Lifelong Learning in Practice: Reflections, Challenges, and Commitment

Happy Summer Solstice! This is a hot pink peony bush, which bloomed more than ever this year, despite the ongoing neglect. To me, it is the very definition of early summer.

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At the heart of self-directed education lies a commitment to lifelong learning: the practice of following curiosity wherever it leads, exploring unfamiliar ideas, and continually weaving new discoveries into a rich, personal body of knowledge.

Last week, I had the opportunity to take another deep dive into the learner-centered world of alternative education, alongside colleagues and well-known professionals, at the AERO Conference (Alternative Education Resource Organization) in Manchester, NH — and not surprisingly, I came away with fresh insights.

There were definite highlights. Spending time with my Peeps — the folx from the Liberated Learners network — was number one. These are the people who get it; they're intimate with the joys, frustrations, and the whole spectrum of emotions that come with running a non-coercive, self-directed learning center. They fully understand why I pour so much energy into building and growing Deep Root Center, because they do the same at their Centers. There's really no other way to explain it except to say: they're my Peeps.

A close second was once again meeting and listening to one of my heroes, Dr. Peter Gray, developmental psychologist and author of Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life — speaking about his forthcoming book, Restoring Childhood: How to Set Kids Free in the Age of Anxiety, releasing this September. Yes, I have my copy pre-ordered!  And, I look forward to the next time I have the privilege to see Dr. Gray and have him sign it, like my treasured copy of Free to Learn.  I can’t encourage you enough to subscribe to his Substack to receive regular essays that center on his work around the value of play in children’s lives. 

Along with those highlights, the conference featured several keynotes and breakout sessions. Two had the most impact, both because they made me challenge what I thought I knew about myself and about self-directed education.

The first, led by Kim Swaffield, M.Ed., explored the balance between structure and freedom in educational settings. I generally bristle at the word structure, even though my autistic brain craves the safety of routine. I'd always viewed structure as rigid, coercive, inflexible, and uncompromising, something that is the antithesis of the freedom we offer at DRC. What I learned is that structure can also look like loving guidelines and skill-building scaffolding — the kind that offers the essential sense of safety all kids crave. And, to my utter astonishment, I realized those are things we already do at Deep Root Center. 

On the last day, I attended a breakout session by David Brown titled "Rebuilding Coherence: Designing Schools Where Belonging, Agency, and Rigor Align." After introducing himself, he asked us to define those three words as they relate to our personal views, in terms of education.  I think he expected the word rigor to stir up some conflicted thinking in this predominantly self-directed learning crowd — and we didn't disappoint during the discussion portion of the session.

Upon reflection, I realized that the discomfort and challenges I felt during both of these sessions traced back to how I define, or think about, specific words. 

My first instinct was to define rigor negatively. In my mind, it is a buzzword used in coercive educational settings — shorthand for making things harder than they need to be just to satisfy some nebulous standard, and for forcing people to do things they don't want to do.

Once I got past that initial hit of negativity, I pushed myself to think about rigor differently. I eventually landed on a definition where rigor is a way for self-directed learners to take charge of their own educational experience and seek out challenges that help them grow. In other words, I placed the responsibility on the individual, not on outside forces. Others in the room framed it positively too, but located the responsibility a bit differently — placing it on the instructor and the learning environment to create a space where individuals are then motivated to embrace rigor themselves.

The consensus was that embracing rigor can only happen when someone feels a sense of belonging and agency. Those two things don't happen in a vacuum, and they certainly don't happen in a coercive setting — they simply can't be forced. Most people feel they belong and have agency because the environment and the people in it invite them in as they are, and welcome them to simply be themselves. 

Which brings us full circle back to my original argument: it's only when someone feels safe, fully supported, and at ease with their own quirks that they're able to explore those awkward, uncomfortable places — to challenge themselves, ask questions, seek out fresh ideas, and embrace vulnerability (which, spoiler alert, does not come naturally for me and is definitely a topic for another day) — and find new ways to grow. In the words of Neil deGrasse Tyson, another hero of mine, "My view is that if your philosophy is not unsettled daily, then you are blind to all the universe has to offer.”

I left the conference with more questions than I arrived with — which, I've come to understand, is exactly the point. Lifelong learning was never about arriving at fixed answers; it's about staying curious enough to keep digging, even when what you unearth challenges the assumptions you walked in with. My three days at AERO didn't just reaffirm what I already believed about self-directed education — it cracked open new ways of thinking about structure, freedom, rigor, belonging, and agency, and how they all work together rather than against each other. I'm returning to Deep Root Center with a fuller, more nuanced understanding of the work we do, and with renewed gratitude for my Peeps, my heroes, and the colleagues who pushed me to think harder.

​That, in the end, for me, is what a personal body of knowledge is built from: not certainty, but the willingness to keep weaving new threads in, and ultimately to better serve all the young people who walk through our door.  

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DRC News

volunteeAs we look ahead to the 2026–27 academic year, Deep Root Center is expanding our hands-on projects and activities for student members — and we need your help to make it happen.

We're looking for passionate people who are eager to share their skills and enthusiasm with young learners. This is a meaningful opportunity to be part of a vibrant, community-driven space where youth and adults come together to explore, discover, and grow.
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If this sounds like you, we'd love to hear from you! Reach out to [email protected] or complete the volunteer application by clicking the volunteer button.

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I took one photo while at the conference. Not surprisingly, it was of the panel of inspiring teens from North Star: Self-Directed Learning for Teens and Bay State Learning Center, representing the Liberated Learners Network. Thank you to them and to Ken Danford, founder of North Star, for moderating the lively, informative conversation. 

As mentioned above, it was wonderful to reconnect with a good number of folx from the Liberated Learners Network,  whom I have not seen in two years. ​ We always have so much to catch up on; our time together is never long enough. We actually discussed visiting other Centers during the year and possible student exchanges. 

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