the ability to continue learning.

Early Childhood and the Digital World

Over time, I became especially interested in early-childhood education. The early years offer an important opportunity to nurture curiosity, communication, creativity, confidence and a sense of belonging.

Young children now encounter digital technologies from an early age. These tools can support imagination, exploration and access, but they can also introduce distraction, dependency and forms of influence that children are not yet equipped to recognise. The task is not simply to embrace or reject technology, but to design balanced environments in which it supports healthy development, meaningful play and human connection.

My interest grew through observing kindergarten classrooms and speaking with experienced educators. These encounters reinforced the importance of developmentally appropriate expectations, responsive teaching and allowing children to progress without being reduced to rigid comparisons.

Learning Through Participation

To understand this field more fully, I have explored children’s literature, storytelling, STEM education, educational games and museum learning environments. I have participated in teachers’ programmes at the Museum of Modern Art, observed kindergarten classrooms and spent time in libraries, children’s museums and makerspaces.

My practical experience has also included supporting programmes with Girls Who Code and volunteering with Islands of Brilliance, an organisation working with autistic children and young adults. These experiences have brought me into contact with learners of different ages, abilities and communication styles.

Together, they have strengthened my belief that inclusive education begins with careful observation. Effective programmes do not assume that every learner needs the same path, pace or form of support. They create structure while leaving room for curiosity, agency, difference and discovery.

Questions I Continue to Explore

• What would it mean to design educational environments around human needs rather than inherited structures?
• How can educational systems recognise different strengths without assigning limiting labels?
• What should children learn in preparation for a rapidly changing world?
• How can technology support development without displacing play, relationships and embodied experience?
• How can education cultivate confidence, judgement and independence alongside knowledge?