A School, A Walk and Tootsie

What do we check at the door?

I was walking with Tootsie this morning in the woods - a great place to think. We got off the beaten path. The rain, melting snow, and heavy mist got me a bit turned around. When we finally got back on the path things were unfamiliar - the path I walk most days did not appear the same. As I wandered the phrase “check yourself at the door” kept running through my head as I thought about the final preparation for our meeting Sunday, February 24th at 3:30 pm.

A recent post by Jim, on the Circle School blog talked about agency, the ability to choose and act on your own behalf. Jim, Beth and the other folks at the Circle School in Harrisburg have been nurturing agency and love of learning for a long time. Agency and developmental readiness seem to be missing in most curricula these days. In elementary schools you see very few choices of activities - most sand tables, lego and blocks, and dress up stations are gone. Squeezed out by standardized test and common core curricula. There are few times and places where students can mimic what they see in the world through social interactions with their peers. Recess has been cut short. Older students go to classrooms set up in rows with limited exposure to technology, apprenticeships, and high priority careers. Very little time is spent on play and nurturing imagination, curiosity and social fluidity. Paul Tough (2012), in his book How Children Succeed, highlights these characteristics as markers of success in school and later in life. All the things that help children get ready to communicate and participate in healthy, safe communities - seem to be checked at the door.

Those of us working to start a school believe that children are innately curious. Based on the premise that children are internally motivated to learn we want to nurture and develop this natural desire. Modern research and science agree that if basic needs are met, personal interest and intrinsic motivation impel us towards greatest expansion and fullest realization of our human potential (Reitmulder, J. 2001). At The Circle School and other self-directed, democratic schools, agency in community is the heart of the daily practice. Children come to school and live their lives choosing, experiencing, reflecting, and choosing again, mindful or reminded of the community around them. Children learn and succeed. No need to “check themselves at the door”!

Join us Wednesday, June 5th 6:30 pm at the Hermitage at Kirkridge to find out more about Starting a School at Kirkridge. You can find us on Facebook and follow us for updates about meetings and events - or on this blog. Please follow, comment, or email with questions or ideas!