Workshops
Please note that we have workshop descriptions from Four Arrows, Brent Cameron, Anthony Dallmann-Jones, Khalif Williams, and Ken Danford forthcoming.
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Vanessa Barrat & BethAnn Berliner This workshop will describe for the first time California’s 231 independent study high schools, alternative schools with 75% or more of grades 9-12 students enrolled in full-time independent study. It will present information about their missions and educational philosophies, enrollment trends since 2001, and characteristics of schools, teachers, and students. From Post-Modern Schooling to Intergral Education David Marshak The Spiral Dynamics model of the evolution of human consciousness offers profound insights into the ways that we educate young people. In this workshop we’ll explore two forms of human consciousness at the progressive edge of our culture, post-modern and integral, and consider which kinds of education (i.e., Sudbury Valley, Montessori, unschooling) fit into which form of consciousness, why this is so, and what this means. What is EducacionAlternativa.org? / ¿Qué es EducacionAlternativa.org? Mari Luce Fernández and María Payán EducacionAlternativa.org is the learner-centered education herald in Spanish. We invite educators, parents, and people interested in learner-centered education to become familiar with EducacionAlternativa.org and to join us in our effort to bring alternative education concepts to Spanish speaking communities. EducacionAlternativa.org es centro y portal en español de la educación centrada-en-el-estudiante. Invitamos a educadores, madres/padres, y personas interesadas en la educación centrada-en-el-estudiante a familiarizarse con EducacionAlternativa.org y unirse a nuestros esfuerzos de llevar los conceptos de la educación alternativa a las comunidades de habla Hispana. |
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Meghan Carrico & Deb O'Rourke Windsor House School Windsor House School has been publicly funded for 35 years but recently (the last five years) has had to fit into ministry educational guidelines that require individual assessment of each student’s learning. We have come up with some creative and not so creative ways to comply with these requirements. Whether we are still a democratic school is up for debate, but we continue to have a school meeting govern many aspects of the the school. The workshop will be a presentation of where we are as a school in regards to how we maintain our public funding and whether the community still considers itself democratically governed. This will cover how we work with liability and safety concerns, assessment, reporting, certified teaching staff, unions, parent, student, and staff involvement in the decision making in the school, as well as school district policies and how we work within them or modify them. ALPHA Alternative School Democratic public schools are rare, but in Canada ALPHA Alternative school has existed since 1972 with a mandate of community self-governance, student self-regulation and cooperative, non-judgmental learning. This workshop will address some of the issues of operating a democratic community school within a public education system. Marketing and Fundraising 101 Moya Khabele We will discuss the interconnectedness between marketing and fundraising and some practical tools to integrate the two to form a cohesive growth plan. The strategies of online marketing, direct mail, newsletters, press releases, special events, annual fund management, and cultivating a donor and networking database will be covered. |
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Alan Berger Exploration of some of the methods, ideas, and challenges involved with financing smaller non-profit, non-public schools. Particular emphasis on funding socio-economically diverse schools using Brooklyn Free School as an example. Parent Participation: The Backbone of a Democratic School Meghan Carrico Parent Participation is the backbone of Windsor House School. Parants are an integral part of the day to day running of the school. This workshop outlines how a parent culture is grown and nurtured. As parents become full members of the school, their education parallels that of their child, and the democratic model of education becomes theirs as well as their child’s. AERO Europe? Franzi Florack A short introduction to the Alternative Education network in Europe followed by the discussion of how we can bring the different ‘branches’ together and connect them to AERO and the international educational alternatives movement. Venturing Together: Cultivating Personal Strengths & Nurturing What’s Healthy (Introduction to creative strengths-based mentoring) Bill Rossi Humane education acknowledges who the student is and addresses her strengths while supporting and diminishing her limitations. This workshop offers fresh insights on the art of mentoring and developing relationship, including new perspectives on essential skills such as listening, personal examination, integrity, respect, equality, consistency, sharing, trust, and modeling. The Jedi Mind Trick: Clues to Human Behavior that Give You the Advantage Deescalating an Angry Child Eric & Dorothy Smoot There is a goal to misbehavior. Children give us clues as to the purpose of their behavior. Immediately recognizing the goals they are vying for i.e. power, attention, revenge, or avoidance-of-failure, can be the first step to deescalating negative conduct. What do you say when confronted? How do you avoid escalating the situation? What if he or she is on medication? Utilizing some special techniques for dealing with angry youth will give you the first response real life advantage you need to recover from the situation without incident. Applying Child-led Learning Principles in the Classroom Laurie Spigel Knowing how unique every child is, we must understand that a successful outcome for each child is a different outcome for each child. How do we encourage individual goals and support them in a classroom environment? How can each child feel heard and nurtured? How does a teacher help students develop in the way that is best for them? How can you use your resources and skills to bring everyone together when they are all so different? These questions will be addressed with real life examples, sharing techniques that I use every day. How do children learn mathematics? Gilles Laverdure Mathematics is often a subject that alternative school teachers have difficulties integrating into their pedagogical philosophy. This is largely due to the fact that math is often misunderstood in its fundamental essence, even at the level of elementary programs. This workshop will show how mathematical concepts have evolved through time and how this understanding can be useful to teachers. Engaging Students as Partners in Learning Adam Fletcher The belief that learning is not a top-down process is not reflected in current practices throughout our learning communities today. This workshop focuses on engaging students as partners in every facet of learning, teaching and leadership in education for the purpose of strengthening their commitment to learning, community and democracy. Partnering With Public Schools Adam Fletcher While not a silver bullet, this workshop focuses on proactive perspectives towards partnering with public schools to help create student/adult partnerships and healthier learning environments. After identifying a clear vision, pragmatic relationships, and accessible mechanisms, participants will have a clear concept of different ways they can improve public schools. Moving Forward with the Struggle: What Can We Learn From the Alumni of the Open School Rick Posner My book, “Lives of Passion, School of Hope”, discusses the relations, influences and recommendations from the alumni of one of the longest lasting alternative schools in the public sector, Jefferson County Open School. This workshop will address where we’ve been, where we’re going and hopefully, how we get there. The workshop will include a panel of alumni, from different eras from The Open School. Cultural Inclusion: Honoring Each Child and Creating Cultures of Success Angela Engel This session is designed create climates of learning that embrace diversity and build school/family communities oriented toward success for all. Participants will also learn how to structure leadership and school policies that are inclusive and empowering. Address content, curriculum, and assessments that expand awareness, inspire citizenship and promote social justice. Discover new ways for outreach, engaging the community, and building partnerships. Identify patterns and behaviors that advance collaborative models and collective problem-solving. Ultimately this session will help students, administrators, and teachers reach goals that support democracy, individuality and greater humanity. Influencing Education Policy: In your backyard and beyond Angela Engel This session is designed to help administrators and educators understand the history and significance of both recent and past education reforms and trends and what it means for their schools and classrooms - including national policies such as: ESEA, Goals 2000, NCLB, and Race to the Top, and the National Standards Initiative. This seminar addresses the core problems facing American education today, identifies the power players, and provides solutions to positively affecting educational progress. Participants can expect to learn strategies for building alliances, increasing membership, strengthening messaging, utilizing the media, and developing effective action plans. |
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Chris Mercogliano In this workshop we will explore Wilhelm Reich’s psychological theories and research, and also discuss how they apply to children and education and why his work is especially relevant today. Beyond the Brain and the Mind Chris Mercogliano The purpose of this workshop will be to explore the educational implications of Gerald Edelman’s recent biological theory of consciousness: how it reveals the fallacy of the convention model of education and totally confirms learner-centered, experience-based, whole child approaches. Pleasure in Learning: Can It Be Enhanced? Kirsten Olson In this workshop, Kirsten Olson will profile how several adult and young adult learners healed themselves from wounds of schooling, and what connections this has to an emerging new literature on pleasure in learning. While we know that choice, novelty, a sense of control, and the right amount of challenge are associated with pleasure and “flow” in learning, can we train ourselves to better focus on pleasurable experiences in learning to optimize engagement, appetite and attention around learning? What are some basic techniques for creating more optimal cognitive states for learning? Challenging the Conspiracy Against Youth Adam Fletcher Once seen as “the future,” youth today are viewed as a burden to be dealt with. This conspiracy against youth is unfounded and completely untrue. Featuring examples of youth-led social change, this workshop is focused on the new roles of youth bringing hope and possibilities throughout out communities. |
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Elizabeth Baker & Michele Beach Democratic Education and Social Justice are big ideas, but are just as important, if not more important, for the smallest people in our lives. Join us as we discuss ways that these ideas can be incorporated into a school for young children and help us as we generate new ways to implement theory into practice. Where Do We Go From Here? Strategies for a self-organizing revolution Ron Miller How might we more effectively advance the idea of learning alternatives for everyone? How can we better reach the education profession, teacher training programs, policymakers, media, and public at large? Let’s get together and talk about the possibilities. Transforming School Culture Khotso Khabele The intentions of this workshop are to make a compelling case for an increased focus on school culture and other contextual aspects and to give participants practical tools to positively affect school culture. Spirituality and Faith Development of Infants & Young Children Tim Graves Young children are spiritual beings just as adults are spiritual beings. This workshop will look at the available research about children’s spiritual journeys and its relationship to faith and values. Discussion will focus on the meaning of the research for supporting children into adulthood. |
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Shilpa Jain A look at the experience of Shikshantar: The Peoples' Movement for Rethinking Education and Development, in Udaipur, India, and their work in building a Learning City. How can the vast web of relationships, spaces, resources, etc. for learning be noticed, accessed, increased and imagined, to really build the world we want to see? Shikshantar has been working for 10 years; we have a lot of inspiring stories to share. Come and learn how you can get started too. A focus on appreciative interviewing and mapping your community. Supporting Youth to Become Cultural Producers: Unschooling Successs! Carla Bergman & Youth from Purple Thistle Centre For the past year I have ran a program at the Purple Thistle Centre for youth aged 11-17. Each week I bring in a mentor from the arts sector (writers, painters, photographers, musicians, etc) to work with the youth to build their skills and to connect the project to an end result (art show, film festival, published work, etc). I will talk about how this came about, what I do, and have youth from the program talk about their experience and how it has helped them to become producers in the art and culture sectors. Most of the youth involved are unschoolers or attend Windsor House Democratic School. Building a Soulful Career in a Soul-less Society Dennis Charles Calling all educators and parents who want to help young adults build a personally meaningful career once their education is completed. Where do young people turn for this type of career advice? Who do they turn to? Find out what today’s young adults need to thrive- even in soul-less society. Reschool Yourself: Make Peace with Your Past to Make Way for the Future Melia Dicker If you could do your education over again, what would you do differently? What can you do about it now? Explore this question during this interactive workshop led by Melia Dicker, who repeated her kindergarten through college education as an adult. Learn how to let go of regrets about your education and move forward. The Death of Ferrer I Guardia & Escuela Moderna Jon Scott Five former pupils of the Ferrer Modern School of Stelton, NJ who attended that school in the 1930s and 1940s, attended the Centenary of the execution of Francisco Ferrer i Guardia in Barcelona, Spain. Ferrer was accused for masterminding the Semana Tragica (Tragic Week) that occured in the summer of 1909. He was jailed and found guilty without any evidence presented in his defense. The Mayor of Barcelona proposed a monument to Ferrer in 1989 and in 1990 it was erected near the Olympic site, not far from the Montjuich fortress where Ferrer was executed by a firing squad on Oct. 13 1909. The Stelton group were featured speakers at the Centenary and laid one of the flower wreathes at the site. Jon Scott, one of the five, will give a PowerPoint presentation of the Centenary and of the ceremony instituting an act commemorating the death of Ferrer i Guardia. The latter was held at the 14th century Salo de Sent (City Hall) where the five U.S. Modern Schoolers were guests of honor. Jon will also discuss the social questions that Ferrer brought to Spain at the turn of the century and the concept that he called freedom through education. Tikkun Olam Mary Leue Tikkun Olam, a Hebrew phrase meaning "to Heal the World" is a workshop for people who want to engage in a discussion on the subject of our future, and what we need to provide for future generations. As a provocative starting point, here is a brief selection of James Howard Kunstler's comments on the year 2009, and his prediction for 2010: We're doing a poor job of constructing a coherent consensus about what is happening to us and what we are going to do about it. What's being clamored for is a set of rescue remedies - miracles even - that will allow us to keep living exactly the way we're accustomed to in the USA. Even the intelligent elites appear unreliable in their relations with reality. Just about everything which evaded fate via gamed numbers, budgets, and balance sheets in 2009 seems destined to hit a wall in 2010. Kunstler's predictions for 2010 bring the story of his "long emergency" scenario for the future a lot closer to actual fulfillment. What survival skills, personal qualities and experiences do we need to help our children survive the drastic changes ahead and move into an unknown future with more success than we have so far been able to provide for them? Few of us know enough about our future to make reliable predictions, so the course of the workshop will be open by intent to all who come and go. Three leaders (Charlene Therrien, Christian Sweningsen, Mary Leue) will offer short presentations of their personal views of what we need to focus on, and then the floor will be open to all comers. |
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