AlterEd

Ideas from our first meeting: 13th December, 2009

What is a good education?

Small group discussions resulted in the following..

School should be a place that excites/incites rather than inundates students

A school is its own system, but exists within other systems; can’t operate in a vacuum; students need to engage with education that connects them social and political systems

Project-based, interdisciplinary

Assessment needs to be flexible; peer review is important to engage students in talking with one another about their learning

Student and teacher relationship should be one of partnership

Critical thinking skills should be developed across the disciplines

School needs a values-orientation

Students need to know why they are learning what they are learning, and be able to relate it to their lives and the world

Students need to direct their own education

Theme-based: global/multicultural and/or environmental focus

Preparing students for life – communication skills, social skills, money/practical skills, problem-solving abilities

Helping students find their passions

Hands-on, real work, problem-solving activities, especially outdoors, connected with nature

Nurturing students’ creative use of leisure time

Time to be reflective

SATs should go away

Learning to work on a team

Taking students from where they are; developing students’ awareness of their context

Success redefined

Community

Questions

What is the purpose of education? Jumping through hoops for credentials?

Is it possible to attract parents without a college prep focus?

What is the ideal scale for a school? What is the necessary critical mass?

Important Ideas

The fact that this many people have come together on a rainy Sunday afternoon is a measure of the suffering that is out there. It’s urgent, but at the same time very exciting.

Students learn better when they have down time.

We need to model school on what we want students to become. Across the education industry, people are overworked, underpaid, stressed out.

Anything we’re preparing students for now will be obsolete by the time they get there. How do we educate for this?

If we create a high school in which students follow their passions and create a portfolio of their work, colleges will be interested.

Passing exams is about “training” rather than “education.”

Overview of North Star in Amherst, MA (Joel)

Started by two 8th grade teachers who had become disillusioned with the traditional system

Launched the school with 20 of their students

The goal – to get students out of an environment that wasn’t working for them, for whatever reason

Students are technically home schooled and pay a fee to use the school’s services

Lots of volunteers, courses taught by college students; support for GED

Students are guided in developing individualized programs

Meeting adjourned amidst much discussion, and general desire to continue the exploration process.

Date set for next meeting on January 10th 3:00pm.

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