AlterEd

Alter-Ed. Open Meeting: May 16, 2010

Present: Paul Scutt, Martin Smith, Joel Hammon, Sarah Bastian, Maggie Rose, Mark Leuchten, Patty Leuchten, Geoff Tilden, Brian Patton, Ajay Dravid

The meeting began with introductions and reasons for attending.

Joel summarized the work of the small committee in the months since the last large meeting. He introduced some of the big ideas that have been shaping the work so far.
People are inherently learners. Why is it that children are eager to learn to read, but by the time they leave high school “you can’t pay them to pick up a book.”
People learn in a lot of different ways. A lot of the traditional education model runs on a “one size fits all” approach.
We are aiming for a program in which the individual is respected, lifelong learning is nurtured, education is authentic and connected with the real-world and the community.

The model that has been most compelling is North Star in Massachusetts. It’s flexible enough to personalize students’ education, but structured enough to guide them effectively.

Ajay asked those here with home-schooled children to let us know what they are looking for.

Mark L. described his son Michael’s experience in Princeton High School. There is a powerful urge for conformity among adolescents in order to feel normal. He gravitates toward regular school because he doesn’t really want to be different or alternative. We need to be careful not to present an experience that will label kids as too different.

Patty: Maybe there are other kids who actually do want to be different. This model may be exactly what some families are looking for.

Martin: Peers are the most important influence in the lives of adolescents, but we need to keep handing the responsibility for their lives back to them. A lot of kids use school to avoid asking the question, Who am I?

Patty: Michael has been trying things that he never would have done had he spent the year in school. Yoga, for example. Spending time with his family. The year has been a positive one, simply by removing him from a toxic situation.

Sarah: Her children have been approached by neighborhood children with the question, “When are you going to go to “real” school?” She is experimenting with “un-schooling” – letting her 9 year-old take the lead in what they study.

Joel: When the context is changed, an apathetic student can turn around and recapture the joy of learning.

Geoff: We need to recognize that young people need a certain amount of structure. How can this venture provide this?

Martin: The key to it all is to detach from what students are learning, and focus more on the learning process itself. Kids respond and receive instruction differently if they are truly respected and given responsibility for their learning.

Paul: The idea here is that each student would have an individual plan. Lessons will be conducted during the day, and students will either participate in them or not depending on whether they fit in with their overall goals.

Geoff: Adolescents won’t necessarily know what they want to do. They will need a lot of help coming up with proposals.

Joel: There are many ways to structure the process of coming up with a plan – meetings,

Martin: This model removes the power struggle between the teenager and the adults – parents or teachers.

Mark: This is a lot about responsibility, learning to direct one’s own life many years earlier than we were expected to do when growing up.

Martin: The process isn’t necessarily easy, and lots of help can be offered. But students should also be expected to struggle a bit on their own before they’re offered a hand.

Joel: “Responsibility” is often discussed in terms of “compliance” rather than actual responsibility.

Paul: The content that used to be the power base of teachers is now readily available for all on the Internet. Mentors can guide students in the right direction.

Geoff: Content is really just a vehicle for learning how to learn.

Joel handed out a packet of information, including North Star materials. A discussion followed about what feedback students would receive on the work they do, and how colleges might interpret the “transcripts” that we would prepare. There are about two million home-schooled children in the U.S., and colleges are set up to handle unusual applications. North Star students who wish to attend the elite colleges are in a strong position, but there are also 4000 other colleges that serve students well and don’t necessarily have the same requirements as the Ivy League. We can’t underestimate the anxiety of parents with regard to college admissions. Might we establish a “North Star South,” linking our venture with a program that has been in existence and has a track record?

Who will be target market? The home-school community is certainly a possibility, but probably not the fundamentalist home-schoolers.

Joel guided the group through the chart that describes the program and curriculum, services provided, etc.

A discussion followed that touched on possible locations – Princeton? In the Arts Council building? Patty would like to follow up with Paul next week to explore the possibility of launching a pilot program in the fall of 2010.