Year: 2015

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Field Academy Workshops

The Field Academy is offering a series of workshops for educators who are looking to incorporate field-based education into their programs or curricula and who seek a community of practice to do so. 
 
Are you inspired to learn and teach from the people and places around you? Do you see field-based education as a necessary tool for social change? Join the Field Academy at one of our educator workshops to build skills, share tools, and design curriculum with a community of innovative educators. 
 
Workshop Series: 
Feb 14-17, 2015: "Field-based Curriculum Design for School Settings", Arcosanti, AZ
For educators working in school settings of all kinds who want to work within their framework to develop innovative field-based curricula. For more info on this retreat, click here.
Applications due January 16th
 
April 18-21, 2015: "Education for Social Change: The Role of Field-based Education in Building Social Movements", Wayfinder School, New Gloucester, ME
For educators who seek to both share and learn tools, skills, and techniques for engaging students about complex social and environmental issues. For more info on this retreat, click here.
Applications due March 20th
 
July 5-11, 2015 "Field Camp for Educators" Knoll Farm, Vermont
For educators looking for inspiration, connection, and rejuvenation in a community of practice. For more info on this retreat, click here.

 

 

Applications due June 5th
 
Who should attend?
Educators from all different settings: public, private, charter, semester, and independent schools; community organizers; homeschool educators; after school/summer camp; non-profit organizations. The Field Academy runs programs for high school students, but educators working with elementary-aged to adults have found relevance in our programs. 
 
What is "field-based"curriculum?
We use the term field-based curriculum to refer to people learning "in the field" from the places and people that surround them. We do this through an exploration of the individual, the group, and the larger systemic context. Educational terms like place-based, travel-based, experiential, expeditionary, adventure-based, and critical pedagogy are, while not interchangeable, all relevant.
 
Who is facilitating?
All of our educator workshops are co-facilitated by Field Academy staff and alumni. In addition, we often bring in guest facilitators with extensive experience specific to the topic of the retreat. 
 

 

 

How do I apply? 

 

 

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Unity Charter School Seeks Director

About the Position

The Director position will be a critical member of the leadership team, responsible for student achievement and the fulfillment of the mission and charter.  The Director will serve as Unity’s visible leader, chief spokesperson and sustainability advocate.

This is an ideal opportunity for a dynamic and visionary instructional leader to play a critical role in shaping a growing K-8 charter school committed to helping students reach high levels of academic and personal achievement.

This position is full time.

 

Responsibilities will include:

  • Function as a key member of the Unity leadership team
  • Ensure a strong, inclusive school culture, consistent with Unity’s core values. As a demonstration school for Positive Discipline, Unity’s character development program actively shapes student habits, values, and aspirations to become successful global citizens
  • Lead the hiring, development, coaching, and evaluation of Unity’s staff and foster a leadership culture of reflective self-improvement
  • Work with the Leadership team to develop and implement academic goals
  • Create processes and practices for long-term educational planning
  • Partner with the School Business Administrator to oversee budgetary decisions
  • Serve as a non-voting member of the Board; report and advise on school affairs, and assist in establishing policy implementation guidelines and procedures
  • Guarantee compliance and control per the Education laws of the State of New Jersey, the Administrative Code of the New Jersey Department of Education, Unity’s Charter and Board policies.

 

Qualifications:

  • Master's degree required
  • A New Jersey standard school administrator or supervisor’s certificate, or standard principal’s certificate
  • Experience managing teams in an educational setting
  • Proficiency in Adlerian principles and the New Jersey Common Core Standards

 

Skills, traits and beliefs:

  • Deep and contagious passion for the importance of sustainability and ecology
  • Dedication to doing whatever it takes to help all the school’s students achieve academic success
  • Collaborative decision-making style, with a proven track record of working with individuals at all levels to drive decision-making and results
  • Self-awareness, with an ability to treat all members of the community with respect and hold an accurate idea of one’s own strengths and weaknesses
  • Problem-solving skills, with a combination of confidence and humility
  • Strong management skills, including the emotional intelligence to work effectively with teaching staff to develop their impact
  • Exceptional self-motivation, entrepreneurial spirit and team orientation

 

 

About Unity Charter School

Unity Charter School is a tuition-free, public school in Morris Township, New Jersey that integrates the values of sustainability into a vigorous academic program. 

Unity Charter School is dedicated to developing student leaders for the 21st Century. Our integrated curriculum supports mastery of multi-dimensional abilities while developing well balanced and confident students. We value and provide unique opportunities for students to develop critical thinking, communication, and collaboration skills as well as encourage self exploration and creativity. Through class meetings and Democratic Governance, students are empowered to use their voice, impact change, and be of service to others through community outreach initiatives.

Applications are being accepted at www.macnjake.com until March 5, 2015.

 

 

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Empowering Parent Educators

By Jen Mendez

In many cases, our society and traditional education system has stripped parents of the belief in their ability and responsibility to be an educator-mentor for their child. Often, parents have become so disenfranchised and disempowered that they believe their only option is to put their child into the hands of a professional educator, usually within the traditional education system. To help empower parents, I founded a worldwide, online community of parent-educators who share ideas and resources. I would like to share one simple, yet effective resource that can help parents self-empower the educator within and for teachers and schools to enrich the relationship with parents, the Question Wall.

 

It can be helpful for parents, educators, and even the children themselves to have a framework with which to be able to formulate, capture, explore, and explore the depths of their questions and imaginations. What, when, and how they do it is left in the hands of the learner and educator-mentors, but the scaffolding is in place for them to build what they can imagine. This is what the Question Wall process can do and it is one of the Educational Design tools that connects real life, experiential educational practices both at home and, if applicable, in a learning group, center, or school setting. This tool can also be helpful in the case of a child whose learning landscape includes a technological "edge" that can be enriched by targeting online learning to the child's interests.

 

Literally, a question wall is a physical wall that you dedicate to questions. It sounds so simple and yet can be something that is amazingly effective and empowering. I suggest parents put everyone's questions up on the wall, not just the children's. Consider using individual pieces of paper for each question rather than a poster, so the questions can be moved around, re-organized, and taken down. I've seen parents use expandable folders where follow-on questions or documentation from the search and discovery of answers can be kept in together.  

 

If part of the goal is to empower, then of course find a place to keep all the materials – paper, markers, and painters' tape – organized so that the kids can access these and add questions to the wall when inspired to do so. Furthermore, there is no reason a Question Wall has to only be in a written medium. Think about having handheld audio recorders for children to record their questions and make an interactive digital question wall. Maybe this even becomes the screensaver image on a computer.

 

Use further questions, not statements, to help children further engage in the learning that was driven by their questions. For example, if a young child says, "Why sky blue?" and you say, "What a thoughtful and observant question! Why is the sky blue?" Then, prompt them to repeat the question correctly by saying something like, "So, what exactly are you going to write for the question wall?" Perhaps you follow up with, "How do you think you would like to explore this question?"

 

Finally, interact with this wall physically and cognitively. Think of this as a living document. You can do this by simply asking questions about the child's questions because you yourself are interested, either in the topic of the question or in the issue because it is so important to the child you love. Become pattern investigators and explore the Question Wall this way rather than one question at a time. For example, sort and categorize by topic to look for patterns in what the child is interested in and what sort of questions (simple to answer close ended or more complex open-ended inquiry-driven) the child is asking. Both the young learner and the educator-mentor, who is also a learner, are able to enrich individual knowledge, skills, experiences, and curiosity through a shared learning opportunity.

 

For educational groups, learning centers, and schools, think about how sharing an idea like this can be used to integrate home and school learning, as well as provide a fun, simple way for parents to become more active in the children's educational and life interests. Maybe parents do this at home and bring in a picture, email, or make time for a one-minute conversation about what is on the Question Wall at home once a month. This can become a standard topic you inquire about when talking to a parent coming to drop off or pick up their child. Or, perhaps you start a community Question Wall in a location where the parents not only see it each day, but are encouraged to and can easily contribute to it within the space of the school rather than within the home. Help parents self-empower the educator within.

 

"In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists." – Eric Hoffer