page last updated on 16 October, 2005 Without Boundaries Autonomous Learning >Menu>Articles>Without Boundaries>

Without Boundaries is published in November, by Educational Heretics Press consent based, non coercive parenting and autonomous learning "…I'm going to show… a world without rules or controls, without borders or boundaries, a world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you." (The Matrix, closing scene, spoken by the character, Neo) Unimpeded growth of knowledge requires both a vastly increased definition of education and an abandoning of coercive parenting practices. 'Without boundaries' substantively expands on this theme, arguing that both in theory and in practice coercion is not only destructive of personal autonomy, but also inimical to learning and the growth of knowledge. We commonly assume that children need boundaries. By that, we do not simply mean that children need real knowledge about the limits of being human. Rather, what we generally mean is that children need to have imposed on them rules of engagement. We often imagine that without these limits children will be in imminent danger of becoming selfish monsters, reckless destroyers of their own and others' chances of happiness or, at least, sadly confused people with no inner sense of security. This common foundation of so much of parenting theory is one that I believe needs to be challenged. Coercion harms rationality and creativity, leaving children less likely to act with the best moral sense of their own and wider interests. The theory of education and parenting developed in this book draws widely on the 'Taking Children Seriously' philosophy, an educational and parenting theory and a way of life. The book falls into two sections. The first part deals with the theory of non-coercion. It sets out a clear understanding of the terminology, examines the role of parents and explores autonomy as the basis for true growth of knowledge. The second section looks at how the theory relates to autonomous learning and parenting practice. It takes an in depth look at the issues which arise in any transition to an autonomous process and focuses on the idea that with non coercive techniques all participants can be 'winners', using illustrative scenarios to demonstrate the point. In the central chapter of the book the notion of boundaries as a central pillar of parenting and learning is deconstructed. A number of major issues in family life and learning are considered from a non coercive perspective in order to demonstrate an alternative model of the growth of knowledge. The TCS philosophy, which is the inspiration of this book, is a wide ranging and far reaching theory. The book offers a broad introduction to a thinking that could revolutionise how we parent and how we think about education. In a world where parenting manuals proliferate 'Without Boundaries' offers a distinctively radical and practical alternative that not only considers a new paradigm for parenting, but which also deals with how parenting and education must increasingly be of a piece n a fast changing world. Jan Fortune-Wood November 2000 Without Boundaries can be ordered from Amazon here