A free school is a decentralized network in which skills, information, and knowledge are shared without hierarchy and the institutional environment of formal schooling. The more open structure of free schools is intended to encourage self-reliance, critical consciousness, and personal development.
Free schools have their roots in the anarchist Modern Schools of Spain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A more recent revival grew out of the democratic school movement. It is, at heart, non-institutional and non-authoritarian. Generally, it is a grassroots effort, a collection of individuals acting collectively and autonomously to create educational opportunities and skill-sharing within their communities.
Free schools often operate outside the market economy in favor of the gift economy. Nevertheless, the meaning of the "free" of free schools is not restricted to monetary cost, and can refer to an emphasis on free speech and open learning.