Hooray for Chris and the Camp!!! BTW - I'm appreciating deeply this discussion... best wishes for a joyous and meaning-filled Holiday season, glory
Chris Weaver wrote: > Hi Alan, & thanks Harrison for being the conduit! > > I like your questions, and Eiwor's and Michael's responses (I had a > feeling this one would draw Michael out of the woods). > > I have taught all grades kindergarten through 9th in US public > schools. I studied a good deal of Educational Anthropology in grad > school. Currently I am the director of what could well be described > as an Open Space Camp for children and youth, on 80 acres in the > Southern Appalachian mountains. I will share a few reflections on > your notions, one at a time. > > > - What if schools were formed as consciously self-organizing > systems. > > Life would be good! > > - What if all participants (parents, staff, and students) > were given equal, democratic power and rights within the > school? > > Hm. > In the most enlightened educational organizations I've > known, there's a lot of open space. But always, certain > people hold the responsibility of setting the themes and > defining the great mosaic of givens, whether the issue is > school structure or curriculum (in the broadest sense). To > me, a consciously self-organizing school doesn't concern > itself with power, rights, or even equality. These words > are like curious tools of a bygone era, not needed > (reactions, you might say, to a paradigm of dominance). > Leadership processes are always at work, with a varying > pattern of leaders...but effective leadership naturally > claims its authority, within the givens of time and space > that call that leadership into being. Parents, students, > and staff each have realms of activity in which they are > called to leadership -- with some cross-pollenization being > very healthy. > > - What if students of all ages were recognized as > responsible for their own learning? > > I'm a constructivist through and through - people of all > ages construct their own knowledge, actively and creatively, > reconciling their past learnings of mind, heart, body, and > spirit with their present experience (a process that > involves some disequilibrium!) But are students of all ages > responsible for their own learning? No. If I'm their > teacher, or mentor, or coach, or guide, or even their > transparent Taoist master, I accept and claim a deep > responsibility for the quality of their learning > experience. This is first because we all learn in > relationship. As the old teacher's saying goes, a child > doesn't care how much I know until they know how much I > care. > > I also accept responsibility for their learning experience > because someone initially must set the givens! Maybe the > givens are a violin. Maybe the givens are a violin and a > scale to play. Maybe the givens are the materials to make a > violin. Maybe the givens are a hundred books of poetry, or > a creek in the woods, or a diesel engine. Yes, invite young > people to choose, and to direct their own learning. But > provide them with a whole village full of mentors who love > their students, who really know how to do things of this > world, and who love the ART of setting givens to establish > open spaces for learning. Too much freedom and not enough > conscious mentoring leads to, in educator Lillian Katz's > phrase, "a mutual exchange of ignorance." (Also see May > Sarton's critique of Black Mountain College in her journal, > The House by the Sea.) > > So yes, the student "does the learning." But as the years > go by I realize that I can't overestimate the power and art > of a great mentor to invite a learning experience into > being. Mentoring is an ancient human birthright, and to me > the dream of the kind of school you invite us to think > about, Alan, is the dream of reclaiming the art of mentoring > for all. > > - What if this meant that there were no mandated classes, > tests, or other externally imposed requirements? > > Lovely. > Though, in a different way than you mean, there are many > externally imposed requirements. If a theme is, "How do we > paddle a skin-covered umiak on Puget Sound from Southworth > to Suquamish?" (as it was for a group of eleven-year-olds I > once knew) then one externally imposed requirement is that > the current in Rich Passage runs four knots against you on > the ebb tide. Not three -- four. That is to say, a > curriculum that is open to the world is in continuous > negotiation with the world's imposed requirements - again, > the givens. These givens challenge and empower and > sometimes confound us. What's funny is that even a > standardized test was created with these effects in mind - > to challenge, to empower, to confound, in an entirely > measurable way, like a factory...the mechanics of learning > with the heart cut out. > > - What if the only requirement for graduation is to defend > (to the entire school community) the thesis that you are > ready to take responsibility for yourself in the outside > world? > > An interesting notion. Again, the language reveals our > common way of thinking in education (defend implies > judgement; take responsibility for yourself implies acute > individualism). But I get your drift - to present to the > community, in depth, your creative vision, your practical > dreams, your skills, resources, and capacities for a > meaningful path of life. > > So, as you can probably tell, I would never tire of > conversing on this subject. I have opened space in public > schools, and will do so again...but I am at present > exceedingly grateful to be working in an educational setting > (the camp) free of public schools' institutional > constraints. We have a land base and near-complete > curricular freedom. And it's a back-door into public > education; this fall we gave 900 public middle school > students a day each of Open Space here, in groups of 75, > with a great staff of artists and other mentors, and many of > their teachers were astonished to see that their students > know how to self-organize. If we keep walking our talk as > an OS organization, we'll provide lots of children, youth, > and educators with experiences that will leave them wanting > more... > > Chris Weaver > Swannanoa, North Carolina, USA > > >
