PlayGround Education: Building a New Local Ecosystem for Self-Directed Education in China with Parents

The original article in Chinese PlayGround Education has been officially established for more than a year, and I feel now is the time to introduce it to everyone. As 2026 begins anew, we look forward to standing side-by-side with numerous education changemakers, bravely stepping into the new journey of future human education!

The Practical Dilemmas of Domestic Education

Regarding the characteristics of the domestic educational environment, I think the first point is that the high-pressure nature of China’s exam-oriented education is far ahead of the rest of the world. This has also resulted in a large number of school-averse children and adolescents. The proportion of depression among youth has reached startling figures. However, current domestic Self-Directed Education (including innovative education) generally faces a high-threshold problem. Fees are extremely high, basically covering only a tiny minority of families—either those whose children already exhibit severe depression or other psychological barriers and urgently need special educational support, or high-income families. More notably, most Self-Directed Education institutions exclude parents from operations and management. Even among the few high-quality Self-Directed Education communities that provide parent education services, the fees are equally exorbitant. Beyond the cost issue, domestic Self-Directed Education and innovative education organizations generally lack transparent and open supervision mechanisms, making it difficult to avoid profit-driven tendencies. The actual educational practices of many institutions are seriously disconnected from their promotional philosophies. Even if they attract a large number of passionate education changemakers and parents in the early stages, most participants eventually fall into disappointment or even despair.

The Unique Advantages of Chinese Innovative Education

Despite these many dilemmas, China possesses a unique advantage in the field of innovative education: compared to the West, China is more densely populated, and in major medium and large cities, there are already dense clusters of high-quality professionals. Whether in large cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, or numerous smaller cities, two groups exist simultaneously: on one hand, a large number of school-averse children and adolescents seeking diverse educational paths; on the other hand, a group of parents with high professional standards. These parents have accumulated rich experience in their respective professional fields. Out of concern for their children’s education or a sense of responsibility toward public education, they possess high enthusiasm for participating in public education ventures, and the vast majority have already proactively immersed themselves in the exploration of Self-Directed Education and innovative education. Many parents at PlayGround Education connected with us precisely through such self-directed learning. We have always believed that the dissemination of Self-Directed Education concepts should not be a “one-way output” that isolates parents, but must be realized through deep communication and common growth with them. Translating professional
Self-Directed Education concepts into expressions easily understood by parents and guiding them to participate is the inevitable path for the development of
Self-Directed Education. Readers who follow this account may know that “Open Source Learning” has always advocated for professional participation in education. It posits that the core educators of future education should be outstanding professionals from all walks of life—they do not need to leave the workplace; they only need to use their spare time to participate in educational practice and become the educators best suited to children’s needs. The high-pressure status quo of domestic exam-oriented education, the room for improvement in educators’ public consciousness and management quality, and the high density of professionals in cities have created excellent conditions for the realization of this vision.

The Core Design of PlayGround Education: Parent Co-construction Mode

Based on the aforementioned perception of the “dilemmas and advantages” of domestic education, we believe that local Chinese Self-Directed Education must play to its strengths and avoid its weaknesses—it cannot exclude the vast number of parents from the educational walls. Instead, it should lead parents to explore and grow together, while simultaneously utilizing the supervisory role of parents to uphold the non-profit nature of the educational organization and truly serve the children, responding to their needs. This is the starting point of PlayGround Education’s core model: Parent Co-construction. Parents who highly identify with the philosophy can participate flexibly according to their own circumstances: they can be permanently based at PlayGround, or participate in activities only on weekends or during leisure time. Of course, deep identification with educational concepts does not happen overnight; it requires long-term communication and accumulation. To this end, one of PlayGround Education’s core measures is to set up a free and open PlayGround WeChat group to provide a platform for parents to communicate and learn. Many parents join the community because they identify with the “PlayGround” philosophy, and regarding the details of understanding and practicing the philosophy, everyone inspires one another and progresses together through enthusiastic daily sharing and discussion. This free parent education is a core task into which PlayGround Education invests significant time and energy—this not only prevents improper parental interference in Self-Directed Education practice but also stems from our firm belief that the landing of Self-Directed Education is inseparable from the collaborative efforts of the vast number of parents. Open online discussion is a key link in parent education. It is worth mentioning that the quality of discussion in the PlayGround community is particularly outstanding among domestic educational communities. I have joined many domestic education groups; unfortunately, most are either filled with advertising and marketing or lack substantive discussion. Truly deep exchanges often require paid participation. Here, I share a summary of some high-quality discussions within the PlayGround group for your reference:

• Choice is Greater than Effort; Choice is Greater than Academic Credentials
• Knowledge is Power, but Source Knowledge is More Powerful—Revisiting “Systematized” Knowledge
• Why Do Children Today Grow Up Slowly and Mature Late? Children Who Are Managed Too Much Are Generally Late Bloomers
• AI Makes Active Learners “Super Learners,” while Passive Learners Are at a Loss—The Shock Brought by ChatGPT o3
• Do Not Use Grades to Help Children Build Confidence; Only Blind Confidence is True Confidence
• How I Went from a Sports Underachiever to a Fitness Expert: How to Clear Out “Physical Education Class Thinking”

As mentioned earlier, many families in domestic cities seeking innovative education generally face the dilemma of “children lacking playmates and having difficulty playing freely”—this problem is prominent in large, medium, and small cities alike. One of the core values of PlayGround Education is to provide a space for minors to play freely. These families can experience PlayGround through weekends or daily visits to feel the educational philosophy and practical forms firsthand. It is important to clarify that the vast majority of families seeking innovative education still find it difficult to break away from traditional schools all at once, and many domestic Self-Directed Education institutions also struggle to meet the needs of this group. For children who have not yet left traditional school, PlayGround provides a valuable opportunity to experience
Self-Directed Education during weekends or scattered daily time. Families who have experienced PlayGround multiple times and feel a high degree of identification from philosophy to practice, and have the confidence to participate more deeply, can enter the resident contract stage. Compared with the American Sudbury model, the differences in PlayGround Education are mainly reflected in two points: first, the strengthening of parental participation (in fact, Sudbury also has an Assembly for parent participation; relevant content can be found in previous articles); second, a flexible participation mechanism, with no mandatory residency (one can participate on weekends or occasionally). This accommodates the needs of the vast number of Chinese families for
Self-Directed Education. Once in the resident contract co-construction stage, the core elements of the Sudbury model—such as the School Meeting, Judicial Committee, and School Manual—are all reflected in PlayGround Education. For example, we have formulated a “PlayGround Consensus” to prevent parents from interfering with children’s free play and self-directed learning within the community; meanwhile, the School Manual is jointly formulated with parental participation. Consistent with Sudbury, these core rules and concepts are open-sourced and shared, practicing the core claim of “Open Source Education.” Accordingly, parent participation in PlayGround Education is divided into three progressive stages: from entering through online community discussions, to weekend field experience and participation, and finally to resident contract co-construction. Behind this gradient design is our firm determination, will, and patience to advance
Self-Directed Education together with the vast number of parents.

The PlayGround Education Solution: An
Self-Directed Education Path Adapted to the Chinese Scene

We believe that the PlayGround Education parent co-construction model provides an excellent Self-Directed Education solution adapted to the Chinese scene. Its core advantages are reflected in three aspects: First, low threshold. Financial matters are fully transparent, with the cost structure clearly publicized and affordable fees, allowing more families who identify with the philosophy to participate. This identification stems from the construction of a complete cognitive system from theory to practice, which is also our long-held understanding of “What is knowledge?” (see the article Knowledge is an Organic Living Being). In other words, the only “threshold” for parent participation is the identification with the PlayGround philosophy including its practice. This identification process can be achieved through a learning process that combines common growth with actual practice. The PlayGround philosophy and knowledge system themselves are also in a process of benign dynamic development due to the participation of parents. Second, introducing parents to form diverse supervision and protection. Because of the co-construction attribute, finances must be open and transparent. Parents and minors participate equally in community operation and management, forming a benign supervision mechanism that effectively protects minors’ rights to
self-directed learning and avoids improper interference from parents or educators. Third, building a practical learning platform. For the group of parents in China who are high-density, have high professional quality, and possess educational passion, it provides a complete learning path or “PlayGround” from theoretical discussion to practical implementation, allowing for a gradual deepening of participation from initial understanding. At the same time, as stated in the first point, this learning and play platform is also a creation platform; everyone participates in an open process of co-creation. It is a space for activity where learning, playing, and creating are integrated into one.

From Practice to Philosophy: An Iterative Process of Dynamic Modeling

The core of the Sudbury philosophy is “Participating in community construction is the best learning,” and this claim is fully practiced in PlayGround Education—both parents and children participate equally in the construction and development of PlayGround. The philosophy of PlayGround Education is rooted in Sudbury’s core claims. Its consensus system can be deeply understood through the following articles:

• Education is Building a Better PlayGround!
• Sudbury is an Education Based on PlayGround
• Play, Learn, Create
• Knowledge is an Organic Living Being
• Flipped Education: General Introduction
• We Progress, But We Are More Self-Directed (Theory Edition)
• How Do Children Play in the PlayGround? Playing is the Most Serious Learning
• Why Do Children Today Grow Up Slowly and Mature Late? Children Who Are Managed Too Much Are Generally Late Bloomers

The aforementioned parent co-construction operation model was primarily initiated and explored by parents such as the couple Wu Jia and Yan Zi. Prior to this, I had many deep discussions on educational topics with Yan Zi and Wu Jia in Yangshuo and Dali, forming a highly consistent philosophical identification. Wu Jia and Yan Zi are themselves parents with high professional quality who care about education, and they possess rich entrepreneurial experience. What is particularly rare is that the two are highly aligned in their personal growth and “playful cooperation” (i.e., collaborative symbiosis in the context of Self-Directed Education), which inevitably brings to mind the rapport between Sudbury founders Daniel and Hanna. Yan Zi once mentioned that she and Wu Jia often have a resonance: they both experience certain stages where they seem to achieve breakthrough growth, pushing open a new world they had never set foot in before, and their self-awareness deepens accordingly. Yet shortly after, they discover a broader world and deeper space for growth; such exploration and advancement are always happening in a repeating cycle. (This is a paraphrase, not original words, but that is the general meaning.) It is precisely this state of self-directed learning and collaborative growth that gave me great confidence in their launch of PlayGround Education early on. In subsequent deep contact, I further learned that the two have rich experience in free play—this is undoubtedly an important foundation for practicing PlayGround Education. (Interestingly, I have seen similar situations in the two other initiator couples of the Shenzhen PlayGround and Huizhou PlayGround.) There is no ready-made answer for the landing path of PlayGround Education; it relies entirely on practical exploration. Therefore, over the past year or so (until recent months), besides regular discussions with Wu Jia and Yan Zi on the direction of PlayGround Education in the early stages, I have rarely participated in actual construction, fully trusting their ability to explore and design. Wu Jia and Yan Zi have invested a great deal of time and energy: attracting hundreds of families to join the PlayGround community and organizing offline play activities in Beijing every weekend; moving from initial mobile venues to gradually establishing a fixed PlayGround space. It is worth mentioning that during this process, many other parents also actively participated, playing an important role in the landing of PlayGround Education. The entire process is a process of collective creation by parents. Such an open co-construction process is identical to the founding process of the Sudbury Valley School I read about, and the process described in Starting a Sudbury School published by the Sudbury Valley School. I am very gratified to see the realization of this open co-construction process in China as well—perhaps because these parents gradually identified with such concepts in the process of learning about Sudbury. This also proves that China’s highly professional parents should become the mainstay of innovative education. This open model created by Beijing PlayGround later became a reference template for the startup of PlayGrounds in cities like Shenzhen. Parents who intend to carry out PlayGround Education locally can learn from it. In the early stages, the two worked diligently on community operations, creating a high-quality discussion atmosphere. Today, the PlayGround WeChat group has achieved autonomous operation—without needing much management from the two, parents will spontaneously initiate deep educational discussions. Since then, the Beijing PlayGround group has gradually spawned PlayGround communities in Shenzhen and other places, forming a national network of philosophical communities. Currently, PlayGround Education has landed in multiple locations: Beijing PlayGround, Shenzhen PlayGround, and Huizhou PlayGround—all of which I have personally visited. The initiators in these three places all have rich experiences in free play and have long persisted in self-eirected learning. This is both the root of their identification with PlayGround Education and the core advantage of practicing Self-Directed Education. In addition, PlayGround construction has also started in Shanghai, Wuhan, and other places. I have not yet visited them in person, and specific details await further understanding. The various PlayGround locations maintain a loose collaborative relationship. Teams in each location organize activities autonomously based on their understanding of PlayGround Education, but all communities are united by a common philosophy, and discussion content often intertwines and shares information. Among them, the venue conditions of Beijing PlayGround and Huizhou PlayGround are suitable for carrying out the “Original Sudbury” model (consistent with the core of the American Sudbury model while remaining open to non-resident families). Friends interested in the Original Sudbury model can contact Yan Zi at Beijing PlayGround or Zhong Xun at Huizhou PlayGround (contact information at the end of the article). The philosophy of PlayGround Education comes precisely from the summaries or abstract modeling of such educational practitioners. We are all creating our own knowledge and, through sharing with other educators, subjecting it to the practical testing of many more educators!

A Sincere Invitation: Co-constructing the Future Educational Ecosystem

I have always believed that Self-Directed Education is essentially the application of excellent principles from corporate management to the field of education. I believe that the participation of a vast number of outstanding professionals will become the norm for future human education. The core function of educators in PlayGround Education is to carry out dynamic educational design and PlayGround planning in response to learners’ needs. The parent co-construction model explored by the couple Wu Jia and Yan Zi is precisely the educational design and PlayGround planning made in response to the educational needs of the vast number of Chinese families—in popular terms, it is two outstanding practitioners in the entrepreneurial field empowering the field of innovative education with their design capabilities and experience. At the same time, their choice to support their own children’s Self-Directed Education and self-education also serves as an important inspiration for the vast number of parents! We look forward to more families and professionals joining PlayGround Education, especially the need for venue support in more cities: in large cities like Beijing and Shenzhen, one PlayGround is far from enough to meet demand; in fact, every district needs its own PlayGround space. We hope that in places closer to every family, children can find a space for free play. Currently, the practice of PlayGround Education in China is still in a stage of continuous exploration. We sincerely invite parents and professionals to participate, explore together, grow together, and create a PlayGround space for children where they can play freely and co-construct equally! I have always firmly believed that education is the best path to exploring oneself and life, even superior to various other types of spiritual learning. Therefore, I look forward to parents and professionals joining in to achieve self-growth and understand the truth of life in the process of exploring education!

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