Ep 46: Self-Directed Learning 101 with Blake Boles

I am thrilled to welcome Blake Boles to the podcast. Blake is the founder and director of Unschool Adventures, as well as an author, speaker, educator, and podcaster. During our conversation, Blake and I discuss the various alternative learning paths and why parents need to learn to release control of their kids’ education in order to build a more authentic relationship. Blake is an expert in the field of self-directed learning and he shares lots of great advice and insights for parents to help their teens find their way to a career and a life that is best for them.

About Blake Boles

Blake is the founder and director of Unschool Adventures and the author of four books. He hosts the Off-Trail Learning podcast and has delivered over 75 presentations for education conferences, alternative schools, and parent groups. Blake and his work have appeared in the New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, BBC Travel, Psychology Today, Fox Business, TEDx, The Huffington Post, USA Today, NPR affiliate radio, and the blogs of Wired and The Wall Street Journal.

In 2003, Blake was studying astrophysics at UC Berkeley when he stumbled upon the works of John Taylor Gatto, Grace Llewellyn, and other alternative education pioneers. He was deeply inspired by the philosophy of unschooling, and he custom-designed his final two years of college to focus exclusively on education theory. After graduating, Blake joined the “Not Back to School” camp community and began writing and speaking widely on the subject of self-directed learning. In his previous lives, Blake worked as a high volume cook, a delivery truck driver, a summer camp director, an Aurora Borealis research assistant, a math tutor, an outdoor science teacher, a camp medic, a ski resort market researcher, a web designer, and a windsurfing instructor. But his biggest passion is sharing his enthusiasm and experience with young adults who are blazing their own trails through life.