Deschooling Society

I love this book because Ivan Illich pulls no punches. I love the way he clearly points out how intertwined schools are with the nature of society, in a feedback loop of influence. Our very souls may be wounded by these structures, even when they are established with good intentions.

This “radical” book gave me permission to understand that I could connect the ecological and pedagogical, the theological and the social, the economic and the affective. Our nature permits endless noncoerced learning, but schools pervert that. Even though I understand how this message can be twisted for purposes of privatization… show more.

If interested in reflecting on the point of “education,” this book is a must-read. Giving to the reader a philosophical take on “schooling,” Illich forces you to think about just what “school” is about. Is “school” about achieving grades or character? Is “school” about self-discovery, or is “school” about leading minds into becoming the perfect “citizen”? Illich challenges the current educational paradigm to awaken minds to realize that there is more to “school” than burdening children with a curriculum that fails to relate to them.