The exit principle

There is no freedom without choice.

If you have no way to say no or to leave, then you have no choice.

Slaves have no freedom; people who cannot divorce have no freedom; children at school have no freedom.

Many educators are experimenting with games and game-like learning to increase feelings of motivation in the class, but according to Katherine McMillan Culp in her article "Games Are for Play, Not Assessment" (http://www.gamesandlearning.org/2014/05/16/possible-worlds-creator-our-games-are-for-play-not-assessment/),

"if the players are acting as students – if they are expected (again, explicitly or implicitly) to demonstrate learning while they play – then their freedom to subvert, ignore or break the game is lost. And, critically, we believe that our players – children – know this."

Is freedom something we as educators should be thinking about?  Traditional school culture says NO, but the new wave of alternative schools, homeschoolers and "unschoolers" (homeschoolers with no fixed curriculum) say YES. 

What does your heart say?