Professor Peter Gray is a research professor at Boston College, MA, and author of Free to Learn (Basic Books) and Psychology (Worth Publishers, a college textbook now in its 8th edition). He has conducted and published research in neuroendocrinology, developmental psychology, anthropology, and education. He did his undergraduate study at Columbia University and earned a PhD in biological sciences at Rockefeller University.
Professor Gray’s current research and writing focus primarily on children’s natural ways of learning and the life-long value of play.
In this Masterclass interview, Professor Gray explains three different parenting styles (trustful parenting, directive-domineering and directive-protective), their history and what this means for modern childhood; the school system, alternative school systems (Sudbury Valley) and self-directed education; how the changes in children’s lives during the pandemic lockdown may have significant knock-on effects for schooling and parenting in the future.
He is a founding member of the nonprofit Alliance for Self-Directed Education and a founding board member of the nonprofit Let Grow: https://letgrow.org/our-mission
His own play includes not only his research and writing, but also long-distance bicycling, kayaking, back-woods skiing, and vegetable gardening.
You can buy Free to Learn from all good book shops.https://amzn.to/2DCIaAI
For more articles and blogs, Professor Gray writes regularly for Psychology Today here.
You can find details of Sudbury Valley School, Framingham MA here
Professor Gray is now retired from regular teaching but continues to conduct and publish research and give guest lectures. For more information, click here.
Episode Includes
- Episode Certificate
