Our readers want positive, concrete details about how learning occurs without teaching and about how to put the idea into practice. And they may occasionally need to be reminded that self-directed learning is suitable for people of all ages.

We are especially looking for real-life personal experiences of people of all ages who have learned on their own; articles about how we have been limited by a society that believes in compulsory schooling and how we can transcend those limits; and stories about how parents have "deschooled" themselves in order to help their children and themselves learn. 

Articles and essays accepted for publication in Life Learning dig deep. They explain how something works in detail – for instance, how a specific math concept is understood, how the light bulb clicked on regarding a specific science concept, how someone learned how to read without phonics lessons or Dick and Jane text books, how a democratic school or a study circle works, or how a parent learned not to meddle in his or her child's learning. Our readers are not interested in generalities. Life Learning articles challenge the assumptions related to "experts", learning as a result of being taught, and the trappings of school, such as grading, testing, curriculum and hierarchy.

We do not publish "advertorials" or articles reviewing or promoting products or services. Here is more information on our ethics policy.

This is a popular magazine rather than an academic journal. We are looking for contributors who can write simply and clearly, in concise, non-academic prose, rather than as professional educational "experts." We prefer our contributors to have had personal experience with self-directed learning, rather than merely the theory.

In order to be true to our philosophy, we do not, by policy, include academic credentials or titles in writers' bylines at the beginning of articles. We will, at the writer's request, describe them in the writers' biographies that appear elsewhere in the magazine.

We use gender-neutral language and appreciate our writers structuring their work to avoid referring to all people as "he" (accepted articles will be edited to reflect this policy if necessary).

Our readers are located in the U.S.A., Canada, the U.K., Continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries around the world. Therefore, articles should not focus on any one country.

Optimum length for feature articles is 2,500 words, with a maximum of 3,500. However, shorter essays and opinion pieces are also welcome. Footnotes are not necessary, however, we like to accompany articles with a resource box where appropriate and your suggestions are welcome. Also wherever appropriate, articles in Life Learning are accompanied by sidebars, which provide additional how-to about your topic. Sometimes, we will extract that information from your article; other times, we will compile the information ourselves and incorporate it into the layout.

If you wish to submit photographs to accompany your article, they should be original prints of color photos or high resolution (300 dpi, 6-inches largest measurement minimum) electronic files in TIF format. Please include photo credit information and suggest captions (although we may not caption the photos). All photographs must be accompanied by a signed release. If the photographs have been taken by someone other than the writer, we require the release to be signed by the photographer. If you are submitting photos that you have taken, you should have a release form on file signed by any recognizable individuals or a parent/legal guardian.

Here is some general information about copyright issues that we have prepared as a guide for those who submit articles or book manuscripts to Life Media.

How to Submit