Painting The Landscape

Posted in About IDEA Education PolicyPhilosophy of EducationSocial Justice on Nov 23, 2009 - 10:28 AM

Think “landscape” and you might visualize an expansive nature scene, or maybe the nitty-gritty workings of the political landscape. Perhaps you think of the act of landscaping in terms of developing a park or other area. For the purposes of this blog, the landscape metaphor refers to all of this and more.

The Landscape is a blog for IDEA staff, board, and advisory board members to reflect on the bigger picture in education today, from philosophy to practice and policy to pedagogy. We'll report on exciting ideas, schools, and changes toward the development of a more deeply democratic educational experience for young people. We'll also share stories from our personal experiences as teachers, parents, students, and community members.

The Landscape will also be a place for dialogue and feedback with you about IDEA's current and future projects. One of our guiding values is to be transparent with our community and always open to your thoughts, critiques, and collaboration. We know that IDEA as an organization, and our broad work for greater participation and democracy in education, will only succeed if all of us live out those values on a daily basis. Instead of focusing on minor differences we may have as individuals or groups, we believe in working together toward our shared goals.

So stay tuned for posts on The Landscape asking you for your input. We hope you'll respond to our continual call-out for feedback and dialogue by commenting on this blog and the others, and contacting us at anytime to share your ideas.

On a personal note, the word landscape has another meaning for me that connects to another interest of mine: birding (some might use the term “bird-watcher,” but I prefer the active element in the term “birding.”) A birder studies and experiences the natural landscape to discover, understand, and (ideally) advocate for practices and policies that conserve and revitalize ecosystems for birds and other wildlife.

Similarly, my personal goal in education, and by extension my work with IDEA, is to study the educational landscape and advocate for approaches that conserve the inner spark of young people, knowing that uniting democracy and education is one of the most powerful ways to revitalize our society.

Please join us, and help us paint an educational canvas in the colors of deep democracy, vibrant participation, and authentic social justice.

Tags for this entry:
community, advocacy, participation, feedback

Comment using your Facebook account: