Community and Learning KWMR radio program

In the fall of 2005, Ruth Lopez and I put together three radio programs on Community and Learning. The topics are still relevant.

Links to the first of these three programs (History of Schools with Ron Miller) are right here now, in two parts:

Part 1.1

Part 1.2

I will be putting up the second program in the next couple of days.

Thanks to www.kwmr.org, a fantastically rich and vibrant community learning source in West Marin. And thanks to Lyons Filmer, Ruth Lopez, and Ron Miller for this first program.

Below is an outline of the three-part programs:

WHERE DOES LEARNING TAKE PLACE?

Conversations about Learning and Community

Three consecutive Mondays at 5:30 pm on KWMR

Monday, August 29, 5:30 pm

A conversation with Ron Miller, historian, educator, and author of What Are Schools For? and Creating Learning Communities. We look at the history of schooling and how the purpose of schooling has changed over time. What are some of the cultural assumptions about education in America?

Monday, September 5, 5:30 pm

A conversation with Matt Hern, founder of an alternative learning center for teens in Vancouver, author of Deschooling Our Lives and Field Day: Getting Society Out of School. We consider educational opportunities as comprehensible only within local social and cultural fabrics and discuss how to design them to meet local needs. We examine assumptions about the ways that children learn, as we address underlying attitudes about authority and freedom.

Monday, September 12, 5:30 pm

West Marin residents discuss how to build community, family, and individual self-reliance through Community Based Learning. What is Community Based Learning and how can it engage learners, improve academics, and strengthen community? What can it look like here?

Abundance of resources for alternative learning

These two sites have an abundance of information about learning alternatives:

http://www.educationrevolution.org

http://learningalternatives.net/

Ruth Lopez homeschooled her oldest child during her high school years and her twins through middle school. During those times, Ruth and I collaborated on teaching and discussions about community and learning. (Ruth herself went back to school to Goddard College and received her Masters in Partnership Education.)

Among the things we did: I supplemented an Algebra 2 independent study Alessa was pursuing, to get at some of the underlying principles. At the time I was writing a lot about ways to teach math. I taught a mixed-aged math class. One of our sources was Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe. Ruth offered a local history class. Dewey Livingston was a guest teacher. I taught a session on the commons. Together the kids also took a journalism class offered through Pathways Charter School. And a Photography Class offered by Gwen Meyers, who signed up as a vendor through Pathways. And Susan Prince then later Scot Davidson taught an outdoor discovery class. We also worked with another family, meeting every two weeks for a shared meal representative of the food of a country we studied. That class was called Geography Through the Lens of Food.

I recently asked Ruth what resources she most recommends for those thinking about these things now. She named these two:

Creating Learning Communities; Models, Resources, and New Ways of Thinking About Teaching and Learning edited by Ron Miller. Cuts down on time spent reinventing the wheel. Many beautiful examples of alternative models others have developed. Wide variety of models. Browse and find the one the best suits West Marin. My favorite is The Alternative Learning Center on page 111.

A Systems View of Education by Bela Banathy. Where do we want to be as a community in the future? We can't get there by looking in the rear view mirror, in other words by trying to fix the current education system. We need first to define where we want to go and then design an education system that will take us there. His conclusion is that community based education will be the educational model of choice. Education by and for the community is truely owned by the community and people will support what they themselves create.

What are you going to do with a classics education?

Study classics, find meaning with others, make art, help others. This project does it:

http://penelopeproject.wordpress.com/

Race to Nowhere

Also, here’s a link to the documentary re students, stress, school demands:

Race to Nowhere: http://www.racetonowhere.com/.

Thanks to Michele for sending.

A deeper understanding ... of math concepts and more

This article in the NYTimes, points out the success of developing a fuller understanding of math concepts. Something we knew already. They are citing success with the Singapore math program.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/01/education/01math.html?_r=1&hp