Alternative Education Resource Organization

Don "Four Arrows" Jacobs

Four Arrows is a professor at Fielding Graduate University and author of sixteen books, including The Authentic Dissertation: Alternative Ways of Knowing, Research and Representation (Routledge, 2008) and Unlearning the Language of Conquest (University of Texas Press, 2006) in addition to invited chapters for Education as Enforcement: The Militarization and Corporatization of Schooling and Battleground Schools. He has doctorates in both health psychology and in Curriculum and Instruction, with a specialization in Indigenous worldviews.

Elizabeth Baker & Michele Beach

Michele Beach and Elizabeth Baker are the founders and directors of The Patchwork School in Louisville, Colorado. Both have Master’s degrees in Educational Psychology as well as Early Childhood Teaching Licenses. The school’s philosophy is based on freedom, challenge, and relationships in a supportive learning community. These ideas have evolved through their research and experience with various educational approaches, including Reggio Emilia and Freeschooling.

Brent Cameron

Brent Cameron is a radical and innovative educator living in British Columbia. He began his lifework in creating a new paradigm for learning when his daughter walked out of kindergarten in 1983. He dedicated his life as a father and educator to ensure that his daughter and any young person and family interested would have the right to learn according to their own interests and sensibilities. As of 2010 his educational experiment is thriving in BC and he works with hundreds of educators and over one thousand learners in a program called SelfDesign Learning Community. In the first phase of the experiment called Wondertree, he and his learner group of 12 won three national educational awards for technology and innovation in education. In the second phase of his experiment called Virtual High, he and colleague Michael Maser worked with 35 teenagers and won local, national and international awards for their work envisioning a sustainable intentional learning community. In the third phase of his experiment he joined with an amazing group of colleagues to create the SelfDesign Learning Community, a province-wide online learning program in British Columbia. He and his partner River Meyer wrote a book on the history and methodologies of SelfDesign that was published in 2006. Michael Maser, Kathleen Forsythe and Brent won the Prime Minister's Award for their work in SelfDesign in 2005. Brent obtained a Master's degree at Simon Fraser University researching the methodology of Wondertree in 1990 and a Ph.D. in 2010 at the University of British Columbia researching the methodology of SelfDesign's programs and its results for 27 of the graduates of all three programs. Brent lives in the Kootenays between Creston and Nelson in a straw bale house geothermally heated in a pine forest beside a lake and on the side of a mountain. He and his partner River work online with colleagues in the SelfDesign Learning Foundation (Canada) and colleagues in SelfDesign Global Foundation (USA) to support the world wide growing interest in this new model for learning beyond the paradigm of schooling.

Anthony Dallmann-Jones

Dr. Dallmann-Jones is a professor of at-risk education in the DIAL Program, the only accredited Masters program in at-risk education, located at Marian University north of Milwaukee. He has published eight books, and spoken to large educational audiences in the US, Mexico, and Russia.

Melia Dicker

At age 28, Melia Dicker spent a year retracing her steps through her education from kindergarten through college, through a project called Reschool Yourself. She documented the experience on her blog (www.reschoolyourself.com) and is now working on a book. Melia spent four years as Co-Founder and Co-Director of Spark, a California nonprofit organization that matches youth with apprenticeships in their dream jobs. She is currently the Communications Director of IDEA, the Institute for Democratic Education in America.

Angela Engel

Angela Engel, author of Seeds of Tomorrow; Solutions for Improving our Children's Education, writes from her experiences as a teacher, parent, school administrator, speaker, and policy advisor. Currently a facilitator for the Family Leadership Training Institute, she earned her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Colorado–Denver. She was awarded a bachelor's in Communication and later her teacher certification from Denver University. Previously the project director for the Children's Action Agenda, her work has led to policies that improve learning and opportunities for Colorado’s children.

Mari Luce Fernández & María Payán

Mari Luce Fernández and María Payán are co-founders of EducacionAlternativa.org, a learner-centered information and resource center directed to Spanish-speaking communities. Mari Luce's education and background is in elementary education and has served as a teacher on both the public and private sector. She is a mother of two and has put in practice her alternative education philosophy for over 10 years. María Payán is the webmaster and technical arm of the organization as well as the researcher and gatherer of all information and resources presented at the website. María's background is in administration and has supported various profit and non-profit organizations since 1982. Mari Luce and María started working together in 2005 at Casa Sudbury, the first Sudbury-model school in Puerto Rico. The school evolved into EducacionSudbury.org, an informational and educational center on this and similar education philosophies. Currently Mari Luce lives in Maryland and María lives in Puerto Rico and they meet regularly through "skype." *Versión en Español
Mari Luce Fernández y María Payán son co-fundadoras de EducacionAlternativa.org, un centro de información y recursos de educación centrada en el estudiante, dirigido al público de habla hispana. Mari Luce cuenta con estudios de bachillerato y maestría en educación y ha laborado como maestra a nivel público (Federal) y privado. Es una madre de dos niñas y ha puesto en práctica su filosofía en educación alternativa por más de 10 años. María Payán es la creadora de la página web y brazo técnico de la organización, así como investigadora y recopiladora de material destinado al portal. María cuenta con vasta experiencia administrativa y ha apoyado varias organizaciones con y sin fines de lucro desde 1982. Mari Luce y María comenzaron a colaborar juntas en el año 2005 en Casa Sudbury, la primera escuela Sudury en Puerto Rico. La escuela ha evolucionado a convertirse en el portal EducacionSudbury.org, un centro de información y educación sobre ésta y similares filosofías educativas. En la actualidad Mari Luce reside en Maryland, EEUU y María en Puerto Rico y se reúnen regularmente via "skype."

Adam Fletcher

Adam Fletcher is an experienced educator, freelance writer, consultant and trainer who works with young people and adults around the world to promote new roles for children and youth throughout society. He has consulted hundreds of K-12 schools, school districts and education organizations across the United States, focused on infusing Meaningful Student Involvement throughout the education system. Writing on the same topic and many others, he has been published in magazines, journals and on websites around the world, and serves as a contributing editor to The Review of Education, Pedagogy and Cultural Studies. Adam also serves as an advisor to several organizations across the country, including the National Youth Rights Association and the Institute for Democratic Education in America. Learn more about him at www.bicyclingfish.com.

Shilpa Jain

Shilpa spent the last ten years as a learning activist with Shikshantar: The Peoples’ Institute for Rethinking Education and Development, based in Udaipur, India, where she researched, wrote books and articles, facilitated workshops and hosted gatherings on topics ranging from globalization, creative expressions, ecology, democratic living, innovative learning and unlearning. Shilpa is currently working with Other Worlds Are Possible, a multi-media collaborative focused on grassroots alternatives, and with YES! (based in Santa Cruz, CA) as coordinator of the Global Youth Leadership Collaborative and of the Leveraging Privilege for Social Change Jam. All of her work seeks to uncover ways for people to free themselves from dominating, soul-crushing institutions and to live in greater alignment with their hearts and deepest values, their local communities, and with nature. She is excited about growing new roots and new possibilities in the US after many years away.

David Marshak

David Marshak is the author of The Common Vision: Parenting and Educating for Wholeness, an exploration of the models of integral education described by Rudolf Steiner, Aurobindo Ghose, and Inayat Khan. He is currently an adjunct instructor at Fairhaven College in Bellingham, Washington and a board member of Explorations Academy and the Self Design Foundation.

Chris Mercogliano

Chris Mercogliano recently concluded a thirty-five-year career at the Albany Free School, the oldest inner-city alternative school in the United States. His essays, commentaries, and reviews have appeared in numerous newspapers, journals, and magazines, as well as in six anthologies. He is also the author of Making It Up As We Go Along, the Story of the Albany Free School (Heinemann 1998), Teaching the Restless, One School's Remarkable No-Ritalin Approach to Helping Children Learn and Succeed (Beacon Press 2004), How to Grow a School: Starting and Sustaining Schools That Work (Oxford Village Press 2006), and In Defense of Childhood: Protecting Kids’ Inner Wildness (Beacon Press 2007).

Ron Miller

Ron Miller is the editor of Education Revolution, the magazine of the Alternative Education Resource Organization. He has written or edited nine books, most recently The Self-Organizing Revolution: Common Principles of the Educational Alternatives Movement. He has helped start two alternative schools in the Burlington, Vermont area and at times was involved in homeschooling with his own three sons. Ron currently teaches at Champlain College in Burlington. Many of his writings are posted at www.pathsoflearning.net

Rick Posner

Rick Posner taught public school for thirty years, eighteen of those at Jefferson County Open School( one of the longest lasting public schools of its kind) as a teacher, administrator and as a proud parent. He did his doctoral work at University of Denver, focusing on self-directed learning and rites-of-passage curriculum. Currently, he is an affiliate faculty member at Regis University and Prescott College. He has written a book about the alumni of the Open School entitled, Lives of Passion, School of Hope: How One Public School Ignites a Lifelong Love of Learning (Sentient Publications, Nov. 2009).

Khalif Williams

Khalif Williams, Executive Director of the Institute for Humane Education, is passionate about building the social movement toward just and sustainable societies through education. He has been working in the arena of social change and education for over 14 years and has served as a consultant on a variety of educational and non-profit projects.