Unschooling the System: Learning Pods, Family Choice, and the Rewriting of Educational Futures

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 1:45 pm - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Navigating Choice and Inequity: Family Agency and Structural Constraints in Education

Abstract

As education evolves, many families are turning to transformative alternatives outside of the traditional school system such as learning pods, homeschooling and microschools, as means of reclaiming agency over their children’s learning. With education policy trends towards universal school choice, there is an urgent need to examine alternative educational models that center family voice, community agency, and educational equity within a broader ecosystem that challenge dominant paradigms of schooling. Drawing from qualitative research, this study situates pods within a broader historical and political context. Grounded in a critical policy framework, drawing on social constructivism, critical race theory, and participatory design, the paper explores a new vision of education positioning pods as a transformative, sustainable response to systemic inequities.

Authors

• Stacy-Ann Campbell, Louisiana State University

• Veysel Altunel, Louisiana State University

• Henderson Lewis Jr., Louisiana State University