Many Faces in Education Presents: Jaime R. Wood

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alternative, American, charter, children, classrooms, dream, economy, education, free, freedom, funding, homeschool, inspiration, interview, learning, magnet, new paradigm, occupy, policy, reform, revolution, school, schools, social change, standardized, student, teaching

Jaime R. Wood is founder of Dream School Commons, a nonprofit organization with the mission of starting innovative low-cost or no-cost schools that serve populations in need. She is also the author of Living Voices: Multicultural Poetry in the Middle School Classroom (NCTE 2006). She started her teaching career working with middle school students in an alternative charter school in Fort Collins, Colorado. She has since taught college English at Colorado State University, University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Eastern Washington University. Currently, Jaime teaches writing at Clackamas and Mt. Hood Community Colleges in Portland, Oregon. You can learn more about Dream School Commons here:www.dreamschoolcommons.org.

DaretheSchool: What inspired you to create Dream School Commons?:

Jaime:  Five years ago when I was living in St. Louis Missouri and I was watching the documentary about TED, Technology Entertainment Design. The TED conference is a forum where these big thinkers come up with lofty ideas to make the world better. People basically go up on stage and say: “Here’s my idea of how we can make a dent in the problems of the world.” I was inspired by what I saw and came up with an idea of my own. My idea was to collect essays from the most brilliant minds of education and put them together. The question that would frame these ideas would be “Hey expert, if you could build a dream school what would that look like?”

However, I realized the whole “expert” idea was problematic, as was the idea of it being in an anthology/book form. I felt this was archaic. I decided that I wanted this to be a democratic endeavor that anyone could contribute to. In my 10 years of teaching, I have learned the people who never get a voice are often the most innovative.  The people we label as being ignorant often have the best answers. I decided to start by collecting stories and seeing what happens from there.  Many times we are listening to the wrong people.

DaretheSchool: Why is there a need for a “Dream School?”

 Jaime: It frustrates me to live in a city that has all of these amazing and innovative schools, yet the overwhelming majority of them are private and cost tens of thousands of dollars each year. If they are not private, then they are magnet and charter schools, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but you have to fight your way into the school which pushes away many families in need. An important part of the mission of Dream School Commons is these schools need to be “low-cost or no cost” and they should “serve populations in need.”

Daretheschool: What a great point! Thinking of your mission to have these schools serve populations in need, what are your ideas in terms of funding?

Jaime:That’s a good question and it’s something I am still researching . I must admit that with every possibility I research, there seem to be pros and cons. For example, there is a great school called the Eagle Rock School in Estes Park, Colorado,  and it’s funded by the Honda corporation and they have an amazing facility. In an ideal world, I would like to see these sorts of schools publically funded; however, then there are certain rules you must abide by that many times hinder a creative curriculum. I’m finding lots of road blocks and I’m trying to figure out what the escape route is. Many of the issues that we’re seeing now in terms of funding is that we are operating with a “top-down” bureaucracy with the people with the most power making all of the decisions. 

DaretheSchool: What is your dream school?

Jaime: I have some strong ideas about what I think will work. Schools should revolve around what students want to learn. I think this can start at any age range. I believe in students building their own curriculum and setting their own goals. I worked at a charter school that used an Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound philosophy. In this model, students learn in expeditions. We had themes and guiding questions. We did not use textbooks or grades. At least twice a year we would have student/teacher/parent conferences and the meeting was led by the student. We ended each meeting with goal setting: educational, social, and lifelong learning goals. I think this is a good way to promote learner autonomy. Project-based learning would be key; however projects for the sake of projects would not be enough. In my dream school I would want for students to be solving real-life problems. Right now we are closing schools off and turning them into environments that are not real or relevant to the lives of children. I want to connect the real world to the school. I would like to see the Dream School connected to schools around the world and at least one university. I think there are lots of community resources that schools should be connected to. The structure we have made around schools is completely arbitrary. I think we need to re-think the grade level idea.

My idea is very similar to what we are seeing with the Occupy movement. The movement should be leaderless, democratic and participatory. I believe students should be on the Board of Directors and administrators should be in the classroom.

DaretheSchool: Who has influenced your ideas in education?

Jaime:  I’ve been reading a lot of Howard Gardner lately. His book: The Unschooled Mind is very thought provoking. My mother was my English teacher in high school and was a big influence for me as well. She put a living room in her class complete with a couch and an aquarium. Her students would rarely sit in rows. She made her classroom welcoming and inviting to her students. This goes with my belief that a school should be a community and the community should be invited into the school.

For more information, please visit: dreamschoolcommons.org 

Places for Healing: Schools As Community Centers

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asset, colonialism, education, healing, learning, new paradigm, policy, poverty, revolution, schools, social change, teaching

“ Nothing in this universe exists alone. Every drop of water, every human being, all creatures in the web of life and all ideas in the web of knowledge are part of an immense, evolving, dynamic whole as old, and as young , as the universe itself.”

-Symbiosis 1982

Schools are institutions of so much possibility, a place for developing young minds for better or for worse. During my interview with Marquett ,he spoke a great deal about the way many charter schools in low-income communities of color have taken the stance of isolation. Many of them attempt to create an island of their own, acting as a fortress in the community. Taking such a stance speaks a hidden language to students and community members that articulates the following:

1.    Your community isn’t good enough. Yes we are preparing you to be scholars and we want you to be college bound however, you must leave your community behind. If you do not separate yourself from your community, you will be failures just like the rest of them.

2.    Your community is a deficit. Why would our school be a part of it? It has no assets to give. Our institution has the knowledge and the power. Nothing of value can be discovered outside of it.

3.    Your community does not understand: Most of its members are uneducated and impoverished anyway. They will resent academic advancement along with the institution that provides it.

In my upcoming interview with Kirsten Olson (stay tuned!), she discussed how this is a colonialist mentality and I could not agree more. Sending these non-verbal messages to our children does nothing to boost their self-esteem and sets them light years behind in terms of achieving self-actualization. You cannot ignore or be ashamed of where you come from. If a school promotes this mentality, it speaks the language of domination. If the neighboring community is not incorporated into a child’s learning environment, the education is inauthentic and an all-around farce. For one second, let’s re-imagine when a community school can be. Mary Driscoll states it best:

 

“We want to imagine the possibilities of schools that do not see themselves succeeding in spite of the community, but rather that envision themselves as key institutional players of the development of the community.” (2001) 

School should be viewed as an asset to the entire community rather than a service provided strictly to the children who attend. When we think in terms of property value, it is easy to see how valuable schools can be. Home buying decisions can be dictated by the quality of the neighborhood school. However, once we think in terms of low-income communities, this notion seems to go out the window. Many times, we view school as a “safe zone,” a place of solace to escape the chaos and danger of the surrounding community. This mentality is backward and self-defeating. The children are reflections of the community they live in, as are the parents. Children bring their home realities into the classroom on a daily basis and it is not something that should be ignored. You cannot erase their histories and home lives by simply placing them in a classroom and uniform. The school should be treated as a community center, a key collaborator and helpful resource to the entire community.

Once a school is known for offering services to the entire community, it will be respected and revered. Let’s quit trying to ignore day-to-day realities. Instead, why don’t we collaborate and create places for healing? This might sound super lovey dovey and pie in the sky, but practices show that this method truly does work. Its formal name is asset mapping and it encompasses a very powerful yet simple element: focus on strengths rather than weaknesses. According to Paul Green and Anna Haines, “The asset-based approach builds on the experiences and interests of individuals and communities and matches with the needs and opportunities of the region.”

Many organizations and forward thinking schools are turning to asset-mapping to create the most impact. Asset mapping enables an institution to truly examine all elements of the community and to draw on strengths to fulfill its mission. It also helps communities respond to needs by discovering their natural assets in people, places, and things. In a nutshell, no person, or space is worthless. Everything has something to contribute. Asset mapping enables institutions to examine possibilities never seen before. Some community assets that are useful to map out include: education  institutions, service organizations, businesses, citizens groups and associations,  citizens with special talents or capacities, stakeholders in the community, etc.

Hmmm, I wonder how many schools use the asset mapping approach? I’m sure some do, but I also know that many do not. This makes all the difference in the level of engagement you will see not only in the students, but the parents as well. Asset mapping provides an opportunity for local citizens to have a place “at the table” and experience what it is like to play a meaningful role in community development. If you want the community to value your institution, you first need to demonstrate that you value them.

 

Motto for the day?: “Collaboration instead of Colonization.”

August Book Review: How to Grow A School

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alternative, book review, education, free, freedom, learning, new paradigm, school

“When someone is inspired to create a needed alternative for children, the surrounding community will rally behind it” (How to Grow a School pg 60)

I’ve wanted to start a school since I was 16 years old. (Nerdy goal I know) The thing is, I never wanted it to be “just another school.” I went to one of those and I didn’t like it very much. As much of a bookworm that I was, I hated homework and really did the bare minimum to get by. The school I wanted (and still want) to create is a place that acknowledges and cultivates individual interests/talents that everyone is born with. No more boring textbooks and unimaginative classrooms. I envision children conducting fieldwork and internships at a very young age so they can have an educational experience truly relevant to the “real world”.

Anywho, the question has always been: How? How do you get funding for a school that is going against the political tide? A great deal of insight was given to me when I read Chris Mercogliano’s How to Grow a School: Starting and Sustaining Schools that Work. I love this book because it’s not an impersonal “step-by step” manual. Conversely, the book interviews school founders from 14 different alternative schools; some public, some private, and some charters. What all of these schools have in common is they have created alternative learning environments for students and parents who felt stifled by the educational options surrounding them. All of these schools came up against government attack, and some of them did not survive in the long run.

However, reading about their success and failures is incredibly helpful to anyone interested in starting their own educational movement. Mecogliano interviews these school founders and they share their stories about funding, politics, school governance, and parent collaboration. The biggest lesson this book teaches is that “There Are No Rules.” Mecogliano asserts:

“Growing a good school requires inspiration, patience, creativity, determination, commitment, a profound understanding of children, and at least a little daring. It does not require advanced degrees in educational philosophy , or school administration…Anyone with sufficient possession of the aforementioned qualities can launch an experiment in education and contribute to the proliferation of alternatives in American education.”

For more information about this book visit:

http://www.educationrevolution.org/grow.html

What schools must become in the 21st century

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21st century, children, classrooms, education, global, learning, new paradigm, schools, study, teaching

“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate in the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise to the occasion. Our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.”

These are the words of Abraham Lincoln in 1864. Although more than a century has past, these words ring true more than ever before. In this age of information and technological advancement, we are witnessing a mass movement of globalization. As we integrate into a global society, the world acts more as a singular unit rather than a collection of separate parts. However, despite the massive changes happening worldwide, our education system has encountered little innovation and remains shockingly stagnant. Despite this unfortunate reality, schooling continues to significantly shape our lives. Most children spend a majority of their waking hours in the school system. Outside of the home, schools are the most prevalent form of socialization acting as  “social gatekeepers.” Thus, we must consciously shape our education system to train our youth to live and thrive in this changing society.

“It has been the environments, not the human beings that have run up against limitations.” –George Leonard

We are essentially using the same school model put in place more than 200 years ago and it is not the human mind that is failing but the school system. We must create a new paradigm in education and create a new way of thinking. When engaging in the education debate, we tend to blame the students and the parents for failing in these institutions. Many accuse today’s youth of simply having no respect. However, it is rare that we consider the current education system has no respect for the minds of the students it “teaches.”  Educators cannot afford for students to think critically when they must teach to a test. Instead, time is wasted with mind-numbing activities such as worksheets and scantrons. As a result, many children grow up and leave school thinking learning is not for them when in fact, they were never truly learning in the first place! The most important change that can be made in our education system is a respect for the mind. If students do not feel respected, they will rebel, and they will not learn.

“To be practical, an education should prepare a (wo)man for work that doesn’t yet exist, and whose nature cannot even be imagined.” –Charles Silberman

The investment our country makes today will be indicative of our true values and desires. Since school is one of the primary socializers of our country’s children, the healing must begin within this institution. Our youth must be educated in a way that values their interests and promotes self worth.  For one moment, let us dare to imagine a school as a place of discovery that celebrates the human mind and spirit. We must be daring; we must imagine. Let us dare to consider education reform in a way that has never been conceived. Let us dare our youth to reclaim their power. When we dare, curiosity will be sparked, and purpose will be realized. When we dare, schools will become places of healing.

Changing Education Paradigms Video