A young student tells adults about important issues that will affect her future and all of our futures. She advocates for global cooperation. This is an excerpt from the 1992 Eco 92 (Earth Summit) in Rio. Global SchoolNet Foundation (GSN), founded in 1984 by teachers who believed in a connected world where students need a global perspective, brought together youth online from 194 countries to explore community, cultural, and scientific issues that prepare them for the workforce and help them to become responsible and literate global citizens. Global SchoolNet’s free membership program provides project-based learning support materials, resources, activities, lessons, and special offers from Global SchoolNet partners. Children are aware and creating a more global perspective that can change the direction of our world.

The Freedom to Grow Unschool is a small alternative learning center offering full and part-time educational programs to students aged 6-12.  We are a learning environment that honors children’s natural curiosity and facilitates their responsible participation in their own learning process.

Being a teacher at FTGU means you have a different job every single day.  The demands of the job change with the interests, age, mood, and needs of the kids.  The most necessary qualification is a deep respect for children as thoughtful and capable human beings.  In this position you will serve as friend, confidante, advocate, counselor, teacher, facilitator, mentor, playmate, coach and co-learner with the children.  You will need the ability to be present, listen well, quickly assess need, and respond appropriately.

For more information regarding this position, please contact Lora Smothers at Spreadlove374@aol.com.

To learn more about FTGU, please explore www.freedomtogrowunschool.com or facebook.com/freedomtogrow

STEAM stands for “Science & Technology interpreted through Engineering & the Arts, all based in Mathematical elements,” and aims to bring FUNctional literacy to students. Founder/teacher Georgette Yakman describes how her immigrant grandparents, brother with Asperger syndrome, and artistic stepfather led her to bring Arts into STEM.

Zoe Weil is the co-founder and president of the Institute for Humane Education, a speaker and teacher for life learners. She shares experiences of teaching and sharing life lessons and how she inspired students to go beyond the basics and labels that “schooling” has been established. How would education be today if there were broader and applicable lessons like the T-Shirt lecture? Would more awareness be raised because of it?

• NOGUERA TALK: ‘Education is about preparing young people to make the world better than it is’

• HISTORICAL DOCUMENT: HOUSE OF LORDS DISCUSSION ON SUMMERHILL. In 1999 Summerhill School, the forerunner of all democratic schools, was under attack by the British educational bureaucracy. This is a recently discovered document about the discussion of the Summerhill case that went on behind closed doors in the House of Lords. Their general support of Summerhill may have been important in Summerhill eventual win against the government. Summerhill is now continuing to go strong after more than 90 years of existence! (link)

• Why is Congress Redlining our Schools? Linda Darling Hammond, former Obama education consultant before his election, describes the subtle and not so subtle discrimination taking place.

Pono Learning Seeking Full-Time Ecology Educator/Naturalist

Pono Learning is currently looking to fill a full-time ecology educator/naturalist position. Individuals who are balanced (personally stable, ethical and moral), energetic, child-at-heart (love to be around children and are very good listeners), interested in non-traditional educational philosophies, and who have a strong background in humane education are encouraged to apply.

General responsibilities include teaching children experientially in the out-of-doors, leading lessons on ecosystems and humane living, building connections with outside agencies, supervising interns, and sharing daily responsibilities with staff members. Experience in teaching is helpful, but not required.

All Pono Learning staff are given an intensive workshop on democratic education before they start teaching and are required to participate in our Professional Development Program which focuses on democratic education; listening to children; communication; and, prejudice reduction.

To apply, submit a cover letter, current resume, three references, and any additional information you think we should consider in evaluating you as a candidate. Strong applications will address the following questions:

1. What makes you a good fit for Pono Learning?
2. What makes you a strong candidate for this position?
3. What support would you need to excel in the position? Please be specific.

All materials and inquiries need to be submitted electronically as an attachment to Dr. Maysaa Bazna at Maysaa@ponolearning.org. The deadline to receive full consideration is September 1st, 2012. All candidates will be informed if they were selected for a first-round interview on a rolling basis through September 15^th, 2012.

For more information about Pono, please visit our website: www.ponolearning.org.

Pono Learning Seeking Part-Time Cook

Pono Learning is currently looking to fill a part-time cook position. Individuals interested in non-traditional educational philosophies and who have a strong background in nutrition are encouraged to apply. Experience in teaching is helpful, but not required. General responsibilities include teaching cooking classes to children, preparing meals and lunches for the Pono Community, and sharing daily responsibilities with staff members. To apply, please send your resume by email to Dr. Maysaa Bazna at Maysaa@PonoLearning.org.

Pono Learning Seeking Arabic, Japanese, and Spanish Speaking Interns

Pono Learning is seeking interns to play with the children throughout the school day as part of the foreign language program. If you are interested in non-traditional educational philosophies; Arabic, Japanese, or Spanish is your native language; and, you have the desire to share your excitement for learning with young children, please contact Dr. Maysaa Bazna at Maysaa@ponolearning.org.

Pono Learning Seeking Interns for Marketing and Fund Raising

Pono learning is seeking interns to help with marketing and fundraising. Individuals interested in non-traditional educational philosophies and who have a background in business administration and/or not-for-profit organizations are encouraged to apply. Please contact Dr. Maysaa Bazna at Maysaa@PonoLearning.org.

]]> http://www.educationrevolution.org/blog/ecology-educatornaturalist-and-interns-needed-at-pono-learning-center-new-york-city/feed/ 0 http://www.educationrevolution.org/blog/21112-link-round-up/ http://www.educationrevolution.org/blog/21112-link-round-up/#comments Sun, 12 Feb 2012 02:44:54 +0000 AERO http://www.educationrevolution.org/?p=3122

The above video features students from Legacy high school in Manhattan and Paul Robeson high school in Brooklyn — both of which are being closed by NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chancellor Dennis Walcott — for being so-called “failing schools”.

How a crackpot theory of education reform became national policy

Mark Naison is a Professor of African-American Studies and History at Fordham University and Director of Fordham’s Urban Studies Program. He is the author of three books and over 100 articles on African-American History, urban history, and the history of sports. His most recent book, “White Boy: A Memoir,” was published in the spring of 2002.

No Child Left Behind: 10 States Receive Waivers From Education Law’s Sweeping Requirements

In a sign of what’s to come, President Barack Obama on Thursday freed 10 states from some of the landmark law’s toughest requirements. Those states, which had to commit to their own, federally approved plans, will now be free, for example, to judge students with methods other than test scores. They also will be able to factor in subjects beyond reading and math.

Book: Backwards into the Future (Chaos in the Classroom)

At a time when neo-liberal ideology and corporatisation are more infused in our education systems than ever, Heathwood has chosen to publish this insightful and thought-provoking presentation by Arnold De Graaff. As relevant to the trials of today’s schools as it was to the specific context in which it was originally presented over a decade ago, De Graaff offers a lucid critique of the new Ontario, Canada curriculum that was being implemented at the time, and outlines some valuable alternative ways to think about and approach education.

]]> http://www.educationrevolution.org/blog/21112-link-round-up/feed/ 2 http://www.educationrevolution.org/blog/my-brain-said-no/ http://www.educationrevolution.org/blog/my-brain-said-no/#comments Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:46:31 +0000 AERO http://www.educationrevolution.org/?p=3090

One of the benefits of homeschooling is that it is generally unnecessary to hold to a rigid schedule. In other words, I let my kids sleep until they are no longer tired. Even my own two children have different schedules–the older one wakes up first, almost at the same time every day–the younger one can often sleep to an hour that others might find ridiculous. We don’t have the option of “sleeping in” every day, but when we do, I let them.

This morning, my eldest stumbled into my office about thirty minutes past his normal “wake time.” He looked at me sleepily, and said “My alarm went off at 8:30, but my brain said ‘No’ so I went back to sleep.”

The great mass of the world is on a schedule–school, work, errands. Everything has a time and place assigned to it. It must start and stop at an appointed hour. But must it? How did we arrive here? Why is this the way?

Some of the most creative and productive people do not do anything during “regular hours.” As adults, they are given the freedom to figure out what to do and when. As young people, often these adults did not perform well in a hyper-structured environment (think Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates). We don’t allow children that same luxury because for a school system to function there must be a set start and stop time. Now, “after school” time is spent bent over homework or rushing to and from activities, only to come home, eat, bathe, and go to bed before 9pm so you can start it all over again the next day. A hamster wheel comes to mind when I think of it, as does a factory. In fact, factories are why we operate this way.

At the time of the Industrial Revolution, what America needed most were factory workers. Workers who could show up on time and respond to bells (like school bells). Workers needed to be “schooled” quickly and assimilated into a work force, necessitating the implementation of schedules. Schedules are posted in factories, aren’t they?

Now you might ask if I have something against factory workers. Not in the least. But you may have noticed that (for various reasons) this country is fresh out of factory jobs. Nonetheless, we have an approach to education that came into the mainstream as a response to the Industrial Revolution.

We have children coming out of high school and matriculating through higher education, wracking up piles of debt, that may never find work to fully compensate the time, effort and expense laid out in the process. That may not mean that a college education is a waste of time, but it should raise questions about what you get for it.

The future does not have to be bleak. I have great hope for the future because I see what is possible when we allow ourselves to think outside of a pre-constructed box. On the same day that my oldest child “listened to his brain” and got an extra thirty minutes sleep, he decided to take apart a complex toy and reassemble it, “to see how it worked.” No factory training needed. The parts are all over my dining room table and it’s 9:21pm.

He’s so engaged, I don’t think he’ll be going to bed any time soon. One thing I know about him is that once he sets his mind to something he does it, and he doesn’t give up until he’s learned what he wants to know. All I have to do is give him the space (and late nights). Thankfully, we’ve chosen a life that allows it. And if his brain says “No” tomorrow, he can listen.

Photo by Ted Hood. Children in Surry Hills, Woolloomooloo, Redfern, Sydney, Australia. 1949.

]]> http://www.educationrevolution.org/blog/my-brain-said-no/feed/ 0 http://www.educationrevolution.org/blog/nature-principle/ http://www.educationrevolution.org/blog/nature-principle/#comments Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:17:08 +0000 AERO http://www.educationrevolution.org/?p=3093

The compelling reasons kids need nature were explained factually and forcefully by Richard Louv in Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. In fact, that book inspired major new efforts to reconnect kids with nature including Children & Nature Network, National Wildlife Federation’s Green Hour, and No Child Left Inside.

Louv reaches out in his newest book, The Nature Principle. Through groundbreaking research and compelling stories, Louv demonstrates why we need to balance our use of technology with the restorative powers of nature. Seven overlapping principles show that humanity can truly thrive when in partnership with nature.

• The more high-tech our lives become, the more nature we need to achieve natural balance.
• The mind/body/nature connection will enhance physical and mental health.
• Utilizing both technology and nature experience will increase our intelligence, creative thinking, and productivity, giving birth to the hybrid mind.
• Human/nature social capital will enrich and redefine community to include all living things.
• In the new purposeful place, natural history will be as important as human history to regional and personal identity.
• Through biophilic design, our homes, workplaces, neighborhoods, and towns will not only conserve watts, but also produce human energy.
• In relationship with nature, the high-performance human will conserve and create natural habitat—and new economic potential—where we live, learn, work, and play.

Nature isn’t somewhere else and Louv’s books are a must read. Take them outside with you and enjoy them while the kids play.

“The future will belong to the nature-smart—those individuals, families, businesses, and political leaders who develop a deeper understanding of the transformative power of the natural world and who balance the virtual with the real. The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need.”
—Richard Louv

Photo by Jack Delano. Woman in her garden, Virgin Islands. Dec 1941. (LOC)

]]> http://www.educationrevolution.org/blog/nature-principle/feed/ 0 http://www.educationrevolution.org/blog/sebastian-thrun-discusses-new-education-start-up-and-open-courses/ http://www.educationrevolution.org/blog/sebastian-thrun-discusses-new-education-start-up-and-open-courses/#comments Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:58:25 +0000 isabelle http://www.educationrevolution.org/?p=3067

Inspired by Khan Academy, Mr. Thrun discusses online education and his new educational endeavors through online education. How education and the world is changing, offering free courses from Stanford to the world. How do you think conventional schools will react to this?

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