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Note: Open Space Workshops
unfortunately are not listed below as they were
scheduled at each previous conference. This
includes every workshop from 2004, approximately 20-30 workshops for 2005 and 2006,
and about 50 workshops from 2007.
Also not listed are most of the special events
held over the last four years, such as a number
of keynote panel discussions and featured
documentaries.
2007 Workshops:
Friday
9:00am - 10:00am
Introduction to Formal Consensus Decisionmaking
Presenter(s): C.T. Lawrence Butler
Location: TBD
Details:
In this workshop, participants will learn to
organize, facilitate, and participate in meetings
based on Formal Consensus. We will focus on the
theory and principles of Formal Consensus and how
it is different from both majority rule voting and
other versions of consensus. The beginner as well
as the experienced consensus practitioner will
find this workshop opens up a whole new set of
possibilities for cooperative, democratic group
dynamics. This workshop can accommodate up to 50
participants and is based upon C.T. Lawrence
Butler's book On Conflict and Consensus.
Bio:
C.T. Lawrence Butler is the co-author of On
Conflict and Consensus and Food Not Bombs - How to
Feed the Hungry and Build Community. He is a
father, a political activist, a nonviolent
conflict resolution mediator and trainer, and
vegetarian chef. In 1980, he co-founded the Food
Not Bombs collective in Cambridge, MA and is also
a former Cambridge Peace Commissioner. Currently
he travels in the United States, Europe and Africa
giving lectures and teaching workshops on Formal
Consensus. Groups he teaches include government
agencies, schools, Indian Tribes, Co-housing
groups, professional associations, religious
organizations and intentional communities. He is
currently in the process of completing his third
book titled Consensus for Cities of a 100,000. He
is developing a certification program and a
process for training teachers of Formal Consensus.
Summerhill: A Follow-up On Its Alumni & A Film
Made by its Students in 1964
Presenter(s): Dr. Emmanuel Bernstein
Location: James L. Meader Little
Theater
Details:
Dr. Bernstein tracked down former Summerhill
students living in the London area in 1964. The
study was published in 1968 in Psychology Today
and The Journal of Humanistic Phsychology.
This is a workshop to interact and talk about
the study and Summerhill. He hopes that Zoë will
find time to attend.
Bio:
Dr. Bernstein's life was never the
same after reading "Summerhill." He was teaching
sever to twelve-year-old emotionally disturbed
with reading problems in Boston at the time. After
staying up all night reading the book, at dawn he
decided he could no longer teach in the
conventional way. The next morning he asked his
students, "Do you think you could handle it if you
no longer had to do what you wanted, and could do
whatever you wanted?" They all cheered - so he
sat back and from then on, students only came to
him when they wanted.
He has taught or learning facilitated all ages
from pre-school to graduate levels, was an
elementary and high school guidance counselor, a
learning facilitator at a free school, a social
worker, and is now a psychologist in private
practice. His ad in the yellow pages reads, "All
problems - All ages - All species."
Democratizing Montessori Schools & Learning
Environments (Part 1/2)
Presenter(s): Tim Seldin (President, Montessori
Foundation), Jerry Mintz, and Amukta Mahapatra
(Founder Abacus Montessori School-a Montessori
school in Chennai, India)
Location: TBD
Details:
This two-part workshop is to help those
Montessorians who would like to learn how to
apply democratic process to their schools or
learning environments and to help those
interested in creating Democratic Montessori
school. Furthermore, we have discovered that
there are school starters who want to start
democratic schools in conservative areas, such
as Malaysia, who feel that it would be more
possible to create those schools based on a
Montessori approach.
Bio:
Tim is the President of The
Montessori Foundation and Chair of the
International Montessori Council. His more than
thirty years of experience in Montessori
education includes twenty-two years as
Headmaster of the Barrie School in Silver
Spring, MD, his own alma mater (age two through
high school graduation). He has also served as
the Director of the Institute for Advanced
Montessori Studies and as Head of the New Gate
School in Sarasota, Florida. He earned a B.A. in
History and Philosophy from Georgetown
University, an M.Ed. in Educational
Administration and Supervision from The American
University, and his Montessori certification
from the American Montessori Society. Tim Seldin
is the author of several books on Montessori
Education, including his latest, The
Montessori Way with Dr. Paul Epstein,
Building a World-class Montessori School,
Finding the Perfect Match - Recruit and Retain
Your Ideal Enrollment, Master Teachers -
Model Programs, Starting a New Montessori School,
Celebrations of Life, and
The World in the Palm of Her Hand.
Center for the Study of Options in
Education
Presenter(s): Dr. Ray Morley, International
Association of Learning Alternatives (IALA)
Location: TBD
Details:
An advisory group
has been established and continues to be
expanded to develop a college training program
to assist individuals to attain information on
alternatives and options in education.
Participants will review the existing proposal
and offer suggestions. The proposal includes the
development of a center that will centralize
information for anyone wanting to learn about
alternatives and offer web-based instruction to
anyone anywhere in the world.
Bio:
Ray Morley is an
adjunct faculty member at The University of
Northern Iowa-Cedar Falls, Iowa and recently
retired as a consultant in the Iowa Department
of Education responsible for dropout prevention
programs, services for high school dropouts,
at-risk programs, education of homeless children
and youth, and school-based youth services
programs. He has published over 50 manuscripts,
including books, pamphlets, state guidelines and
legislation, curriculum guides and journal
articles. He was a member of the initial group
to establish a national organization dedicated
to alternative education which has developed
into IALA. He is a member of the Iowa
Association of Alternative Education and serves
on the board of directors for that organization
as well as IALA. His future goals include the
development of a center for the study of options
in public education which will continue to
educate people worldwide regarding the basic
beliefs and practices in alternative education.
Ray believes in alternatives for everyone.
A Cross-Cultural Look at Children, ADHD,
Parenting and Schooling: Can we Stop Might from
Making Right?
Presenter(s): Ken Jacobson
Location: Julia Howard Bush Memorial Center
Details:
My talk will first explain the results from my
research working with over 100 mostly
non-diagnosed children in England and the US
looking at the diagnostic criteria for Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). I will go
into detail to show why I have concluded that a
baseline cannot be established that
distinguishes "normal" form ADHD kids. Then I
will talk about how my relationship with those
children led me to look at power relationships
between children and adults from the children's
perspective. I will then talk about what I’ve
labeled "the children’s world" and the behaviors
and tactics which, I label "default behaviors,"
that permeate how children behave. I will argue
that children successfully redistribute adult
power to themselves, but in doing so perpetuate
a cycle of might makes right because we tend to
parent the way we were parented, to treat
children the way we were treated by adults. The
talk will include some ethnography based on
interviews of both the adults and children who
participated in the study; and will argue that
when children act out or have achievement issues
(sometimes high achievement) those behaviors
reflect real tensions in their home
environments. I will then talk about my 1999
visit to the Summerhill School, and how it
convinced me that democratic education was one
possible way to brake the cycle of children
learning to parent (and teach) through the
exercise of power. I will conclude by asking if
democratic education alone is enough, or whether
the establishment of democratic parenting is
just as important.
Bio:
Ken Jacobson, after decades deeply involved with
his growing family and in the business world,
received his PhD in Anthropology from the
University of Massachusetts-Amherst at age 59.
He has conducted the only anthropological
cross-cultural research on Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder: coming to the conclusion
that all children (and Adults) express ADHD-like
behaviors so frequently that it is not possible
to define a baseline separating normal from
disordered behavior. He has further concluded
that children’s behavioral or achievement
problems are environmentally not genetically
triggered.
Jacobson’s current research focuses on power
relationships between adults and children. He is
the process of preparing a book length
manuscript arguing that might does not make
right.
There Is No Mind and Body Duality! How
Students Learn Using Their Bodies (Structure-
Part 1/2)
Presenter(s): Dennis Charles
Location: TBD
Details:
This workshop will focus on ways in which
educators can help students be in the best
"State" for learning- regardless of which type
of school they are in. You will get an
introduction to the innovative Soma-SomaticsÒ
technology developed by Dr. Joseph Riggio of
Princeton, NJ. You will discover how this
learning is based upon neuro-transmitters within
the brain operating at an optimum level when a
students adopts a particular posture. When
students have this "Excitatory Bias" their minds
and bodies are open to the synthesis of new
ideas, and this is when learning occurs. The
presentation will be "hands-on" and will require
a degree of participation.
Bio:
Dennis Charles is a former teacher who decided
to "retire" from the State School System at 28
years old. Since then has spent his life
developing a coaching model for teenagers that
allows them to follow their dreams and passions
and break free of the rigidity imposed by most
school systems. He has a private practice works
with many schools in the Tri-State area, with a
focus on pushing them beyond the mundane and
ordinary towards creating an environment of
possibility for their students. Dennis is on the
start-up board of the Teddy McArdle Free School
in Little Falls, NJ. He resides in Succasunna NJ
with his wonderful wife and 3 fantastic
children.
10:45am - 11:45am
Living as an
Unschooled Family in a Schooled Society
Presenter(s):
Heather Voke
Location: TBD
Details:
As families move from schooling to unschooling
(and sometimes back and forth again), they
inevitably find that their beliefs and daily
experiences are at odds with the culture as a
whole. American society is by and large a
schooled society; consequently, certain beliefs
and practices associated with and reinforced by
schooling are taken as immutable. The way
things are done by the majority is mistaken to
be equivalent with the way things must and
should be. Consequently, when schooled
people are presented with evidence that some
families choose to live in accordance with a
different set of beliefs and practices, the
reaction is not always positive. Responses
run the gamut from disbelief that children would
voluntarily engage in learning to accusations of
child abuse. In this workshop, we’ll
discuss situations in which unschoolers have
come face to face with the assumptions of the
schooled. We’ll identify some of the
fundamentally opposing beliefs that the two
groups have about the types of relationships
that are possible and desirable between parents
and children and teachers and learners, the
capacities of children, the purposes of
education, and the functions of schooling in
society. We’ll talk about what it’s like
to live with these differences in belief, and
consider how we do, could, and should respond to
those who assume that the schooled life is the
only life, and the life that everyone ought to
live.
Bio:
Heather Voke is a
Senior Scholar in the Center for New Designs in
Learning and Scholarship and a Visiting
Assistant Professor in Philosophy at
Georgetown
University.
She teaches courses in Philosophy of Education
and her research is about the relationship
between democracy and education and the types of
learning environments that support democratic
societies. She is the parent of an
unschooled teenager who has journeyed back and
forth between schooling and unschooling.
Better Meeting Skills
Presenter(s): C.T. Lawrence Butler
Location: TBD
Details:
Why is it that, although meetings are necessary,
they are often difficult, time-consuming and even
painful experiences? Perhaps one of the reasons is
that few of us take the time to learn better
meeting skills. In this workshop, participants
will learn skills and techniques designed to
improve their experience in meetings. Exercises
will be used to encourage creative conflict
resolution, self-empowerment, respect for
diversity, and appreciation of different
perspectives and opinions. These skill-building
exercises will provide experiential learning in
areas of agenda planning, facilitation techniques,
small group discussion and evaluation. The
beginner as well as the experienced facilitator
will find this workshop stimulating and valuable.
This workshop can accommodate up to 50
participants.
The book On Conflict and Consensus will be
available to participants at a special price.
Bio:
C.T. Lawrence Butler is the co-author of On
Conflict and Consensus and Food Not Bombs - How to
Feed the Hungry and Build Community. He is a
father, a political activist, a nonviolent
conflict resolution mediator and trainer, and
vegetarian chef. In 1980, he co-founded the Food
Not Bombs collective in Cambridge, MA and is also
a former Cambridge Peace Commissioner. Currently
he travels in the United States, Europe and Africa
giving lectures and teaching workshops on Formal
Consensus. Groups he teaches include government
agencies, schools, Indian Tribes, Co-housing
groups, professional associations, religious
organizations and intentional communities. He is
currently in the process of completing his third
book titled Consensus for Cities of a 100,000. He
is developing a certification program and a
process for training teachers of Formal Consensus.
Nia
Presenter(s): Meighan Carivan-Esmond
Location: Julia Howard Bush Memorial Center
Details:
Nia is the original and most advanced form of
fitness fusion( the combining of two or more
classic movement forms). Nia blends martial
arts, dance arts and healing arts to create a
high-powered, synergistic workout that no
isolated exercise technique can match. Done in
bare feet, Nia is a revolutionary alternative to
traditional exercise in that it replaces the
idea of punishment with pleasure. Instead of the
repetitive jogging and lifting found traditional
fitness classes, Nia uses whole body,
expressive, grounded movement through a
combination of form (simple choreography) and
freedom (freedance).Adaptable to every fitness
level, Nia is effective and fun...it's all about
the joy of movement!
Bio:
Meighan Carivan-Esmond is a native of Albany New
York and a graduate of the Albany Free School.
With a liberal arts digree in music and
psychology, Meighan has been working as a
professional musician, teacher, and theater
performer for over ten years. She has been
combining her love of music, movement and
expression into her Nia experience for over two
and a half years, teaching at local colleges,
gyms, and studios. Meighan also does Nia
workshops for special groups, and loves sharing
her joy of Nia with anyone who will listen!
Democratizing Montessori Schools & Learning
Environments (Part 2/2)
Presenter(s): Tim Seldin (President, Montessori
Foundation), Jerry Mintz, and Amukta Mahapatra
(Founder Abacus Montessori School-a Montessori
school in Chennai, India)
Location: TBD
Details:
This two-part workshop is to help those
Montessorians who would like to learn how to
apply democratic process to their schools or
learning environments and to help those
interested in creating Democratic Montessori
school. Furthermore, we have discovered that
there are school starters who want to start
democratic schools in conservative areas, such
as Malaysia, who feel that it would be more
possible to create those schools based on a
Montessori approach.
Bio:
Tim is the President of The
Montessori Foundation and Chair of the
International Montessori Council. His more than
thirty years of experience in Montessori
education includes twenty-two years as
Headmaster of the Barrie School in Silver
Spring, MD, his own alma mater (age two through
high school graduation). He has also served as
the Director of the Institute for Advanced
Montessori Studies and as Head of the New Gate
School in Sarasota, Florida. He earned a B.A. in
History and Philosophy from Georgetown
University, an M.Ed. in Educational
Administration and Supervision from The American
University, and his Montessori certification
from the American Montessori Society. Tim Seldin
is the author of several books on Montessori
Education, including his latest, The
Montessori Way with Dr. Paul Epstein,
Building a World-class Montessori School,
Finding the Perfect Match - Recruit and Retain
Your Ideal Enrollment, Master Teachers -
Model Programs, Starting a New Montessori School,
Celebrations of Life, and
The World in the Palm of Her Hand.
How to Live Healthy Cheap
Presenter(s): Julie Ann Harrell
Location: TBD
Details:
This workshop is
a continuation of last years how to live healthy
cheap, and primarily covers diet, exercise, yoga
and goal setting. I will provide information on
what type of diet worked well for me (it's
illegal for me to prescribe a diet) and
demonstrate yoga postures, finally talking about
exercise, and wrapping up with goal setting.
This workshop is modifiable for each person's
ability level, so everyone is invited to join
in.
First part of the workshop is Q and A: What is
it you'd like to improve your diet? We'll talk
about shopping at CSAs, farmers markets and
coops and what to buy. I'll provide a chapter of
my book to everyone which has the diet enclosed.
Secondly, we'll talk about yoga and I'll
demonstrate simple postures, asking people to
join in and see how their body feels as they try
the poses.
Thirdly we'll talk about finding an exercise
program that works for each person, and how to
work that into their schedules.
Finally, we'll talk about goal setting and
writing down both our goals and a food diary.
I'll have props so they can see my own food
diaries.
This is an interactive and motivational class,
and will help anyone sharpen their tools for
personal achievement.
Bio:
Jules Harrell is a science, health and adventure
writer. She moved to upstate New York from
California in 1994, became a mother in 1995 and
finished her M.S. at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute in 1996. She published her first book,
A Woman's Guide to Bikes and Biking, in
1999,and received her PMP certification in 2005.
Jules has volunteered for many organizations,
including Trips for Kids, the Bolinas Fire Dept,
San Francisco State University, John Adams City
College, Northeast Llama Rescue, the Albany Free
School, the Honest Weight Food Coop Board and
the Berlin School Board.
There Is No Mind and Body Duality! How
Students Learn Using Their Bodies (Structure-
Part 2/2)
Presenter(s): Dennis Charles
Location: TBD
Details:
This session will be a follow up session and
will focus on how to practically apply what
participants have learned about "State Dependent
Learning" from the first workshop (there is no
requirement to have attended the first workshop,
but it would be useful). This application can be
used in any type of school environment, from
Waldorf to Democratic, from Montessori to Free
Schools (there is also a wealth of information
that can be used by Homeschoolers and
Unschoolers). Again, the session will be
"hands-on" and require some participation from
attendees.
Bio:
Dennis Charles is a former teacher who decided
to "retire" from the State School System at 28
years old. Since then has spent his life
developing a coaching model for teenagers that
allows them to follow their dreams and passions
and break free of the rigidity imposed by most
school systems. He has a private practice works
with many schools in the Tri-State area, with a
focus on pushing them beyond the mundane and
ordinary towards creating an environment of
possibility for their students. Dennis is on the
start-up board of the Teddy McArdle Free School
in Little Falls, NJ. He resides in Succasunna NJ
with his wonderful wife and 3 fantastic
children.
An Alternative to School: Using
Homeschooling to Liberate Teens
Presenter(s): Kenneth Danford
Location: TBD
Details:
What's the difference between a community center
supporting teens to homeschool and a progressive
alternative school? What resources are needed to
make a homeschooling approach work for any
interested teenager? What are the implications
of hosting a center that promotes self-directed
learning? This workshop will provide some vision
and practical answers for how homeschooling is
being used as an inspirational option for those
dissatisfied with traditional schooling.
Together we will consider what is similar and
different about using this method in comparison
to the many alternative schools featured at this
conference.
For the past eleven years, North Star:
Self-Directed Learning for Teens has supported
hundreds of teens in western Massachusetts to
leave school and use homeschooling as a method
to dramatically improve their lives. Now with
fifty-five members, North Star is moving to a
1894 elementary school building in Hadley, MA
this summer.
Bio:
Kenneth Danford co-founded North Star in 1996 as
a response to his growing concerns about his
experiences as a junior high school social
studies teacher. He observed that many teens
found school a difficult place to be, and he
felt that the compulsory attendance policies
were a primary issue to be confronted. Seeing
homeschooling as an approach that changed the
learning dynamics for many teens, Kenneth and
Joshua Hornick envisioned and created North Star
as a center to support teens in school to
transition to homeschooling and re-ignite their
self-motivation and desire to learn.
Now in his eleventh year of supporting teens and
familes to use homeschooling to improve their
lives, Kenneth has dozens of inspirational
stories of how North Star has provided teens the
necessary support to move from feeling trapped
and miserable to feeling empowered and
successful. His tales of teens’ emotional
healing, improved family relations, and academic
success are powerful and moving. Kenneth also
reflects on the role homeschooling and centers
such as North Star might have in the larger
issue of educational reform and cultural change.
12:00pm-1:00pm
New Educational
Think Tank
Presenter(s):
Jerry Mintz, Ron Miller, Cooper Zale, Leo Fahey,
Cheri Isett, Susan Ohanian
Location: TBD
Details:
AERO is working with several groups to create an
action oriented think tank to promote our
concepts of a learner-centered approach to
education. Here is our tentative mission
statement:
“The mission of
the New Ed Group is to strengthen and promote
learner-centered and personalized approaches to
education through research, information
exchange, and policy guidance and advocacy.”
Come to this workshop if you are interested in
getting involved with this group or have
resources to help with its mission.
Saturday
10:30am - 11:30am
"How
to Grow a School" - Keynote Panel Discussion
Presenter(s): Moderated by Ron
Miller
Location: Julia Howard Bush
Memorial Center
Details:
Panelists and more information
to come soon! - Discussion will end at
12:00pm
Let's Play Yoga!
Using Yoga As A Learning Tool
Presenter(s): Meredith Bartolo
Location: TBD
Details:
Yoga is a wonderful
gift--it can help students develop focus and
concentration, as well as interpersonal skills
and a higher level of self-awareness. This
interactive workshop will help illustrate how to
use yoga and other movement activities to help
facilitate learning experiences in children from
toddler to teenager. We will discuss the
multiple intelligence theory and how movement
can be a factor in how children learn, as well
as tips and tools for adding movement into any
curriculum or lesson plan. No yoga experience or
knowledge is necessary, just a willingness to
participate in some fun movement activities!
Bio:
I have joyfully been
sharing yoga with kids since 2000, when I
graduated from the YogaKids program created by
Marsha Wenig. I obtained my BA in Health Arts
and Sciences from Goddard College, where I
studied holistic health for children, including
play-based yoga therapy. I am currently pursuing
my MA in literacy development and community
education, also from Goddard College. I strongly
believe that fun movement activities can help
children learn and connect to the world around
them!
Why Are There No Inner-City Democratic
Schools Started and Run by Urban
African-American Parents and/or Adults with
Significant Numbers of Urban Black Children in
the School?
Presenter(s): John Harris Loflin
Location: TBD
Details:
This session will review the history of so-called
alternative education from an African-American
perspective with its roots in the mid-60s street
academies and urban storefront schools, southern
freedom schools, and the early 70s black
independent schools movement. What have become
of these initiatives? Why haven't
American-Americans followed progressive
education beyond home schooling? Why are there
no inner-city Sudbury schools started and run by
urban African-American parents and/or adults
with significant numbers of urban black children
in the school? Why, instead, are there the
numerous black sponsored, conservative, and
traditional-oriented charters or black supported
discipline-oriented "last-chance" public urban
alternatives, "soft jails" filled with black
males sent there to be “normalized” and returned
to the mainstream? Can so-called ghetto/urban
children and youth do democratic education in
private schools or classroom and school
democracy in their public schools? Are
democratic schools a white middle-class
phenomenon?
Bio:
John Loflin has a graduate degree from the
nationally acclaimed Alternative School Teacher
Education Program (ASTEP) at Indiana University
in the 70s. He is published at the local,
national, and international levels in
alternative and democratic education. Due to the
inspiration gained at IDEC 2003, he helped form
the Democratic Education Consortium, a group in
the process of democratizing the Indianapolis
Public Schools. He consultants on alternative
ed. in Indianapolis, Seattle, and Mumbai, India,
and is the originator of the concepts of
"reinventing adolescence," Homo curaos, a
Learner's Bill of Rights, and urban public free
schools. He is currently a part of the Hip-hop
Congress and a Senior Fellow at the Black and
Latino Policy Institute. Both are in
Indianapolis.
Using Sound Therapy to Make Learning and
Development Change Naturally
Presenter(s):
Dorinne Davis
Location: TBD
Details:
There are 5 scientific principles that
demonstrate a connection between the voice, the
ear, and the brain. Sound therapy repatterns,
establishes, and/or enlivens these connections
so that the body receives the information more
clearly, thereby allowing learning and general
developmental functioning to develop along a
natural continuum. As a result, listening
improves, thinking becomes clearer, processing
is enhanced, reading is easier and better
understood, movement and coordination skills
improve, language becomes more meaningful, and
attention and focus improves. The
neuroplasticity of the brain supports the
changes and overall learning and development can
improve.
Bio:
Ms. Davis, the leading sound therapy expert in
the world, will review the science behind how
sound therapy supports positive change and will
review some of the methods currently available,
including a few that can be done independently
in a learning center.
A Solutions Oriented Conflict Resolution
Model
Presenter(s): Austin Wells, Torin
Woods-Eliot
Location: TBD
Details:
Presenters Austin
Wells and Torin Woods-Eliot will share the
conflict resolution system of The Village Free
School and seek to answer participant questions.
1:15pm - 2:15pm
Start a School Workshop Series (pt. 1/2)
Presenter(s): Moderated by Jerry
Mintz with Guest Mentors Including
Chris Mercogliano
Location: TBD
Details:
Guest Speakers and more
information to come soon!
Free School Teaching (Book
Reading,
Q&A, Book Signing)
Presenter(s):
Kristan Accles Morrison
Location:
Julia
Howard
Bush
Memorial
Center
Details:
Kristain Accles
Morrison will be reading from her recently
released title
Free
School Teaching: A Journey into Radical
Progressive Education (SUNY Press, June
2007), answering questions on the title and
subject, as well as signing copies of the book.
Below is a description of Free School Teaching:
Free School Teaching
is the personal and professional journey of one
teacher within the American educational system.
Faced with mounting frustrations in her own
traditional, middle school classroom and having
little success in resolving them, Kristan Accles
Morrison decided to seek out answers, first by
immersing herself in the academic literature of
critical education theory and then by turning to
the field. While the literature on progressive
education gave her hope that things could be
better for students locked into
America's
traditional education system, she wanted to find
a firsthand example of how these ideas played
out in practice. Morrison found a radical "free
school" in
Albany,
New York,
that embodied the ideas found in the literature,
and over a period of three months she observed
and documented differences between alternative
and traditional schools. In trying to reconcile
the gap between those systems, Morrison details
what she learned about teachers, students,
curriculum, and the entire conception of why we
educate our children.
Bio:
Kristan Accles
Morrison is Assistant Professor of Educational
Foundations in the
School
of
Teacher Education
and Leadership at
Radford
University.
Understanding
Indigo Energy
Presenter(s):
Lisa Bellini
Location: TBD
Details:
Adults and
children alike are experiencing symptoms
associated with anxiety, anger and depression,
feelings of loneliness, sensibility,
irritability and aggression. Many children have
been classified as learning disabled,
emotionally disabled or they have been diagnosed
with ADHD, ADD or ASD. Through this workshop,
Lisa will explain what these children and adults
are experiencing as they move through the Global
Awakening Period.
Bio:
Lisa is an Indigo
Forerunner, Ordained Minister, Energy Healer,
Crystal Healer / Teacher / Master. Usui Rieki
Master, Initiated Adept and Channel.
The
First 5 Years: Nurturing the Roots of Democracy
(1:15-3:15pm)
Presenter(s): Tim Graves
Location: TBD
Details:
Many of the dispositions needed for
participation in democratic environments begin to
be learned at birth and continue to be refined
throughout the preschool years. Discussion will
focus on how families and other caring adults can
nurture the skills and dispositions needed for
participation in democracy during this early
period of children's development. Come prepared to
interact with both the presenter and other
participants.
Bio:
Tim Graves is a committed early childhood educator
and father of two adult children. During his
career, he has served children directly through
full-time work in early childhood programs as both
a teacher and a director, by teaching early
childhood courses on a full- and part-time basis
at several community colleges, and and by working
with families in an early intervention system.
Currently, Tim teaches part-time in the college
classroom while conducting early childhood
education workshops through his business, Training
Wheels for Early Childhood Education.
Who is Homo curaos?
Presenter(s): John Harris Loflin
Location: TBD
Details:
"All children can learn" was a statement that
arose in the late 80s. Intended to convince
adults to see all children as capable of
learning, it never really caught on to the
extent that everyone had theses expectations.
Learning disabilities and other labels continue
to be a rationale for the failure of adults to
engage children and allow learning to happen.
How do we know all children can learn? What does
recent brain research say about the notion? What
can we do to make sure all adults believe in and
act on the potential of children?
Bio:
John Loflin has a graduate degree from the
nationally acclaimed Alternative School Teacher
Education Program (ASTEP) at Indiana University
in the 70s. He is published at the local,
national, and international levels in
alternative and democratic education. Due to the
inspiration gained at IDEC 2003, he helped form
the Democratic Education Consortium, a group in
the process of democratizing the Indianapolis
Public Schools. He consultants on alternative
ed. in Indianapolis, Seattle, and Mumbai, India,
and is the originator of the concepts of
"reinventing adolescence," Homo curaos, a
Learner's Bill of Rights, and urban public free
schools. He is currently a part of the Hip-hop
Congress and a Senior Fellow at the Black and
Latino Policy Institute. Both are in
Indianapolis.
Watch Yourself: Why Safer Isn't Better
Presenter(s): Matt Hern
Location: TBD
Details:
This is a follow-up conversation to Matt's earlier
keynote address.
Leaving No Child Behind –
Developmentally
Presenter(s): Jeff Haebig
Location: TBD
Details:
Many students falling behind in school possess
immature body/brain systems that make simple
writing, reading, math and other academic
pursuits more difficult to master. This is
particularly true today as many children spend
more time with television, computers and play
station than playground and active sports.
Sedentary living with less robust movement
activities weakens the vestibular, reflex,
proprioceptive, visual, auditory and motor
systems involved with learning. As a result,
many students lack the visual acuity and
auditory discrimination needed to excel in
reading – they lack the fine-motor skills
involved with writing – and the gross motor and
body-in-space skills involved with math and
staying focused and attentive. Frustrations grow
leading to lower esteem and behavior problems
that further interfere with learning. This
skillshop offers teachers dozens of handy ways
to stimulate body/brain maturity using
well-proven methods. Many of these exercises can
be adapted to the curriculum helping students
master the subjects taught. Brain science
showing how each practice strengthens body/brain
cells and systems is highlighted.
Bio:
Jeff Haebig has been called the country’s rock
n’ role model of bodily kinesthetic teaching and
learning. He puts hip to lip, teaching wellness
and body/brain-enhanced learning practices using
gestures and engaging movement sequences.
Champion speaker, he invites action, while
maintaining comfort for those who prefer to
watch. In a heartbeat, Jeff gives people a
leg-up on brain science, arming them with handy
practices they can use in their teaching and
learning.
Circle Governance
Presenter(s): Ridge & Valley Charter School
Location: TBD
We attribute our
ability to open and operate our school to our
choice of Circle Governanc as a core value. Each
student having a voice in a cooperative life
future requires they see their adults bravely
being individuals together. Despite the
expectations of hierarchy in the public school
system, we rotate and share leadership
throughout the community.
In building a school which includes a mission of
student empowerment, we choose to model
individual rights and responsibility, a
consistency noted by community members and
evaluators alike. The curious and the critical
have a chance to see exactly what we envision,
as we try to live it. They see our efforts (and
results) to work and relate in a new paradigm.
Our circle training and retraining is based on
Peer Spirit Circle Guidelines.
We'd like to share
our experiences of circle, as used in student
classes thru public trustee meetings.
Ridge and Valley Charter School, a public
alternative
2:30pm - 3:30pm
Start a School Workshop Series (pt. 2/2)
Presenter(s): Moderated by Jerry
Mintz with Guest Mentors Including Chris
Mercogliano
Location: TBD
Details:
Guest Speakers and more
information to come soon!
Thinking Outside the Bio-Psychiatric Paradigm
Presenter(s): Dr. Dan L. Edmunds, Ed.D.
Location: TBD
Details:
This presentation is a critical analysis of
bio-psychiatry and its flaws. It will examine the
oppressive history of psychiatry, the fraud of the
current 'chemical imbalance' concept, and explore
the issues related to subjective mental health
diagnosis as it relates to personal freedom.
In addition, the presentation will explore the
damaging effects of psychiatric drugs,
particularly in regards to children. The
presentation will provide information on
relationship based approaches towards meeting the
needs of distressed individuals and provide ideas
on how to create a more humane, dignified mental
health system as well as education system that
inspires a zeal for learning.
Bio:
Dr. Edmunds is a therapist for children and
adolescents. He received his Doctorate of
Education in Community Counseling from the
University of Sarasota. Dr. Edmunds is the
director of the Center for Meaning and
Relationship and has been an active critic of
bio-psychiatry. He has been a guest on both local
and nationally syndicated radio programs.
Creating a School Video the Democratic
Way: Filming The Highland School Story
Presenter(s): The Highland School
Location: Julia Howard Bush Memorial Center
Details:
Staff from The Highland School will describe the
fun and hard work involved in making a video and
power point presentation about their democratic
school. Developing a video can be a democratic
process involving students, staff, and parents
at every step from brainstorming ideas to
selecting criteria for inclusion to actual
filming and editing. Candy and Steve Landvoigt,
Karen Whitescarver, et al. will share their
journey of discovery to find new and interesting
PR methods. They will end their session by
showing the completed video program.
Introducing the Dances of Universal
Peace
Presenter(s): Farid Gruber
Location:
TBD
Details:
The Dances of Universal Peace are part of a
timeless tradition of Sacred Dance. The Dances
use simple music, lyrics, and movements to touch
the spiritual essence within ourselves and
others. The movements and songs may include
themes of peace (both inner and outer), healing
(the Earth, individuals, and the global family),
and the celebration of life's great mystery.
Dancers focus on peace and harmony creating a
sense of solidarity and community while
celebrating the underlying unity of all the
spiritual traditions of the Earth. No musical or
dance experience of any kind is required and
everyone is welcomed to join in.
In this workshop, Farid Gruber, a certified
leader of the Dances of Universal Peace, will
draw on his experience to demonstrate how to
incorporate these dances into a school setting
and demonstrate how to modify a dance for young
children. Participation, not
presentation, is the focus. People of all ages
are welcome to join hands in the circle and
share the intention to create sacred space.
Bio:
Farid Gruber has been leading the Dances of
Universal Peace since 1986. He is a Sufi
initiate and a certified leader of the
International Network for the Dances (INDUP).
Professionally, Farid is an early childhood
educator having worked as an infant, toddler,
and preschool teacher since 1978. For the past
four years he has been serving as Directing
Teacher of Mountain Road School, a private
alternative Pre-K through 6th grade school in
New Lebanon, NY. He currently co-facilitates the
Dance meeting in Albany and has led Dances for
children and adults at conferences, summer
camps, retreat centers and special events
throughout the US.
On Becoming A
Student-Centered
School
Presenter(s): The
Community
School
(New
Hampshire)
Location: TBD
Description:
The
Community
School
would like to host an open forum discussion on
how to involve students and parents in planning
curriculum and strategic planning for the
school. We would like to discuss ways to
increase student ownership of our program and
boost investment in the learning which goes on
so that we can move from our top-down, didactic
model. The
Community
School
is a small school with four full-time faculty
members and forty-five students, grades 7-12.
Our school house is a 19th century farmhouse
situated on 310 acres in central New Hamsphire.
The curriculum, while it includes many college
preparatory elements, is largely
experientially-based. We hold a weekly
school meeting to address any issues which arise
or basic decisions about school planning which
need to be made. Though we have this
element in place, the
Community
School
is NOT a democratic school.
31 Years As a
Public
High School Without Grades or Even Credits
Presenter(s):
Arnie Langberg
Location: TBD
Description:
Hear the results
of a follow-up study of the graduates and
discuss the key issues that had to be resolved
to start such a school and to sustain it for so
long.
This is an important chapter in what Herb
Kohl calls “hope-mongering!”
4:15pm - 5:15pm
Doing the Politics: Building Community Support for
The Alternative
Presenter(s): Leo Fahey
Location: TBD
Details:
Ultimately the successful life of
alternative schools, especially of free and
democratic community schools, rests with the
ability of the local community, the
socio-geographic area from which the school draws
its students, to support the school. Support comes
in many forms from community planning board citing
approval for start-ups to fund-raising for
on-going ventures. But, the most important support
of all comes when parents accept the legitimacy of
the alternative to formally educate their young
and enroll their children. This workshop, a
participant round table, will examine the
challenges in building support from the civic,
business, religious and family segments of the
community and explore a number of strategies able
to successfully garner and maintain support from
these segments.
Bio:
Democratic
Education activist and start-up organizer began
as a Communication Arts university instructor in
1980, changed in 1991 to high school Social
Studies teaching, moved in 1999 to Democratic
Education school development. He advised
alternatives in Texas and Massachusetts before
joining a start-up group in New York City in
2003 which developed The Brooklyn Free School.
Today, he continues propagating Democratic
Education principles and counseling alternative
start-ups.
Search for Relevant Education for Rural
Young People in Indonesia
Presenter(s): Ary Hasriadi
Location: Julia Howard Bush Memorial Center
Details:
Today, the complaints about the failure of the
current education system in Indonesia,
especially in the rural area, to provide
relevant education are growing. The existing
schooling system has created a brain drain
condition in the rural areas. Those who are
lucky enough to get basic education eventually
migrate to the urban area as the schooling
system has alienated them from their own
surrounding.
Therefore more and
more groups of people are striving to do
experiments on alternative ways to educate the
young people in rural areas in Indonesia, an
education that will empower them to realize
their unique situation and willing to contribute
for the improvement of their localities. This
presentation will portray some undergoing
educational experiments in various parts of the
country, where seventy percent of the more than
two hundred millions populations are living in
the rural area.
Bio:
Hasriadi Ary used to serve as the executive
director of Rumah Kaum Muda (Home for the
Youth), an NGO working on alternative education
for young people in South Sulawesi, eastern part
of Indonesia. Ary is currently studying at
School for International School in Vermont, USA.
He can be reached at
hasriadi_ary@hotmail.com
The Chess Tool Box for Education
Presenter(s): Robert Krause
Location: TBD
Details:
Chess provides the perfect learning environment
for students of all ages, abilities, and
backgrounds. Although lessons usually consist of
teaching students the nuances of tactics and
strategy; academic lessons (math, reading,
writing, critical thinking, history, science)
and life lessons can be incorporated both
directly and indirectly into classes.
This workshop consists of an interactive
discussion of the various methods and pitfalls
of using chess in education, as well
activities/demonstrations related to some of the
discussed methods. Attendees are encouraged to
bring chess sets and clocks if they have them,
however it is not required. Prior knowledge of
the rules of chess is not required.
Bio:
Robert Krause is the Assistant Chess Coach at
Aldai E. Stevenson high school, and works
for the Renaissance Knights Foundation a
non-profit organization promoting chess in
education and Philanthropy.
Strategies for
Facilitating Transformational Change
Presenter(s): Arnie Langberg
Location: TBD
Description:
Art Combs has
said that you cannot change someone else.
We will work through a process for
helping others to discover the need to change
themselves.
The Role of a Community in the Life of a Free
School
Presenter(s): Jon Thoreau Scott
Location: TBD
Details:
While it has been
rare that a community was intentionally built
around a school, the role of a small community
in the functioning of a free school has
tremendous advantages. The two examples that I
will discuss, briefly, are the Ferrer Modern
School Colonies of Stelton, New Jersey and
Mohegan, New York, but other examples such as
the Home Colony in Washington and the Sunrise
Colony in Michigan will be mentioned. We may
also want to discuss the advantages of schools
in small villages such as the ateneos,
cultural and learning centers formed by
anarchists and unions in the villages and the
barrios of large cities of Spain;
perhaps we should include the one-room
schoolhouses in the U.S. in the early part of
the twentieth century, though the latter were
not free schools per se.
Luther Burbank believed that the country is the
best place for children since: “Every child
should have mud-pies, grasshoppers, water-bugs,
tadpoles, frogs, mud-turtles, elderberries, wild
strawberries, acorns, chestnuts, trees to climb,
brooks to wade in, water lilies, woodchucks,
bats, bees, butterflies, various animals to pet,
hay-fields, pine-cones, rocks to roll, sand,
snakes, huckleberries and hornets; and any child
deprived of these has been deprived of the best
part of his education.” Nevertheless communities
can be formed, like the Free School in Albany,
NY, in an urban setting while providing
Burbank’s amenities in other ways such as city
gardens, pets and country retreats.
While it is not the intention of this workshop
to promote the location of schools only in a
country setting, it is the intention to discuss
the importance of the school within a
group of people that make it a central focus of
the life of the group. Please bring your ideas
on the notion that “it takes a village” and see
where it leads. In the case of the Modern School
colonies “the school was part of the community
and the community part of the school.” The later
was important in that a great deal of learning
took place when the children performed tasks of
the community such as construction of buildings
and ponds, cleaning the school and streets,
farming, printing books and pamphlets, making
craft items for sale, storekeeping and the like.
Bio:
Jon Thoreau Scott attended the Ferrer Modern
School in Stelton, NJ from 1934 to 1946 (age two
to fourteen). He graduated from High School in
Columbia County, NY, and attended Cornell
University from 1950 to 1954 graduating with a
B.S. in Biochemistry. He served for three years
in the USAF, mostly in pilot training, and as a
pilot and radar controller in Alaska. After
traveling for a year in Europe and the U.S., and
a year as a researcher in the General Foods
Corp. in Tarrytown, NY, he attended the
University of Wisconsin from 1959 to 1963
obtaining a Ph.D in Meteorology. From 1963 to
1996 he was a member of the Department of
Atmospheric Science at the University at Albany,
serving as Chairperson from 1989 to 1996 when he
retired. He was also, for four years, Director
of an Environmental Studies Program at Albany.
His research interests are in Bioclimatology,
Physical Limnology and Solar Energy.
Songwriting Workshop
Presenter(s):
Deb Cavanaugh
Location:
TBD
Details:
Work alone or in groups to write lyrics for an
original song. We'll start with word games and
fun exercises in creativity to get you started.
Learn the recipe for a memorable song, including
basic meter (the rhythm of words) and rhyme.
Everyone is a musician. Everyone is a
songwriter. You just don't know it yet. Come
discover your muse and have fun doing it!
Bio:
Deb Cavanaugh is an artist/educator,
singer/songwriter, teacher in alternative
education and a fascinating folk artist, makes
music a part of everything she does. She
performs her own music, as well as a full range
of folk material, and plays a variety of
instruments, including mandolin, dulcimer,
guitar and limber jack. She incorporates her
extensive travel around the U.S. and her
experience with many styles of music from
classical voice to rock and roll into her songs
and performances. Having been the recipient of a
"Meet the Composers" grant, she developed a
songwriting workshop for young people and has
taught and continues to teach that workshop in
various summer camps, libraries and schools. Deb
was recently a semi-finalist in the annual
national JPFolks lyric contest.
Sunday
9:00am - 10:00am
The Growth of Our Village
Presenter(s): Austin Wells,
Jocelyn Luciano, and Scott Nine
Location: TBD
Details:
One-hour
presentation kicking off a three part series of
sessions focused on sharing the development and
lessons learned of The Village Free School in
Portland Oregon.
Presenters Austin Wells, Jocelyn Luciano, and
Scott Nine will share the story, vision, and
practical details of their school communities
experience and lessons learned in starting a
democratic holistic place for people of all
ages. Content will include the value of building
strong community relationships as a foundation;
focusing on finding "what works" for your
community; the nuts and bolts of paperwork,
contracting, hiring, recruitment, and retention;
a vital list of lessons learned and learning;
the five things we might do differently if we
started again; our strategic planning process;
and of course responses to the questions and
interests of the folks who attend. Participants
will have access to all of our core documents,
materials, and resources for no fee.
Take the Power Back
Presenter(s): Satyam Malhotra, Freedom Malhotra
Location: TBD
Details:
“We cannot make peace with
the planet unless we make peace with ourselves.
This is the eternal teaching of all great
religions, spiritual traditions and enlightened
teachers. Satyam and Freedom Malhotra provide a
way to make such peace in today’s world. I
congratulate them for their work.”
- Satish Kumar, Editor of
Resurgence Magazine, Founder of Schumacher
College & The Small School
How
can we, as educators, truly empower students
to become independent and free thinkers, when
we, ourselves, have been emotionally
disempowered from the day we were born? Join
Satyam and Freedom Malhotra, authors of the
revolutionary book Born on the Mountaintop:
Reclaim Your Life & Unleash Your Spirit, in
a workshop that reveals the one message
responsible for most of the fear and stress we
experience in life. This message is being
reinforced practically everywhere we go, and
leads to 12 psychological addictions that
prevent us from knowing ourselves and having the
relationships we want.
In this
interactive workshop, you will explore an
entirely new way of understanding yourself and
those you seek to educate. For example, you will
uncover how self-consciousness, the fear of
failure, and the tendency to compare yourself
with others can all come from these
addictions. You will also come to realize how
seemingly beneficial activities such as going
after success, looking for a life-partner, and
seeking enlightenment can actually become
addictions that end up preventing you from
achieving these very things.Take
the Power Back is
an opportunity to explore how you can prevent
these addictions from controlling your life and
the lives of the young people you mentor. By
freeing ourselves from these addictions, we help
build a society centered around love, freedom
and acceptance rather than fear.
Bio:
Satyam and Freedom
Malhotra are co-founders of Me Magic, an
organization dedicated to empowering people to
break free from the chains of their minds and
hearts. Combining their experience in health
care and organizational management, they show
how it is possible to reclaim freedom in our
personal and professional lives. For more
information visit www.memagic.com.
AERO is Seeking New Interns!
Presenter(s): Jerry Mintz, Alexandra Majstorac
Kobiljski, Daniel Swart
Location: TBD
Details:
Student internships at AERO provide
opportunities to gain experience in the field of
a world-class, non-governmental organization
(NGO) and pursue your interests in a dynamic
atmosphere of grass-roots activism. Whatever is
your field of interest, an internship at AERO
will offer you an opportunity to explore your
potential and create a network of contacts
around the world. To date, AERO interns have
taken on advertising, videography and editing,
and web work among other things. Some interns
have become staff members and created the
International Democratic Education Conference in
2003, AERO Annual conference since 2004, School
Starters listserve and a number of online
courses. In this workshop we are particularly
interested in meeting potential student and
adult interns and staff members and look forward
to answering your questions regarding this
unique internship opportunity.
Principles of Learning: Montessori &
Yoga - An Exploration
Presenter(s):
Amukta Mahapatra
Location: James L.
Meader Little Theater
Details:
The presentation will look at some common ideas
of learning in both systems, which I discovered
a few years ago and have wanted to share with
like-minded people. Hopefully the discussion
will enable each of us to discover some issues
of movement, activity, learning and the
body-intelligence relationship.
Bio:
Amukta Mahapatra is currently the director of
SchoolScape, a centre for educators focusing on
the preparation of the teachers and support
staff to enable schools to enhance the quality
of learning in the classroom. Amukta works
extensively as an education consultant for many
organizations which has included UNICEF,
state governments, and numerous teacher training
programs. Amukta is the former
principal of Abacus Montessori School in
Chennai, India and also set up the Mandara
Learning Centre, a school for working children
in Chennai. Amukta was also the lead organizer
of the 12th annual International Democratic
Education Conference (2004) hosted by
SchoolScape.
11:00am - 12:00pm
In Defense of Wildness
Presenter(s):
Chris Mercogliano
Location: Julia
Howard Bush Memorial Center
Details:
Childhood is in trouble. The relentless forces
of modernity are pressing in from all sides,
slowly but surely squeezing out the novelty, the
independence, the adventure, the wonder, the
innocence, the physicality, the solitude—the
juice, if you will—from the lives of today’s
kids. This will be an introductory workshop for
all ages, open to anyone concerned about the
effects of the increasing domestication of
childhood on our “inner wildness,” with a
particular focus on the primary components of a
child’s reality: parenting, play, and education.
Participants will explore the connection between
the quality of their childhood experience and
their inner selves, and we will also brainstorm
ideas for how to expand these themes into a
full-day experiential format designed especially
for parents and teachers.
Bio:
Chris was a teacher at the Albany Free School
for thirty-five years and stepped down as director in
June, 2007 to concentrate on writing and
speaking about non-controlling education and
childrearing. His essays, commentaries and
reviews have appeared in numerous publications,
as well as in four anthologies: Challenging
the Giant (Down to Earth Books 1992),
Deschooling Our Lives (New Society Press
1996), Creating Learning Communities
(Foundation for Educational Renewal 2000), and
Field Day: Getting Society Out of School
(New Star Books 2003). He is also the author of
Making It Up As We Go Along, the Story of the
Albany Free School (Heinemann 1998),
Teaching the Restless, One School's Remarkable
No-Ritalin Approach to Helping Children Learn
and Succeed (Beacon Press 2004), How to
Grow a School: Starting and Sustaining Schools
That Work (Oxford Village Press 2006), and
In Defense of Childhood: Protecting Kids’
Inner Wildness (Beacon Press 2007).
Currently Chris is a regular columnist for
Encounter magazine. He has been featured on
National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered,”
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Radio's
“Ideas,” and other nationally syndicated radio
shows. The father of two wonderful daughters, he
lives with his wife Betsy on a one-acre farm in
downtown Albany, New York.
Bridging The Gap
Presenter(s): Samantha Sterman, Alexandra
Cassanos
Location: TBD
Details:
It is a commonly accepted notion that teachers
are the enemy, while students are the
unmotivated couch potatoes who have to be
threatened into working. But what if that notion
is incorrect? In this workshop, two regular
students: Samantha Sterman and Alexandra
Cassanos explore the mindsets of students and
their lack of motivation. In an informal
discussion, advice, and feedback session we hope
to answer some of those unanswerable questions
that teachers have about what their students are
thinking and how to get through to them. In this
short time period, we hope to help teachers from
all different forms of schools to understand how
to help invigorate their students and therefore
bridge the invisible gap between the evil
teacher and the lethargic student.
New AERO Online Courses for School
Starters and Prospective Teachers
Presenter(s): Alexandra Majstorac Kobiljski,
Jerry Mintz
Location: TBD
Details:
In September 2007, AERO will run two online
courses: The second annual real time Start a
School Course, and The History and Theory of
Alternative Education. The latter is primarily
for aspiring teachers who wish to teach in
alternative and democratic schools. This
workshop will be to introduce prospective
enrollees to the two courses
Both are geared towards the alternative
education community and specifically designed to
help its registrants gain skills to change their
world and perspective on the history of the
movement. The workshop will introduce the
concept behind the courses, the curriculum, as
well as the staff involved in designing them. We
welcome all attendees to turn inspiration into
action and to |
