A good educational system should have three purposes: it should provide all who want to learn with access to available resources at any time in their lives; empower all who want to share what they know to find those who want to learn it from them; and, finally, furnish all who want to present an issue to the public with the opportunity to make their challenge known.

-Ivan Illich

• Education should be universal and open, but not compulsory


• The current system, with its focus on certification before experience, fosters classism and exclusivity. This exclusiveness leads to idea that learning only happens in school. The concept of learning is trapped in institutions and stigmatizes everyone who "fails" to get a schooled education. *To that I add that once people leave school, they cease to engage in an active learning process.*


• A good universal education will have several features:
  
  
  
  • It will be constitutionally protected that people will have freedom of education, "the right to teach any skill,"and overall a separation of education and state.
  
  
  • The state will still be involved by allotting a certain amount of taxpayer money to be used only for education, "a basic credit." Low income people will accrue interest on their credits for as long as they are unused.
  
  
  • There will still be certification tests for competency and certain job entrances.
  
  
  • Learning will happen in skillshares, apprenticeships, and learning centers (previous school buildings and other buildings). He also advocated for "learning webs" where people seek out in personals that they are looking for academic peers, reading buddies, or a person to teach them a skill.
  
  
  
  The separation of education and state is a dangerous idea at this time in which many teachers, parents, and students are just beginning to think about ways to radically transform the schools we already have. We really do not have the collective mindset or social structure for that separation to happen without confusion as to how to learn. The interest of the post is to explore the ways in which many of Illich's ideas have already sprouted. Illich wrote this in a time when people where barely beginning to use computers for personal communication, and so his idea of the "peer-matching network" has profound implications for access to learning today.
  
  He explains that it would work by allowing someone to enter a learning activity and then wait for results to show up (immediately or by mail) of people interested in the same thing. The network would be secure. Non-computer matching would take place on "bulletin boards and classified newspaper ads, listing the activities for which the computer could not produce a match. No names would have to be given." Likewise it would be "publicly supported." In this book Illich also talked about having television booths where people could go to view material interesting to them.When I read these things I thought, Well wow, we have these things today, and they work better and faster than he described! Are we on our way to a deschooled, or unschooled society?
  
  We have youtube which allows people to have discussions and transmit ideas and social commentary. We have forums that work the same way. And with the advent of open source education, there are now numerous ways for people to access knowledge and peers to share that knowledge with, sort of like "the global nets" experience in the recent 2076 school post. There are other sources that more resemble the "peer-matching network." One of them is OpenStudy, a website that people log into to discuss subjects with others. In a podcast on The Unschooler Experiemement, I found about something that mirrors the network through and through - Zero Tuition College. At "ZTC," students and MAGE's (Mentors, Advisors, Guides, and Experts) contact one another to make and complete assignments in a course of study that matters to them. This is viewed as an alternative and supplement to traditional higher education, but this website is open to anyone.
  
  These alternatives should be circulated and considered by more people. A society in which learning is self-initiated needs to become common place and unstigmatized. Check out the links in this post, and take a peak at Deschooling Society online.]]> 2011-08-13T21:53:30+00:00 http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/5_lessons_from_the_save_our_schools_aero_conferences/ http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/5_lessons_from_the_save_our_schools_aero_conferences/#When:12:25:31Z The Landscape
  
  It is summer conference season. Oh yes, it is summer conference season.
  
  As you may have noticed from our social media updates, the IDEA team has been traveling all over creation for the past couple of months. Last month Dana Bennis flew to Devon, England, for the 19th annual International Democratic Education Conference, while Scott Nine went to Providence, Rhode Island, for Free Minds, Free People. Earlier this month, Scott and I traveled to Washington, D.C., for the Save Our Schools March & National Call to Action. A few days later, the entire IDEA staff and much of the rest of our team (board members, interns, and organizers) convened in Portland, Oregon, for the 8th annaul AERO Conference.
  
  Is your head spinning yet? Mine is. I feel exhausted, but energized at the same time.
  
  At IDEA, we're committed to sharing the knowledge of the landscape that we gain from traveling, so I'd like to sum up my reflections on the SOS and AERO gatherings and share a few takeaways. The interpretations of purpose below are mine.
  
  Save Our Schools (SOS), July 28-31
  Washington, D.C.
  
  Purpose: Demand a humane, empowering education for every child in America and build a national effort to make it happen
  Structure: Two days of participant-led workshops, a rally and march on the White House, and a Congress to outline next steps
  Number of attendees: Around 200 at the conference and closing Congress; a few thousand at Saturday's march
  Keynotes: Jonathan Kozol, Diane Ravitch
  March speakers: Matt Damon, Deborah Meier, Pedro Noguera, and educators from around the country
  Sample Workshops: Closing the Opportunity Gap; Revitalizing the American High School
  
  Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO) Conference, August 4-7
  Portland, OR
  
  Purpose: Bring together community leaders and educators from alternative, public, private, and charter schools to discuss "Transforming Education & Our World"
  Structure: Workshops (mainly scheduled, a few spontaneous open space), 6 keynotes, films and activities
  Number of attendees: Around 500
  Keynotes: Khalif Williams, Justo Mendez, Riane Eisler, Melia Dicker, Deborah Meier, Linda Stout
  Sample Workshops: How Democratic Is Your School?; Common Ground: A Spirited Debate About Private, Charter, and Public Schools
  
  Here are 5 lessons I learned from both gatherings:
  
  1. When building a national effort, meeting in person can quickly develop essential trust.
  
  IDEA knows this well, as all of our staff live in different parts of the country but meet in person as regularly as possible. Every day, we connect via email, Skype, and/or phone, but there's nothing like talking and laughing and even arguing face to face to strengthen our relationships. Hard conversations in particular are much better had in person.
  
  At both SOS and AERO, I met dozens of passionate education advocates, some totally new to me and some whom I'd gotten to know through long-distance conversations. There were people whom I hugged upon meeting for the first time because I felt like I already knew them, including several of our interns -- Jason Lacoste (who published this reflection on AERO), Eoin Bastable, and Kelsey Parks -- and colleagues like Jing Fong, the fabulous Education Outreach Manager for YES! Magazine. Also at SOS were folks like Ken Bernstein, or teacherken, whose Daily Kos blog posts I have often shared, and Jonathan Kozol, whose books I began reading while I was still in high school.
  
  Even though we now tend to interact virtually with more people than we see in real life, we humans still need face-to-face contact. Meeting someone in person tells you much more about them than a phone conversation can -- the most important thing being whether you trust that person. This matters very much to how well you work together remotely, especially when times get tough.
  
  2. We must put aside differences to get stuff done.
  
  Around 150 SOS participants came together the day after the march for the Congress facilitated by Scott Nine. Our goal was to figure out how to channel the energy from the march into sustained, collective action for change.
  
  Some very positive results came of the gathering. We split up into small groups based on region, and together we made recommendations for how we'd like SOS to proceed. When we reconvened as a large group, we fused the suggestions from each group and charged a committee of volunteers to make final decisions.
  
  There were also some disheartening things that happened. Two people approached Scott, crying, and said that members of their small group had told them to shut up. A woman in another small regional group rudely told someone to leave because he wasn't from that region.
  
  We will not get anywhere by fighting with people who are on our side. Even when we disagree, which we surely will, we must find ways to work through or put aside our differences for the greater good of the cause. Many of us agree on what kind of changes we want in education; we just disagree on how to make them happen. Ultimately, it's not about us and our big egos. It's about the millions of young people who deserve a better education than they're getting.
  
  3. Cross-pollinating is key to learning from each other's experiences.
  
  At a national conference, you have the opportunity to hear from folks around the country about what they're learning about and what they're doing in their communities. You might get some new ideas for projects to try in your classroom, or learn a new strategy for getting the school board to listen. Take the time to cross-pollinate. We will all be stronger for it.
  
  4. Social media is increasingly important for learning and connecting around social change efforts.
  
  At SOS and AERO, I was among a small but mighty group of folks who were live-tweeting the conference -- that is, making regular updates to Twitter about what we were experiencing moment to moment at the gathering. We quoted Diane Ravitch and Jonathan Kozol's powerful keynotes, we broadcast the information being shared in the workshops, and we reported on what was happening at the Save Our Schools March. Because of the debt crisis in DC, the mainstream media did not give SOS as much attention as I believe it normally would have, so it was up to the folks using social media to shape the news and the national conversation ourselves.
  
  You can see IDEA's Twitter feed, as well as the #sos and #aero8 conversations.
  
  At AERO, I was honored to present a workshop on "How to Build an Online Community" and a keynote on "How You Can Use Social Media for Social Change." In these presentations, I shared the ways in which we can use social media to advance our change work in education -- by framing the national discussion, building strong communities across boundaries, highlighting what is happening at the community and school levels, and telling powerful stories about young people. Facebook and Twitter can amplify one person's voice so that it's heard around the world.
  
  5. A movement is not sustainable without renewing its sense of hope, joy, inspiration, and fun.
  
  There's a reason why singing was a core element of the Civil Rights movement. During even the most trying moments, singing unites a group and renews hope. So does laughter. We will accomplish a lot more if we bring a playful spirit to the work that we do than if we let ourselves become jaded.
  ]]> 2011-08-12T12:25:31+00:00 http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/paradoxes_of_our_work/ http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/paradoxes_of_our_work/#When:19:57:58Z The Landscape
  
  The ability to hold two conflicting truths simultaneously isn't easy. And that's exactly what our work in education calls us to do at this moment.
  
  I am just returning from the AERO and Holistic Education conferences, where I saw COOPsters David Loitz, Casey Caronna, Paul Freedman and Jen Groves. (Oh yeah!) One evening at AERO, a group gathered to talk about what IDEA has been learning over the past year. This prompted a reflection on my work as an educational activist and teacher over the past 15 years, and the paradoxes I hold in my work, as both a radical school critic, and a persistent hope monger in education.
  
  As most of us here at the COOP already feel, we are at a moment of crisis in public education. Only a few pieces of evidence: the outpouring of objection and outcry at the recent SOS March, Arne Duncan's decision this week to cut personal deals with states failing to make AYP because NCLB policy is a "slow motion train wreck,” a decade into one of the most draconian federal education policies around school accountability our country has ever witnessed, new data shows widespread, and nearly universal, crumbing confidence in local public schools, and a resounding failure to achieve any real gains in equity or performance for students, across a battery of measures.
  
  Disappointment with schools are only a symptom. We are in a crisis of confidence around institutions of government in our country generally, and lack the stories we require to understand our fear and suffering, as described in a wonderful piece on the narrative failures of the Obama's presidency. As activists in education, holding on to both the hope and promise of our work, and ferocious and well-informed critique, requires a deep seated understanding of, and tolerance for, paradox: the capacity to hold two complex - and conflicting - truths simultaneously.
  
  Here are some of the complex, conflicting truths I hold simultaneously in my work:
  
  PARADOX #1: SWEEPING AND SMALL
  
  The system of education we have now - an outmoded industrial model based on extremely limited views of human learning and what is valuable to learn - requires radical, sweeping transformation. The hidden curriculum of schooling instructs in racist, classist, and competitive values, and then naturalizes and normalizes this as our self-willed state. Transformation, rethinking, wholesale change - school riots - are required. Language matters, and even talking about “systemic” change, implying that the structures that we have now will be replaced by another system, is inadequate and limiting.
  
  At the same time, in day-to-day practice for teachers working with kids, for principals interacting with staff members, for superintendents reconfiguring accountability systems within their district, for parents homeschooling their own children, small changes make big differences. Ultimately, human transformation occurs in very slight, nearly imperceptible and somewhat magical shifts between two people trying to understand each other better, to heal each other, and get out of each other's way. When a teacher allows a student a bit more choice, when an adult recognizes the innate competence of a child, when a supervisor takes responsibility for his or her own mistakes, transformation happens. Small changes are at the root of everything.
  
  PARADOX #2: IT'S ALL ABOUT ADULTS, DEMOCRACY MATTERS FOR KIDS
  
  The institution of school is broken, corrupt, and designed primarily to serve the interests of adults, not kids. The greatest barrier to large-scale transformation, in my view, is adult self-interest, not a lack of skills and knowledge about how to educate better. The system we have now serves adults, provides employment, professional identity and relative security to 2.5 million adults; it offers inadequate and in some cases toxic “service” to children, who have no political voice. Yet as a whole, the education sector is woefully sloppy and deeply loath to acknowledge the self-interest that is at the heart of many of its activities and structures.
  
  At the same time, our system of schooling is the only remaining democratic institution in our country that most of our children, nearly 45 million, still participate in. There is profound value in this. It is an agenda item of the far right to dismantle the public education system, and most of the public sector beyond it, and the people and kids who will be most harmed by this dismantlement, in terms of schools, are those with the least choice, connections and social capital. In the words of Yvette Jackson, Chief Executive of the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education, kids who are “school dependent” require schools that focus on their strengths, and full and free access to them. The current alternatives to public education, for nearly all children, are inadequate, and accessible only to those with means, choice, or luck. Maybe all three.
  
  PARADOX #3: SUPPORT PUBLIC, AND EVERYTHING THAT CHALLENGES IT
  
  Within IDEA, a just-hatching educational transformation group of which I am a part, we believe in supporting the institution of public schooling. We are engaged in many projects, in Vermont and Mississippi and Portland, that directly engage and showcase public schools that are committed to becoming more responsive to their communities, serving children better, and creating equity within the system.
  
  At the same time, we heartily and vigorously support all viable alternative school models, and see much of the real action of transformation and greater justice happening in places that define themselves as “outside” the public school system. For example, see Nuestra Escuela, a highly successful “alternative” school model founded on an ethic of human caring, love and respect. Strategically, we have a BOTH/AND strategy for supporting innovation and change, because we think mainstream public school and alternative models, including charter schools, have much to gain from collaborating and learning from each other.
  
  Around the country, as a movement, we need teams of teachers and activists and parents and bloggers and policy thinkers who are strong enough, and big enough, and bold enough to hold all these paradoxes as they do their work in schools everyday, and with their kids.
  
  We need individuals who are wise warriors, well-informed, cosmopolitan about the sector, who know where their work is coming from, and why - and are able to talk about the contradictions of their work without being apologetic. Through embracing the complexities of our work, and its many shadows, we will be stronger and better and more fleet and powerful in responding to those who critique us, or who want to shut us down.
  
  One of my mentors, Parker Palmer, of the Center for Courage and Renewal, writes knowingly of paradox, and the way in which tension between opposites can feel intolerable, tugging us one way and then the other, making us feel that our actions, beliefs and intentions are indefensible, and cancel each other out. Yet through his long life of publically wrestling with the paradoxes of his own soul and vocation, Palmer observes, "truth is found not by splitting the world into either-ors but by embracing it as both-and.” Developing the capacity to sit in this tension between opposites - and I would add - to become productive in it, will be the mark of our maturing movement.
  
  Becoming an educational activist requires that we develop the capacity to tolerate paradox " the capacity to hold two seemingly conflicting truths simultaneously in mind and heart at the same time. At this moment in our culture we seem especially intolerant of paradox: some critics insist that teachers are victims, while others suggest that teacher inadequacy is at the heart of our sector's dysfunction. Could both be true? And if so, how would it empower us to hold both these truths, and to delve into the complexities of both? How might this make us stronger?
  
  While the federal department of education and major education funders continue to insist that their limited agendas for "improvement” and “reform” are the one one and only way, and founded on “real” science and “real” evidence, we must take strong positions against such hostage-taking and agenda setting, while at the same time holding on the very real and human contradictions that lie at the heart of our work. As leaders - and I'm seeing everyone who is concerned about the state of education in this country as leaders and activists - every single one of us - the stories we tell about our work must be both simple and complex. This requires a tolerance for paradox, and an understanding of the complexities of our work in education. This complexity is something we are only starting to build at IDEA, perhaps among our corps of folks here at the Coop, in myself.
  
  Are we as activists strong enough to embrace the both-ands of our work?
  
  Are you?
  
  "Contradiction, paradox, the tension of opposites: These have always been at the heart of my experience, and I think I am not alone. I am tugged one way and then the other. My beliefs and my actions often seem at odds. My strengths are sometimes cancelled by my weaknesses. My self, and the world around me, seems more a study in dissonance than a harmony of the integrated whole.” -Parker Palmer, 1979]]> Standards and Evaluation, Education Policy 2011-08-10T19:57:58+00:00 http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/a_review_of_democratic_education_a_beginning_of_a_story_by_yaacov_hecht/ http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/a_review_of_democratic_education_a_beginning_of_a_story_by_yaacov_hecht/#When:23:45:07Z Op-Education
  
  Ever since I was a middle aged teenager, I've wanted to work for a social revolution. I've wanted to help create a world where all people can collaborate and pursue their own personal goals, unhindered by oppression from the state, their communities, or any bully for that matter. To this day, I still can't pinpoint what got me passionate about working for a better tomorrow. I suppose if I had to narrow it down to one main influence, I would say it was politically charged Punk Rock music. I listened to a lot of Propagandhi growing up, and still do. That style of Punk Rock often contains lyrics that tell a story about a person or community that was oppressed and how they either won or lost in their battle to defeat the oppression. And as an angsty teenage kid held by the confines of public school, popularity, and my parents, that music with those stories of real life oppression really struck a nerve. That's why I started playing music - to change the world. But with so many ways to influence society, I kept on with music, expanded my interests and started getting involved in education. I watched The Village Free School go from an idea to a reality, and a beautiful one at that. That was a huge inspriation. And then in 2008 at the International Democratic Education Conference in Vancouver, BC, after watching a couple lectures and feeling disconnected from the field of education, I saw Yaacov Hecht give the conference's final key note speech. That man changed my life.
  
  Since then, Yaacov has written a book titled Democratic Education: A Beginning of a Story, and I must say, it is an incredible read! One great characteristic of Democratic Education is that it is written as a narrative and is very easy reading that keeps one engaged, learning, and excited to read more. With Yaacov's 20+ years of experience as a pioneer in democratic education, readers can indulge in a multitude of stories that capture the essence of democratic education from many different angles. In some instances, Yaacov speaks of specific cities that underwent near city-wide social transformation for the better as a result of implementing values of democratic education in their schools. He tells about individual students who attended democratic schools and the paths they took to becoming highly successful adults. He also tells about children that to the naked eye may have seemed troubled and incapable of learning but that in fact excelled when put in a democratic school setting. Yaacov even tells of how adults, such as parents, advisers, and community members, grew tremendously as a result of being a part of a school that practiced democratic education. And aside from the stories Yaacov tells of other people and schools, he discusses his personal paths of deep and meaningful learning that he underwent in crafting what is now considered worldwide as democratic education.
  
  In Democratic Education, Yaacov explains that learning in a democratic school looks and feels quite different from learning in a conventional school. Instead of all children learning from the same curriculum and taking the same tests, each student is encouraged to focus on their interests and approach learning in a way that is best suited for them. He calls this form of learning, "Pluralistic Learning", and explains that when children learn in the democratic school, outside of the box of the conventional school's curriculum and tests, each student approaches learning in their own unique way.
  
  Yaacov explains that in democratic schools, the learning process is different for each student. Learning can often times be a struggle, and finding the path that works for each student is often times the hardest, yet most rewarding part. Sometimes children will find exactly what they are passionate about, and joyfully excel in that field. Other times, the freedom that a democratic school gives to a student can be boggling and it becomes a serious challenge. For some students, especially those coming from conventional schools, education without preset tests and grades leaves them with little direction and a temporary inability to choose their own path. The struggle, or lack thereof, that these children go through is integral to democratic education, according to Yaacov. The goal of the learning process is for students to gain the ability to navigate themselves towards their chosen goals effectively. By nurturing the students' interests and well being, students leave the school with a will to contribute to their broader communities and society. Though sometimes students feel lost in the learning process, the school community and advisers help them to either find their way back to steady learning in their field, or identify a new field to pursue that the student finds more interesting. With this help, children are able to navigate through the abundance of information and fields of interest present in the world.
  
  I could go on and on about Yaacov's book, Democratic Education. I could tell about Yossi, the boy who was transferred to the Hadera Democratic School from a conventional school after falling behind. As unconventional as it sounds, he gained the skills for broad success by spending all of his 3 years time at the school playing soccer. Or I could talk about the failed efforts of Yaacov himself and his great ability to look failure in the eye and use it as a tool to better himself in his endeavors. Or I could talk about about the successful opening of nearly 30 democratic schools in Israel, which Yaacov helped to open and how democratic education is becoming more and more popular internationally. But the book will do more justice, which is why I recommend purchasing the book if you can, or requesting that you local library order it for you and your community to enjoy.
  
  I highly recommend this book as an insider look at democratic education. For those well versed on the topic, and especially for those who aren't quite sure what democratic education is all about. Yaacov Hecht as a self proclaimed lifelong learner has contributed to our world in a profound way, and his work is paying off. There are academies for training people to be advisers in democratic schools. There are more and more democratic schools opening around the world. And the network of educators and those in the education community looking to create meaningful reform are surely coming to see the benefit of implementing democratic values in education. Thanks for taking the time to read this review! If you do read Yaacov's book, be sure to recommend it to your friends, family, and colleagues. I know that my time was well spent reading it.
  
  ~ Thanks to Isaac Graves, Outreach Coordinator over at AERO, the Alternative Education Resource Organization, for reaching out to IDEA bloggers to write a review on Democratic Education.
  
  ~ You can purchase Democratic Education through AERO online by clicking here.]]> 2011-08-01T23:45:07+00:00 http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/introducing_ideas_new_podcast_the_landscape/ http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/introducing_ideas_new_podcast_the_landscape/#When:02:12:15Z The Landscape
  
  "So what's going on with education in different parts of the country? What should I be paying attention to?"
  
  Those are two questions that the IDEA staff often hears from people in our network. They know that we rack up loads of frequent flyer miles traveling to conferences, school tours, and other gatherings focused on reinventing education. That means we have an ear to the ground in a lot of different places.
  
  Executive Director Scott Nine wins the top traveler trophy so far. Over the past several months, IDEA has taken him to Atlanta; Jackson, Miss.; Boston; New York City; Providence, RI; Seattle; Washington, D.C.; and Puerto Rico, just to name a few. He's met with government officials, community organizers, major funders, and administrators; he's also talked in depth with parents, teachers, and students.
  
  Scott has been looking for a way to share widely what he's been learning and what's been on his mind lately. He and I decided to keep it simple: have a conversation and record it. "The Landscape" podcast is the result. We envision rotating the folks who are part of the conversation, so you can hear from our organizers, bloggers, board, and other people who have something important to share with you.
  
  If you like what you hear, we'll keep "The Landscape" going. Let us know what you think!
  
  

  To download the .mp3, right click this link and select "Save Link As." Stream the podcast here:
  

  
  
  Here are links to programs and events we mention in the podcast:
  
  IDEC 2011
  
  Free Minds, Free People
  
  Community Learning Exchange
  
  Boston Youth Organizing Project (BYOP)
  
  Urban Underground in Milwaukee
  
  Save Our Schools Conference & March in D.C.
  
  ]]> About IDEA , DemEd in Real Life 2011-07-26T02:12:15+00:00