Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
It is sad that we have pulled so far away from experiential learning that we think summer is for vacationing and autumn is when we go back to the grind… that school is a grind confined in a classroom… that learning is confined to childhood.
In 2010, two women, Sarah Pugh and Laura Corfield co-founded Shift Bristol, fired up by the idea that what people needed in order to make that shift – to a more sustainable, eco-friendly, viable and happy existence – was some hands-on training.
In other words – let’s give every drop of our sweat and spirit into pondering and practicing – making civic and political engagement/reimagination a core value in our teachings.
Spaces that prefigure a post-capitalist world are all around us if we know where to look. In this article, we seek to explore counter-hegemonic social spaces, or what some call third spaces that have been created largely by social, community and artistic activists…
By coming together, we can shape a university that is affordable, inclusive, decolonized, and anti-racist, serving the needs of all who depend on it.
Marginalized communities and their ability to organize themselves towards a common goal would attest that even amid multiple crises, they can cultivate notable practices that produce and reproduce transformative pedagogies, especially for the young generation of learners.
In recent weeks, we commoners have lost three great visionaries. Each spawned robust institutions and movements to carry their visions forward; the continuing vitality of their projects confirm that their spirits remain very much with us. We should pause to reflect on and celebrate their towering contributions.
Yollocalli helps young people in Chicago discover their talents and expose them to careers in the arts. Using a model without standardized content or grading, Yollocalli emphasizes creativity as a tool for youth to learn to express their needs, share their ideas, and influence their environment—all while learning 21st-century skills.
We are mutilating the wonder and curiosity inherent in us in order to mute the horror of participating in a culture that harms everything it touches. We are teaching our children exactly the opposite of what they need to learn.
We need to move fast and with bold aspiration, while retaining critical reflexivity, as we create a new chapter in the evolution of our ways of educating on this—as yet—still beautiful planet.
We need education. Not standards. (“We don’t need no thought control.” Ever.) And yes, by those standards, it is a priority — perhaps even an emergency now. We need education for all our children.
Philosophers from Aristotle to Polanyi have consistently argued that nothing can so engage people as real tactile experience, and real practical work.
