Curiosity Hacked is starting the search in the Bay Area for some new hires on a project we will be announcing very soon. Initially, the positions will be part time (starting in January 2016) at the Oakland Lab with the possibility of full time next fall. Interested educators should be willing and open to use making and hacking as a catalyst to child centered learning and familiar (or willing to become so) with Unschooling, Agile Learning, Free Schools, and the Alternative Education movement. We are looking for candidates who are deeply interested in developmental and constructivist pedagogy, and who genuinely enjoy working with middle and high school age youth. Also, all kinds of creative educators should apply, as we have a strong mentoring program for our staff. We are less interested in whether or not they have a credential and more interested in finding mentors who are invested in supporting self directed learning! If you know someone who might be interested, please send them to info at curiosityhacked dot org. Thanks!
Little Lake Learning Community Seeking Democratic Education Advisor
Job Title: Democratic Education Advisor
Description
Democratic Education Facilitators are responsible for helping students (K-12) with their own self-initiated educational projects. In particular, this position will ask employees to get to know students, offer suggestions for materials, resources, and activities relevant to their interests. Employees will also be responsible for helping the community to uphold democratically voted upon rules and agreements. In addition to regular hours, staff will be asked to participate in a weekly staff meeting, and bi-monthly all community meetings (parents, students, and staff). This job requires patience, conflict mediation skills, curiosity, and an ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment.
Preferred Experience
- A background in education is helpful though not required
- Experience working with children of any age
- Facilitation experience
- Skills and interests that are shared with student body
- Friendly and active personality
Details
- Three days a week (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday) 8:30am-3:30pm
- Staff meetings are weekly, Wednesday from 4pm-6pm
- Bi-monthly All Community Meetings occur on the 3rd Thursday of the month from 5-8pm
- Pay starts at $10 an hour with a raise to $11 after a 3 month trial period
- Staffing decisions are made democratically by students, staff, and parents and may take up to a month to finalize
Contact Information
If you are interested in learning more about the position, or would like to set up and interview please write to us at littlelakefs@gmail.com and provide us with a copy of your resume. Please be prepared to provide information for a background check.
First AERO Regional Conference!
We have a new treat for attendees of this AEROx. When Jerry was in Colombia he had the pleasure of watching a new and original documentary about a fantastic treatment community in Ecuador that works with traumatized babies and toddlers. It is called Grandir. We probably have the only copy of this video in the United States.It has English subtitles. It is a truly beautiful documentary.
We've decided to keep the early bird rate for now, as many people still are making arrangements to participate.
The early bird rate is only $195, and this includes registration, lodging, and meals from Friday night's dinner to Sunday lunch. Children, presenters and low income participants are $150 this week.
So, the first AEROx regional conference will be in the East, in Petersham, Massachusetts at Earthlands Preserve November 20 – 22, 2015.
Author/educator Chris Mercogliano will be a keynoter on Saturday the 21st. Chris was long-time director of Albany's Free School and has written many books, including How to Grow a School, and his latest, "A School Must Have a Heart."
Meals
Friday:
Dinner 5-7: Buffet style. Soup, bread, salad, fruit, dessert, tea, coffee
Saturday:
Breakfast 8-9:30: Continental buffet, Variety of fruits, whole grains, yogurt, hot cereal, tea, coffee.
Lunch 12-1:30: Soup, salad, fruit, starch, fermented veggies, tea, coffee
Dinner 6-7:15: Buffet: Soup, salad, fruit, entrée, bread, starch, fresh veggies, dessert, coffee, tea
Sunday:
Breakfast 8-9:30: Buffet, eggs, pancakes, fruit, tea, coffee
Lunch 11:45-12:30: Buffet style, Casserole, veggies, bread, fruit, soup, salad, coffee, tea
Schedule
FRIDAY 11/20
3 – 5:30 PM: Registration, settle in, networking.
5:30 – 6 PM: Opening ceremony and Welcome.
6 – 7:15 PM: Dinner / Networking
7:30 – 9 PM: Screening of ‘Class Dismissed’
9 – 9:30 PM: Discussion of ‘Class Dismissed’ with Jerry Mintz
9:30 – ?: Networking, games, discussions, campfire
SATURDAY 11/21
8:30 – 10:00 AM: Breakfast / Networking
10:05 – 11:05 AM: Group A Workshops
11:10 – 12:10 PM: Group B Workshops
12:15 – 1:30 PM: Lunch
1:35 – 2:35 PM: Group C Workshops
2:40 – 3:40 PM: Group D Workshops
3:45 – 4:45 PM: Networking / Break , Etc.
4: 50 – 5:55 PM: Group E Workshops
6 – 7:15 PM: Dinner / Networking
7:30 – 8:30 PM: Chris Mercogliano's Keynote
8:30- 9:30 PM: Documentary
9:30 – ?: Networking, games, campfire
Sunday 11/22
8:30 – 10:00 AM: Breakfast / Networking
10:05 – 11:05 AM: Group F Workshops
11:10 – 12:10 PM: Group G Workshops
12:15 – 1:15 PM: Lunch
1:15 – 2:00 PM: Closing ceremony & wrap up
Notes
- The conference will also feature plenty of time for networking, forging relationships and impromptu discussion groups.
- Lodging is rustic style shared rooms with bunks in off the grid, environmentally sustainable buildings.
- Meals are vegetarian and vegan, provided by Earthland's resident chef. People can also camp on the site. Click here to learn more
- This conference will have the quality workshops, networking opportunities, and keynoters you have come to expect from AERO events. We are still collecting workshop proposals. Send them to pberg7468@gmail.com, or jerryaero@aol.com.
Confirmed Workshops
School Starters Workshop
Jerry Mintz and Chris Mercogliano
AERO has helped start over 100 new educational alternatives, schools and homeschool resource centers, etc. This is in line with our mission of creating an Education Revolution in which learner-centered education will become available for all students. Every fall we have an online school starters course. This course started in September and now has over 50 participants in 26 locations around the world. We will talk about the basics of starting a new alternative and talk to as many attendees as possible about their visions, giving suggestions and resources.
The Total Package: The Full Circle Learning Model
Presenter- Linda Aronson
Full Circle Learning is a transformational model that encapsulates our common values and practices as progressive educators. It is true to the descriptors of learned-centered, personalized, and self-directed learning. Direct experience is its keystone. It is a learner’s creation within a framework that acts as a guide and support from the conception of an idea, question, goal to a point of cathartic completion and celebration. Learning happens in starts and ongoing spurts within the learner’s own pacing. Mentors offer guidance and coaching. Ongoing self-assessment and mentor feedback mark progress and navigate direction. All learning counts and is put in a context of the naturally chaotic nature of deep learning. Reflection integrates and deepens learning on all levels. Upon completion, the learner shares and is honored within a community celebration. Linda Aronson will illustrate The Full Circle Learning Model with real learner work and the journey of several AERO member schools that have adopted this model along with its impact.
Student-Run Conflict Resolution: How to Empower Kids While Teaching Moral Reasoning and Problem Solving
Presenters – Mark Jacobs & The Longview School
One of students’ most common complaints is that they are powerless in school. Democratic schools address this by sharing the power with their students, but even for more traditional schools, it is possible to empower kids by having them be integral to conflict resolution. Longview School, using a modified Sudbury judicial system modeled upon the US court system, has been successfully resolving conflicts using its Judicial Committee for over 10 years. Over the last two years we have added a peer mediation system to resolve issues which are more a result of interpersonal conflict than of rule breaking. In this workshop, we will explain our JC and Mediation systems, even going through the process with the attendees.
A Moderated Discussion about Required Curriculum vs. Student Freedom
Moderators – Mark Jacobs & The Longview School
There is a wide range of approaches as to how to involve students in choosing what they learn. On one end of the spectrum are traditional public schools, in which kids take mostly required courses in a core curriculum supplemented by a few electives. On the other end are Sudbury schools where staff are not even supposed to offer a class unless a student or students request it. Longview School has been pioneering a middle ground approach. In this workshop, there will be some presentation laying out the range of possibilities and describing some different approaches before attendees are involved in a discussion of the issues based upon their own experience.
Goddard College Alternative Model
Presenter – Patricia Younce
Kumari Patricia Younce will present a session that explores the model of experimentation and radical pedagogical inquiry that Goddard College is well known for. She will describe the way learning unfolds and new models of discovery that Goddard is beginning to explore such as its Group Studies. She will give an overall description of the Goddard "learning by doing" model then answer specific questions depending on the participants. She will begin by addressing the Undergraduate Studies first.
Kumari is the Director of the Education Program at Goddard, which offers BA and MA degrees in self-designed studies, Community Education, Dual Language Teaching and Teacher Licensure, including Bilingual Education (new!).
Inquiry Into School Culture
Presenter – Leo Fahey
Dr, Graham Nuthall in The Cultural Myths and Realities of Classroom Teaching and Learning: A Personal Story (Teachers College Record, Volume 107 Number 5, 2005, p. 895-934) argues that each classroom contains three distinct cultural contexts through which students and teachers act and through which students grow and learn: the public teacher- managed activity routines and rules which can be referred to as The Adult Culture; the largely hidden but powerful cultural context of peer relationships and interactions which can be referred to as The Child Culture; and the personal cultural context of beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge that individual students bring into the classroom from their family and neighborhood backgrounds which can be referred to generally as The Family Culture. Understanding students’ participation in classroom activities (and the consequent shaping of their minds through internalization), Nuthall maintains, requires an understanding of these three separate cultures and the ways in which students simultaneously
affect, and are affected by, these cultures. This participant interactive workshop explores the affects of these cultures within our intentional learning communities on community adult and student interpersonal and learning behavior and outcomes.
Putting on an AEROx event : The Need for More Local Events
Presenters – Jerry Mintz & Peter Berg
There has been an increasing demand for more local AERO events. The need for these events are becoming more apparent and critical. This workshop / discussion will explore the interest and feasibility of putting on additional AEROx regional events along with goals and outcomes. While Jerry and Peter will discuss the successful strategies much of the time will be spent on diving deep into a collaborative discussion that will produce action items.
Learning in the Outdoors
Presenter – Peter Berg
Humans have a deep connection with the natural world, indeed for centuries we have learned from the natural world around us. Our current way of life doesn’t always allow time for us to spend time exploring, and learning in the outdoors. This can lead to what Richard Louv and others have dubbed the Nature Deficit. We can partner with the natural world around us to spark our love of learning and innate curiosity. In this workshop we will discuss and explore simple ways to use the natural word as the catalyst for deep, personalized, learning driven discoveries. Part or all of this worksop will take place outdoors weather permitting.
Judy Yero: A Challenge…
During World War II, several branches of the U.S. military used a variation on the
following slogan: "The difficult we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer."
Some may say that what I am asking is impossible, but given the collective wisdom,
passion, and experience of this group, I refuse to believe that. So here’s the story.
The Challenge
AERO's mission is to help create an education revolution to make learner-centered education available to everyone.
A little background: I have a client who is interested in advancing the cause of learner-centered education. I reported back to him after the AERO conference in May, and he has asked me to take on a larger task—traveling around the country visiting various types of learner-centered facilities. To that end, I’ve been reviewing the information on AERO member schools, as well as other progressive/democratic/alt-ed efforts. One thing has become painfully clear.
AERO’s mission will not be fully realized until learner-centered education is made available to low-income/poverty-level families at scale. (Scale refers to many small centers, not larger enrollments.)
I realize that many existing centers go to great lengths to include these students though scholarships and sliding tuition, but that doesn’t address the core issue. I have come across only one or two learning centers with significant numbers of students whose only present option is tuition-free public schools. This is not a “minority” problem. Recent research found that low-income students now represent more than half of all U.S. public school students!
Yes, I understand that this is an economic issue. But as Chris Mercogliano states in How to Grow a School, one way to make these centers economically viable is to couple them with a business or other income producer of some type. That’s just one idea.
So here’s the challenge. How do we create grass roots, community-based learning centers that incorporate the best practices of learner-centered, democratic schools…without charging tuition?
The floor is open for ideas! Let’s keep this in the brainstorming stage at this point, so there are no “crazy” ideas. Throw out whatever pops into your mind, even if you can’t see all the details of how it might work. Many of you have extensive experience, so you may think you know what does and doesn’t work…but what if it did?
One caveat—buying a building in urban New York (for example) is unlikely! The immediate goal would be to create a model CLC (community learning center) to work the bugs out and act as proof of concept. The ultimate goal is to lay the groundwork for a network of CLCs that community members can adapt to their own needs.
If you’re interested and up for the challenge, please send me your ideas at judy.yero@teachinginmind.com. I’ll compile ideas and post them to the AERO Forum. If enough people are interested, we’ll shoot for a Forum on just this topic to keep the discussion going. Together, we can make this happen!
Thanks so much!
