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First Workshops Approved for the 2016 AERO Conference!

Don Berg – Schools of Conscience

We Are NOT Robots! A Respectful Paradigm for Learning

The dominant paradigm of learning as content delivery has been thoroughly critiqued and discredited, but an equally compelling alternative paradigm based in both the behavioral and cognitive sciences has not arisen. Workshop presenter Don Berg, an education psychologist and author, will share with you a new synthesis of the current science on learning and motivation that can better guide both educational policy and practice. Let’s discuss whether or not it is sufficiently compelling to become a new paradigm.

 

Josette Luvmour, PhD – Summa Institute

Working with our students families: What every Holistic Educator needs to know

All children come with parents—all parents are part of their child’s education. The future of teacher training for Holistic Educators must include preparation about how to work with parents. We will discuss the importance of collaboration with our students’ families that is mutually respectful. Our students are continually adapting to the relationships and communications among primary caregivers. When educators, parents, and students are on the same page, a synergy emerges that allows for an explosion of learning. These key relationships have a large effect on children’s educational experiences. Moreover, parent and child grow together. With knowledge attention to attuned relationships with the child’s family, Holistic Educators can create educational environments that match our student’s needs Academic excellence results. We will at look rejuvenating experiences in teacher/family interactions because this partnership is the crucible of our student’s well-being and happiness.

 

Lindie Keaton – Antioch School

A Year in the Life of a Forest Kindergarten

Come hear about the adventures and misadventures of the first year of a Forest Kindergarten. Share your own ideas and get new ideas from others about how children benefit from spending time with nature and how adults can help increase children's opportunities to be outside.

 

Samantha Matalone Cook – Curiosity Hacked

Hacking the Future: Creating a Learner Centered Education

 

Join Samantha Cook, Founder and ED of Curiosity Hacked, learning about creating/supporting a more learner-centered educational environment through mentorship, hands-on making, and hacking to integrate skill building into new or existing schools. Dive into how a hackerspace became a catalyst for self-determining and self-directed learning through a variety of programs designed to meet different needs. See concrete examples of how hard and soft skills, low tech and high tech projects, and leveraging local and global community can create an environment of possibility. Participants will be gaining new skills, work with a variety of materials, and discuss relevant ideas and examples to enhance their own visions as well as those of their students. Time will be given for personal and site specific ideas.

 

Barbarah Nicoll – Ubuntu Learning

This Body of Knowledge

In this workshop we will explore our self knowledge through body mapping, responding to guided activities to discover and map on our own body outline what we know of ourselves and what is important to us. Participants will be guided through an interactive and artistic experience that will include somatic awareness, working with the wisdom of the 4 directions (which includes life phases, seasons and inclinations) body mapping and group poetry writing. These activities are suited for youth (14 to 19), and of course adults of all ages. These activities invite participants to employ their “soft will”, a way of looking inward with courage to see oneself, in contrast to the “hard will” that is often engaged when one is given a task to fulfill, often with an overt or hidden requirement to please an authority figure. This holistic and artistic engagement includes improvisation, somatic awareness (coming to know our own bodies as a source of knowledge), expressive arts, biography questions, journaling and group poetry. This workshop is fully interactive and invitational.

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The Ten Worst Things That Happen In School

 

1. Sometimes you have to get up when it's still dark.

Research has shown that children generally learn better when they start school later.1

2. Most schools dispense curriculum from the top down, from distant sources.

Children learn best when the approach is learner-centered, based on their interest.

3. Students are forced to stay in classrooms and are not allowed to leave.

Democratic and progressive schools have found that children are happier and learn better when they are free to come and go.

4. Children in most schools are forced to sit in rows of desks and not move around.

Research shows that it is unhealthy for children to not move around, and is especially painful for kinesthetic learners.2

5. In most schools learning takes place in rigid periods, governed by bells.

Research has shown that children need to learn according to their own rhythms, working on projects until they are finished.3

6. In most schools bullying is rampant and there is no effective mechanism to control it. 

There is almost no bullying in democratic schools, and if there is a problem it can be brought up in a democratic meeting where students can give each side of a conflict and all participants enforce the decisions.4

7. In most schools, irrelevant homework is assigned, which students are forced to do at home and turn in at school.

If students are following their own interests, homework is not necessary. If children are natural learners, assigning them to study information not of interest only serves to extinguish that natural ability to learn.

8. In most schools children are segregated into classes of students who are their exact age.

This is "socialization" to a bizarre environment they will never experience in their life after school. Children learn best in mixed age groups in which they can collaborate with children of different ages and backgrounds.5

9. In most schools children are forced to compete for grades in every subject.

Grades have been shown to be a false motivator, based on someone else's idea of what they should be learning, rather than their own intrinsic interest.6

10. In most schools students are forced to take many hours of standardized tests, often without ever knowing whether their answers were right or wrong.

Teaching to tests pushes students in exactly the wrong direction. They should only be given at a student's request, with the results known immediately, and not ever as a judgment of ability. 

 

If many of these things describe situations in your school, it's time to look for another school, or to consider homeschooling. 

 

 
 
 
 
Safe learning environment: Research has documented a remarkable lack of violence, vandalism, and disruptive behavior in schools of choice. Students and families consistently report feeling both physically and emotionally safe to participate and learn.
 
 
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Admissions & Outreach Director for The Woolman Semester School

Admissions & Outreach Director

This position coordinates student recruitment for the Woolman Semester School. The heart of this position is to communicate the story of this learning experience to prospective students, parents, teachers, alumni and other educators. The work itself is very dynamic and can, at times, feel part marketing, part social work, part therapist, and part community organizing. A major highlight of this work is walking between the two worlds of a progressive educational community and the larger progressive education movement in the US and beyond.

High school education is transforming and Woolman sees itself as a critical part of that transformation. During a semester at Woolman, our students explore individual and community empowerment through a variety of topics and learning experiences that address social justice and sustainability. Students from diverse educational backgrounds attend Woolman – traditional public high schools, charter schools, Waldorf / Quaker / Montessori schools, students who are homeschooled or unschooled – and together with the staff and interns, they create a rich learning community for 16 weeks.

Specific responsibilities for this position include:

  • Communicating with students and parents throughout the application process
  • Creating and implementing an outreach plan
  • Developing and maintaining relationships with sending schools and other influencers
  • Contact management for schools and prospective students
  • Coordinating outreach travel
  • Interviewing applicants
  • Processing applications and financial aid

In addition to these responsibilities, the Admissions & Outreach Director is an integral member of the school’s Leadership Team, working closely with the Head of School, Program Coordinator, and other Woolman Faculty. This team will often work collaboratively with each other on outreach efforts. When on campus, they are expected to join other staff in making a full commitment to Woolman's community life. This includes participation in Quaker meeting, community meeting, chores, meal preparation, and other community support.

Desired Qualifications and Skills

  • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent life experience
  • Experience in educational admissions and enrollment
  • Excellent communication, time management, delegation, and organization skills
  • Experience in community organizing, campaigns, and/or event planning
  • Strong public speaking skills
  • Highly proficient in use of office technology
  • Ability to plan and implement outreach trips throughout the US
  • A network of connections with educational institutions and organizations
  • Comfortable working with large groups of kids and adults
  • Strong desire to live and work in a community setting
  • Passionate about progressive education
  • Familiarity with semester schools
  • Experience working with high school age students and recent college graduates from diverse backgrounds
  • Willingness to participate in staff and community meetings in the style of Quaker 
  • consensus decision-making
  • Willingness to practice NVC and Restorative Justice
  • Willingness and desire to participate in anti-oppression work within the community, and continue learning and training in those areas
  • Interest in living in community and participating in community activities
  • A fun, positive and encouraging disposition

About Woolman

Woolman is a nonprofit educational community located on 230 acres in the Sierra Nevada Foothills dedicated to the principles of peace, justice and sustainability. Originally founded in 1963 as a Quaker high school, Woolman now offers educational programs for teens, retreats for adults, and summer camps for children and families including The Woolman Semester; a 4-month residential education program in northern California for passionate young people who want to make a difference in the world. Woolman is an equal opportunity employer. www.woolman.org.

Salary and Benefits

This position will start between February 15th and March 1st, 2016, and receive an annual salary of $25,000. Health benefits are available. Room & Board on campus are discounted 60% and end up being around $5,000/year renting a space on the Woolman campus and eating lunches and dinners in the Woolman dining hall. To apply, please send a letter of interest, current resume, and three references to: Gray Horwitz, Head of School, grayh@woolman.org

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Blue Rock School Needs part-time Spanish Teacher

Blue Rock School has a position available for a part-time Spanish Teacher.  Applicants must be fluent, and have interest and experience in progressive educational practice, assessment and social learning.  He/she will develop Spanish curriculum and lesson plans spanning grades 1st – 8th, including experiential activities such as cooking, crafts, songs, rhymes and games.  The applicant will be able to work with young children in a hands-on way, as well as, work with older students introducing the study of grammar and sentence structure.
 
We are a small, not-for-profit, independent and progressive school.  We are oriented towards a balanced and multi-disciplinary education, serving students in grades kindergarten through eighth.  Blue Rock School emphasizes open investigation and discovery, creativity, academic challenge with individualized attention in a stress-free environment.  Please fax or email a resume and cover letter explaining your background and your interest in the position to: Caty Laignel, Director, Blue Rock School, FAX: 845-627-0208 or EMAIL: BRSOffice@verizon.net.