Posted on by

Calling all leaders and visionaries committed to transforming the education system! – The 2014 Education Jam

Education Jam

Calling all leaders and visionaries committed to transforming the education system!

We invite you for a unique opportunity to co-learn, co-create and JAM with a diversity of folks from around the US and beyond, who are working in dynamic ways to change education as we know it.

The second annual Education Jam will take place from July 28th to August 3rd, 2014 at the Wonder Wall Mountain Refuge in Springfield, New Hampshire.

Apply today! Priority application deadline: June 23, 2014.

More about the Education Jam:

30 leaders and visionaries will gather for six days in a beautiful retreat center in the New Hampshire wilderness. We will spend the time building community, deepening in stories and perspectives, sharing places of growth and struggle, and co-creating inspiration and vision.

We will be inviting folks from around the education world: public, private, independent, and charter schools, unschooling, homeschooling, learning communities, youth empowerment, and more. We acknowledge that in the education sector there is a fair amount of division around definitions of the “best way forward”. We also know that across the spectrum, people working in the education world are constantly giving of themselves. The Education Jam will make space to listen and learn from our diversity, engage in new synergies, find inspiration and rejuvenation, and begin to build towards a common vision with each of our own unique contributions.

 

Over the course of the whole Jam, we will have time to engage with questions like:

  • What is your personal story around education? How do your experiences inform the path you have chosen to take?
  • What does learning mean to you? What does unlearning mean to you?
  • What are your traumas and your triumphs around education?
  • When did your heart fully enter this work? How are you fed and sourced in what you do today?
  • How are you living the values and world you are trying to create?
  • What kind of support do you need to help come into deeper alignment with that world? What kind of support can you offer others to support their journey into deeper alignment?

We will use a variety of learning modalities – from movement and bodywork, to storytelling and myth making, to visual and performing arts, to small group dialogues, to whole group conversations. There will be space for silence and for connecting with nature. The Jam will unfold to make space for our whole selves, for our spirits, for one another, for our highest dreams and our deepest fears. All of it will be welcome.

The Jam will create space for transformation on the personal, interpersonal and systemic levels. As with other Jams, we are prepared to be surprised! One hope is that people will have the opportunity to integrate their learnings and carry them home, to be able to find and connect with people who have the heart, spirit, skills and knowledge that they are needing for the next steps of their personal journey and the next steps of our collective journey.

This year’s Education Jam is excited to do some deep dives as a community into the themes of place-based learning, learning from/through/with nature, self-designed learning and design thinking, student leadership development, alternative assessment, and more… We are looking forward to co-creating these deep dives with the experiences, questions, struggles and wisdoms of the community of people who gathering.

Learn more about the 2014 Education Jam and apply here.

Posted on by

Little River Community School Elementary Teacher (Job)

Little River Community School
Little River Community School has an opening for an elementary teacher for the 2014/2015 school year.  Little River is an independent alternative school located in rural Canton, New York, with thirty-five students in grades K-12.  We are offering $20,000 per year and benefits including free tuition for a teacher’s child, a small health fund, and a supportive environment with a lot of academic freedom.  We are looking for a teacher with at least several years of experience working with children, preferably in an alternative education setting.  Qualities we are looking for include: a passion for working with children, flexibility, ability to think on your feet, patience, long term interest in teaching, problem solving abilities, strong communication skills, reliability, a sense of humor, self-motivation and self-confidence. Teacher certification is not required.  For a complete description of the position and an application, go to our website at www.littleriverschool.org. Deadline for applications is 6/23/14 or until position is filled.
Posted on by

Vidhi Jain: Creating learning ecosystems instead of learning cages

A strong believer in the power of self learning and community learning, Vidhi Jain co-founded the Shikshantar Andolan 15 years ago in India. In 2010, she and her husband founded Swaraj University in Udaipur modelled on self-designed learning and green entrepreneurship, including exploration of basic business skills within the context of ecological sustainability and social justice. This self-directed learning process invites learners to identify their hearts' visions and engages them in developing the skills, relationships and practices they need and practices they need to manifest those visions.

Posted on by

Teaching Staff Opening at PSCS for 2014-15 (Seattle, WA)

Puget Sound Community School

Puget Sound Community School (PSCS), an innovative, state-approved private middle & high school in Seattle, has an open teaching staff position for the upcoming school year, 2014/2015, and likely beyond. The person hired will work mainly within our middle school program although the nature of the school is such that there will be overlap with our high school program. This 10 month, renewable school year position (August 25, 2014 through June 24, 2015) is a salaried position with full medical, dental, and retirement benefits. The salary is set at $43,640 regardless of prior experience.

Founded in 1994, PSCS is based on the belief that people are compelled to learn intrinsically and will eagerly learn what they are interested in learning when provided a positive environment and support in their self-selected pursuits. Engaging the community, acting with courage, practicing integrity, and otherwise living as a responsible citizen are among the valued goals of a PSCS education. A compassionate staff of talented and interesting people work together as a team to provide a nurturing, respectful and vibrant school environment for approximately 50 students in a multi-age setting. We hold those involved with PSCS to very high standards of behavior and demand that everyone strive to build relationships based on mutual trust, honesty, support, and understanding. A primary role of all staff members is to sustain this environment while providing the students with a variety of educational opportunities. At PSCS, we also believe that functioning in a truly diverse community is a vital 21st-century skill and are building our community accordingly. We strongly encourage people of all backgrounds to apply, especially people of color.

In hiring staff members, PSCS first looks for strength of character and personality as well as deep passions and a willingness to be open to experiencing whatever it is that life offers. It is our belief that people teach who they are. In addition to this, the ideal candidate will possess some of the following characteristics, skills or experiences:

  • see life as an exciting adventure
  • have experience working with middle school students
  • experience in inclusivity or diversity in the classroom
  • be familiar with a student-centered approach to education

Note, it is not a requirement of this position that a candidate be certified to teach in Washington state.

To be introduced to PSCS, please go to:

Home

To meet the staff, please visit:

Our Staff

Applications are being accepted through June 6, 2014.  To apply, send a cover letter, resumé, and three references to:
Andy Smallman, Director
Puget Sound Community School
660 S. Dearborn St.
Seattle, WA  98134

In your cover letter be sure to include what has attracted you to PSCS and two or three of the things that stand out to you about our educational philosophy. We strongly encourage you to be creative in the presentation of your application materials. 

Direct questions to Mr. Smallman at 206-324-4350 or andy@pscs.org.