Three Tools Needed to support the rise of Self Directed Education

After reading Dr. Peter Gray’s article on comparing self-directed education and progressive education, I found myself reflecting on where I stand. Which approach does the world most need today, and which works best for our time?

For me, the answer is clearly self-directed education. As Gray describes, this is where the learner follows their intrinsic motivation and curiosity about the world, with educators, guides, and adults serving as supporters. Progressive education shares many positive overlaps, but the key distinction is in who drives the learning. That difference makes self-directed education feel like the pedagogy we should be striving toward as humans.

That said, adopting this perspective isn’t easy. For more than a century, industrialized education has conditioned us to see learning as a chore—something imposed rather than something natural. We also hold a strong cultural bias toward a need to collect evidence and data about learning and growth, often convincing ourselves this is the best measure of progress. In reality, much of the evidence we collect serves more to hold the adults accountable, or create shorthand way to inform parents without context about the academic progress of their kids.

Another challenge is our cultural aversion to free play and independent play. We’ve become so accustomed to structured time for children that we overlook the deep value of open, flowing play as a powerful learning tool.

Finally, the world today is far more complex and interconnected than in the pre-industrial era, when self-directed education was more widespread. This complexity can make it feel overwhelming to decide what to do, where to go, or how to share who you are with the world.

Because of these challenges, I believe three components could support a transition toward more self-directed education:

1. The Sovereign Learner Record (SLR) – a personal record that documents and analyzes diverse learning experiences.
2. A Database of Experiences – a well-organized directory of opportunities learners can join in their community.
3. Learning Cafés – community hubs where learners gather, connect, and pursue projects together.

1. The Sovereign Learner Record

The SLR must belong to the learner. For young children, guardians might hold this responsibility, but it should never be owned by a school or organization. Think of it like a CV: a personal record that the learner builds, edits, and decides how to share.

It should accept many forms of evidence—reflective dialogues, certificates from challenges, standard transcripts, or personal accounts—creating a holistic view of the learner.

On the output side, the SLR should allow multiple filters. The same input data could be viewed through different frameworks: the IB program, the UK curriculum, the UN’s development goals, or frameworks like Habits of Mind. Each provides a unique lens for understanding the learner’s growth.

The outputs could then be shared in different ways: kept private for the learner and guardian, shared with trusted guides or organizations, or made public—always with the learner in control.

This kind of tool could only exist in the age of AI, where diverse inputs can be interpreted and transformed into meaningful narratives.

2. The Database of Experiences

As a parent, I often wonder what my daughters might enjoy exploring. While I can ask them directly, I also want to share opportunities that already exist. The challenge is finding them. My awareness of what’s available is limited, and the internet doesn’t always present options in an accessible way.

Imagine a system that organizes experiences clearly:

• Which ages they’re for
• When they happen
• The organization’s values and character
• Their location on a map

This would allow learners to discover not only great opportunities but also the ones closest to their home, making participation more practical. Much of this information already exists—it just needs refining and presenting in a learner-friendly format. The concept is most beautifully presented today in the Cities of Learning project form the RSA, wherein youth can find meaningful learning opportunities in the cities they inhabit.

3. Learning Cafés

One of the biggest concerns people raise about not attending school is socialization. Learning Cafés address this.

Rather than showing up at a fixed time for a set curriculum, learners could go to special cafés to meet friends, connect with guides, work on projects, and treat the space as their home base. These already exist in various forms around the world, but they lack recognition and connection. By synthesizing a clear blueprint for Learning Cafés—and linking them with the SLR and Database of Experiences—we could create a powerful distributed ecosystem for learners.

A great example comes from Chris Balme’s writing on Learning Cafés, which led me to discover Alcove Learning in Los Angeles. It felt like a beautiful model of what a Learning Café could be.

Closing

So that’s the big picture: three core components that could help self-directed education thrive—The Sovereign Learner Record, the Database of Experiences, and Learning Cafés.

What do you think? Are these the missing pieces that could make this type of learning ecosystem flourish? Or do they already exist but only in limited geographies?


By Noan Fesnoux