i'm not that barbaric, i'm simply helping him stop smoking some burning bush
@ topic
i did train some apprentices in computer graphics before. and as a self taught CGA, i had unconventional methods in training (close to a spartan training even). one of my favorites was the one where after i teach them how the tools work, i present them with a challenge. let's say a really old, brittle picture with missing parts, let's, say faces, and not tell them the specific thing i want to do with a picture but i want it within a deadline. i just tell them "impress me" and let the creativity begin. i simply point out which areas they missed. as well as for areas to improve. they need to develop their techniques on their own as i won't teach them any of my own.
by the way, i do it for free and even pay the apprentices since technically, they are already working under me (daily allowance of 100+their own commissions if they do it within the deadline and if the customer accepted the finished product).
let's go back to regular teachers. wouldn't that hurt the economy? i mean, there are a lot of teachers out there, most of which have teaching as their sole bread and butter. downsizing them would spell doom to their families, wouldn't it? even if they are to charge for stuff they teach, i doubt that would gain them the same income as they do in normal schools.
there's also the issue on the chronological order of learning. one might easily miss a vital basic in a field if you are to devise your own teaching merthod (that's why a field's history sometimes plays a vital role, which is easily missed by unconventional teaching).
what i would think as a solution for this while achieving the goal of unschooling is a change in methodology: devise a certain minimal level of standard in terms of curriculum within a time period (sky is the limit, as long as the student can keep up) and after that, slow but gradual introduction of unconventional but effective teaching methods.