About • Blake Boles dot com

Official bio

Blake Boles is the founder and director of Unschool Adventures and the author of Why Are You Still Sending Your Kids to School?, The Art of Self-Directed Learning, Better Than College, and College Without High School. He hosts the Off-Trail Learning podcast and has delivered over 75 presentations for education conferences, alternative schools, and parent groups. Blake and his work have appeared on The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, BBC Travel, Psychology Today, Fox Business, TEDx, The Huffington Post, USA Today, NPR affiliate radio, and the blogs of Wired and The Wall Street Journal.

In 2003 Blake was studying astrophysics at UC Berkeley when he stumbled upon the works of John Taylor Gatto, Grace Llewellyn, and other alternative education pioneers. Deeply inspired by the philosophy of unschooling, Blake custom-designed his final two years of college to focus exclusively on education theory. After graduating he joined the Not Back to School Camp community and began writing and speaking widely on the subject of self-directed learning.

In his previous lives, Blake worked as a high-volume cook, delivery truck driver, summer camp director, Aurora Borealis research assistant, math tutor, outdoor science teacher, camp medic, ski resort market researcher, web designer, and windsurfing instructor. His biggest passion is sharing his enthusiasm and experience with young adults who are blazing their own trails through life. He was born in 1982.

Also see:

A few hats that I wear

Writer

Ever since college I’ve written extensively about alternative education and self-directed learning, leading me to publish four books and a bunch of articles.

Speaker

My little speaking career has taken me across the U.S. and the world, and since 2015 I’ve also hosted a mildly popular podcast.

Adventurer

I’ve oriented my life around the pursuit of adventure—outdoor adventures, travel adventures, work adventures, and more—many of of which are reflected on my life goal list .

Experiential Educator

Real-life experiences are the best teachers, which is why I’ve always loved working at summer camps, outdoor education programs, and running my Unschool Adventures programs.

Advocate for Self-Directed Learning

To me, self-directed learning isn’t anti-structure or anti-teacher: it’s about fully consenting to whichever educational environment you find yourself. In Why Are You Still Sending Your Kids to School?, I encourage parents to think like an unschooler but pledge allegiance to no specific educational methodology.

Traveler

After college I began traveling extensively, leading me to embrace a nomadic existence and create temporary homebases across the United States and abroad. I’ve never had a 12-month lease, and all my possessions fit into a 5’x5′ storage unit.

Romantic Idealist

I tend to “crush out” (forgive the 90s lingo) on people, places, and ideas, seeing the world with the optimism of somebody who is in love. My close friends once wrote some sweet dating endorsements for me.

Entrepreneur

I’ve long dreamed of working for myself, and since 2010 I’ve been fully self-employed. I’ve never held a year-round, full-time, 9-to-5 type job.

Partner Dancer

After growing up a non-dancer, I discovered Argentine tango, got deep into it, and later found a home in the fusion dance scene.

Speaking for a parent group in Sacramento, CA. 2019.

Questions about education that motivate me

Q: Why has dissatisfaction with public schools been the norm since their inception?

See: Why Are You Still Sending Your Kids to School?, What Does it Mean to Be Educated?

Q: What other paths can a young person take if they hate school? And later, what options do they have for rejoining the “normal” worlds of college and career?

See: College Without High School, Stop Wasting Your Time in High School, Blake Boles on Quitting High School, Can Unschoolers Get into College?, Antonio Buehler on Competitive College Admissions for Non-Traditional Students, and Why Are You Still Sending Your Kids to School?

Q: What if college doesn’t seem like a good fit for you (now, at least), but everyone is telling you that you must go to college in order to be successful?

See: Better Than College, Really Good Reasons to Skip College, Hail the Almighty Diploma, What Could You Do with $20,000?, Maya Landers on Postponing College (Perhaps Forever), T.K. Coleman on the Best Arguments Against College, Sean Ritchey on Learning Through Work Instead of College, William Deresiewicz On Excellent Sheep, and Why Are You Still Sending Your Kids to School?

Q: How do unschoolers (and other highly self-directed learners) turn out as adults?

See: GrownUnschoolers.com, Why Are You Still Sending Your Kids to School?

Q: What empirical research supports self-directed education?

See: Peter Gray on the Evidence for Self-Directed Education, Gina Riley on Self-Determination Theory, and Why Are You Still Sending Your Kids to School?

Q: Lax homeschooling regulation allows unschooling to exist in the United States; it also allows a small number of parents to horribly abuse their children, free from oversight. What’s the proper way to address this tension?

See: Jim Dwyer on Homeschooling Philosophy, Law, and Regulation, Elizabeth Bartholet And Rachel Coleman On Homeschooling’s Potential For Abuse, and Pat Farenga on the Post-Pandemic Future of Homeschooling (Part 2) + the Harvard Homeschool Summit

Q: What options do families outside of North America have for self-directed learning?

See: Martina Geromin on Self-Directed Learning in Europe, Pat and Chandra Montgomery on Clonlara

Q: Is it possible to offer a highly self-directed environment through the public education system?

See: Gabe Cooper on Starting a Public “Unschool”, Catherine Gobron on Promoting Inclusivity in Self-Directed Learning, Kate Friedman on Promoting Self-Direction in Public Education, Wes Beach on Building a One-Man High School, and Joel Hammon on Quitting Teaching

Q: How do you stay motivated as an unschooler / self-directed learner without teachers or parents breathing down your neck?

See: The Art of Self-Directed Learning, Why Are You Still Sending Your Kids to School?, How to Be a Badass Teen Homeschooler, Give Kids Control, Ned Johnson on The Self-Driven Child, Nathen Lester on the Challenges of Total Freedom, Who Should Unschool and Who Shouldn’t? A Conversation with Liam Nilsen, Dev Carey on the Perils of Goal-Setting, Launchpad, and Self-Directed Learning 101

Q: How much of what we consider “parenting” is caused by purposeful parental molding, how much is a by-product of genetics, and how much is due to peer groups and culture?

See: Naomi Fisher on Whether Parents Matter, You Can’t Ruin Your Kids, and Why Are You Still Sending Your Kids to School?

Q: How do the modern varieties of “free schools” and “self-directed learning centers” differ and overlap?

See: Agile Learning Centers, Liberated Learners, and Sudbury Schools: What’s the Difference?, Matthew Gioia on Sudbury Ideals vs. Reality, Alexander Khost on Education as a Political Act, Ken Danford on Liberated Learners, and Tomis Parker And Nancy Tilton On Agile Learning Centers

Q: How can the different players in the alternative education movement find common ground?

See: Blake Boles on the Future of Alternative Education

Lifestyle

A few posts that explain my somewhat weird lifestyle:

And don’t miss How to Live Nowhere.

Personality type

I geek out on personality typing systems. Here are my types:

MBTI: INFP
Big Five
- Agreeableness: Moderately Low
- Conscientiousness: High
- Extraversion: Very High
- Neuroticism: Exceptionally Low
- Openness to Experience: Moderately High
Enneagram: 7 with 8 wing

A few people to whom I’m indebted

My smart and supportive parents.
Jim Wiltens and Grace Llewellyn for guiding my young adult career path, and for building the Deer Crossing Camp and Not Back to School Camp communities, which have given me so much .
The Berkeley Student Cooperatives for my social transformation in college.
Every parent who ever sent their child on an Unschool Adventures program.
My readers, all of whom are highly intelligent and good-looking.
Everyone on the internet who consumes, supports, and shares my work—and who I’ll never meet.

Year-in-review posts

The narrative story of my year: an excellent way to get to know me.