Tags for "Freedom"
The First Three Minutes of Unschooling
We want our two young boys to remain the wise, compassionate, and engaged souls they are today. We want them to avoid the coercive, limiting regime of schooling we experienced which might, as with us, render their learning passive and repress their will to freedom and self-expression.
At four years old, after weeks of talking over educational options, my oldest son Ezra decided he wanted to go to pre-school. After visiting several, we... Where’s the Line? Putting Democratic Teaching Ideals to the Test
"Stop doing that and apologize."
"What? She doesn't care."
"She's not going to tell you she cares, but I do.... Resisting What I Know
My adventure in... The Plans of Mice and Men
We developed this model for educational reform while I was out of the classroom for a year and Khadigah had just graduated from undergrad with her newly minted teacher's certificate. For a nine minute synopsis of our model, watch our video:
This video summarizes my vision for my return to the classroom. My... Freire’s “True Word” Conclusion—Or Beginning…
This same day, a student handed me a card in which she wrote, "Thanks for giving me the freedom to speak my mind."
The next day, two students threw me a little farewell party to end the semester--two students who hated my class a month ago.
The last day of class, a student thanked God he never had to have me again. "Now I can FINALLY get an 'A'!"
A semester of mixed reviews.
As part of their final project, my students had to identify a community problem and design an intervention to combat said problem. A majority of the students rose to the occasion and shined... From Fine to Free
My mature and composed class turned into a fidgety, giggly, rambunctious bunch of goobers. It is hard to write about yourself, and your experiences... to air your dirty laundry.
But, this time it is what I am going to do.
Growing up in Oregon means that I went to public school. Public schools are the norm for kids here, although I... My Personal Understanding of Democratic Education
The idea of children having the freedom to do what they feel inclined to, all under the premise that they are receiving their education during that time....boy, that was a bizarre concept for me.
As strange a concept as it was, though, I was very intrigued by it, and in theory found it... A Village Under Siege… or What I Did During My Spring Break
Spring Break.
Ok, it is only Spring Break for me, not for my children. I thought this would mean I would sleep in past seven and then drop them off at school. Hypothetically, I could have six or so hours to do laundry, clean house, work on the taxes, eat popcorn and watch movies.
Things might have gotten done, had I been able to drop the kids off at school. But once we got to school, I couldn't leave.
The basement of our school had been magically transformed to a kingdom during Europe's Dark Ages. The magic was in fact done by wonderful parents, staff members, and older students... angels, not faeries...
The stage at one end of the room was a king's chambers, there was a mountain... You Say You Want a Revolution…
Anonymous Teacher - The Bronx, NY
Thank you for the question. First of all, I do not have an answer for you. Your question very much hits home for me, and the best I can do in this situation is to tell you how I have figured out to live with those conflicting thoughts... Is Chaos a Bad Thing?
Of course, she may stop asking entirely.
She may just take the paper, smile, and start creating. She might fold the paper into different directions, making a brand new-to-her origami shape. Maybe she'll fold a paper airplane, show it to her friends, and then, after showing them how to make one, have a flying contest to see whose plane flies the highest, the fastest, the longest.
Maybe she'll tear it up into confetti and throw an instant party. Maybe she'll cut a continuous spiral in it... First Amendment Schools
Posted on Oct 26, 2009 - 12:06 AM by Khalif Williams in Uncharted Parenting
Even though we went to mediocre public schools and are the products of lovingly conventional parenting, my wife and I are trying to create our own family quite differently by embracing attachment parenting and, more recently, unschooling our children.We want our two young boys to remain the wise, compassionate, and engaged souls they are today. We want them to avoid the coercive, limiting regime of schooling we experienced which might, as with us, render their learning passive and repress their will to freedom and self-expression.
At four years old, after weeks of talking over educational options, my oldest son Ezra decided he wanted to go to pre-school. After visiting several, we... Where’s the Line? Putting Democratic Teaching Ideals to the Test
Posted on Nov 11, 2009 - 11:41 AM by Kristan Morrison in democracy.edu
In my efforts to model democratic practices to pre-service teachers, I ask my students at the beginning of each class, "Are there any questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, complaints?" Usually I am met with silence or with just basic housekeeping-type questions (e.g. when do we have to take Praxis II? etc.). Occasionally, though, a student will offer a concern or complaint about the work load or impending due dates, or they'll propose a change to a grading rubric item. For example, in the last month, I had students request to be able to pre-record their Pecha Kucha presentation (a sort of slam poetry form of powerpoint presentation -- 20 slides in 20 seconds each to explore an... Skinner Box to FreedomPosted on Nov 17, 2009 - 08:44 PM by Ammerah Saidi in The Learning Curve
So, there I stood. In front of my thirty 9th graders, hour after hour, watching them write letters to each other, put their gum under their desks, talk to their neighbors while the assigned worksheet on the parts of speech I just spent the night before diligently creating fell silently to the floor. Think I am being melodramatic? I wish! In one class, I laughed to myself for a solid thirty seconds (a long time in high school time), after I spent three minutes going back and forth with a student as to why throwing wads of paper at a girl he did not like was unacceptable."Stop doing that and apologize."
"What? She doesn't care."
"She's not going to tell you she cares, but I do.... Resisting What I Know
Posted on Nov 24, 2009 - 03:36 PM by Tanya Reza in Op-Education
This past September, I was hired to teach first grade at a private Islamic school. The school housed grades K-12, and in addition to the standard language arts, mathematics, science and social studies; religious instruction and Arabic language were also offered. Due to low enrollment and a reduction in the anticipated school budget, I was laid off shortly after being hired. In the brief one week period that I actually taught, I struggled between doing what was right versus doing what was easy. In other words, I strived to teach in a manner that lived up to my ideals. However, I found myself defaulting to methods and practices that I despised about my own education.My adventure in... The Plans of Mice and Men
Posted on Jan 11, 2010 - 08:04 PM by Ammerah Saidi in The Learning Curve
My friend and partner, Khadigah Alasry, in the fight to make education real again, developed a vision for a model of reform last year. We started presenting this model within the U.S. and over the internet. We've been invited to present in Dublin, the Cayman Islands, Hawaii, Dubai, Paris, and other places but due to our lack of funds and now time, we have had to kindly decline.We developed this model for educational reform while I was out of the classroom for a year and Khadigah had just graduated from undergrad with her newly minted teacher's certificate. For a nine minute synopsis of our model, watch our video:
This video summarizes my vision for my return to the classroom. My... Freire’s “True Word” Conclusion—Or Beginning…
Posted on Jan 31, 2010 - 08:46 PM by Ammerah Saidi in The Learning Curve
"You're the worst teacher ever!" The last words of a ninth grader I had kicked out during final presentations.This same day, a student handed me a card in which she wrote, "Thanks for giving me the freedom to speak my mind."
The next day, two students threw me a little farewell party to end the semester--two students who hated my class a month ago.
The last day of class, a student thanked God he never had to have me again. "Now I can FINALLY get an 'A'!"
A semester of mixed reviews.
As part of their final project, my students had to identify a community problem and design an intervention to combat said problem. A majority of the students rose to the occasion and shined... From Fine to Free
Posted on Feb 03, 2010 - 11:52 PM by Alison Bagg Brink in Uncharted Parenting
I had my juniors fill out a worksheet this last Monday. The worksheet directed them to list the qualities that make them unique, interesting, and worthy of acceptance into the four year-colleges in our nation. The goal of this page was to create a list of attributes they could draw from when it is time to write their college and scholarship applications.My mature and composed class turned into a fidgety, giggly, rambunctious bunch of goobers. It is hard to write about yourself, and your experiences... to air your dirty laundry.
But, this time it is what I am going to do.
Growing up in Oregon means that I went to public school. Public schools are the norm for kids here, although I... My Personal Understanding of Democratic Education
Posted on Feb 04, 2010 - 02:08 AM by Shawn Strader in Op-Education
The concept of democratic education was not introduced to me until summer of 2004. I was aware of homeschooling, and slightly familiar with unschooling, but had never really pushed to find an understanding of either approach. But in 2004, The Village Free School, of Portland, OR, was undergoing its first stages of creation, and I was fortunate to be around for it. It is something I took a deep interest in.The idea of children having the freedom to do what they feel inclined to, all under the premise that they are receiving their education during that time....boy, that was a bizarre concept for me.
As strange a concept as it was, though, I was very intrigued by it, and in theory found it... A Village Under Siege… or What I Did During My Spring Break
Posted on Mar 25, 2010 - 04:30 PM by Alison Bagg Brink in Uncharted Parenting
Spring Break.Ok, it is only Spring Break for me, not for my children. I thought this would mean I would sleep in past seven and then drop them off at school. Hypothetically, I could have six or so hours to do laundry, clean house, work on the taxes, eat popcorn and watch movies.
Things might have gotten done, had I been able to drop the kids off at school. But once we got to school, I couldn't leave.
The basement of our school had been magically transformed to a kingdom during Europe's Dark Ages. The magic was in fact done by wonderful parents, staff members, and older students... angels, not faeries...
The stage at one end of the room was a king's chambers, there was a mountain... You Say You Want a Revolution…
Posted on May 10, 2010 - 09:10 AM by Jonah Canner in Got Questions?
I am a teacher in New York City working in a very poor community with mostly youth of color. Every day I see the effects of centuries of racism and class oppression show up on my students' faces. On some days I have hope that we will be able to create a just future and I want their schools to be better. Some days are harder and I think the only way out is for their schools to be destroyed. What does IDEA have to offer me?Anonymous Teacher - The Bronx, NY
Thank you for the question. First of all, I do not have an answer for you. Your question very much hits home for me, and the best I can do in this situation is to tell you how I have figured out to live with those conflicting thoughts... Is Chaos a Bad Thing?
Posted on Jun 10, 2010 - 09:06 AM by Kristan Morrison in democracy.edu
I am teaching two summer classes this year (my "summer vacation, ahhhh" was actually just for one week!) and in one of them we have been talking a lot lately about free schools. Of the 18 students in my class, I would say that about 75 percent of them reacted extremely negatively to the idea that kids should have freedom to learn what they wish, how they wish, and when they wish. Now, my students are definitely not in favor of our current conventional, very constrained system of education, but they seemed pretty appalled by the level of freedom that kids have at places like Summerhill, the Albany Free School, and the Sudbury Valley School. The most oft-cited opposition to these schools... If You Give a Kid a Piece of PaperPosted on Jul 25, 2010 - 06:02 PM by Sara Schmidt in Uncharted Parenting
If you give a kid a piece of paper, she's going to ask for a crayon. When you give her the crayon, she'll probably ask you for more crayons, or maybe some stencils, or perhaps some stickers and glitter.Of course, she may stop asking entirely.
She may just take the paper, smile, and start creating. She might fold the paper into different directions, making a brand new-to-her origami shape. Maybe she'll fold a paper airplane, show it to her friends, and then, after showing them how to make one, have a flying contest to see whose plane flies the highest, the fastest, the longest.
Maybe she'll tear it up into confetti and throw an instant party. Maybe she'll cut a continuous spiral in it... First Amendment Schools
Posted on Aug 01, 2011 - 01:58 PM by Jason Lacoste in Resources