RERC's first meeting (January 24th 2009)

Eight educators answered Amber's email:

Gabe, Ben, Monique, Deanna, Nicole, David, Malcolm and Amber.

We ate baked goods and sat where we could in Amber & Malcolm's living room. For 2 hours we dreamed about what we could research, discuss and learn about as part of this collective.

We came up with a list of topics that were of interest. Here they are: 

Amber

·      Sundown School in LA

·      Tim Rollands – KOS

·      Hollands Valley school

·      Setting context for schools

·      Galleries and education: “What school teaches you”

David

·      Open schools; Sudbury school, Summerhill, De-naturing

·      Ivan Illich

Ben

·      Social groups and education

·      Active process of learning about food systems

·      Seniors education

·      City as a school (Jane’s walk)

Malcolm

·      Black Mountain College

·      Literary education

·      Memorizing – poetry, theory of, practice

·      Knowing vs. searching for knowledge

·      Bauhaus – modernist schools

·      Deep River

·      Evergreen

·      Anarchist universities

·      Avante-guard poetry

Deanna

·      Alternative Schooling

·      Debra Meier’s NY school for at-risk youth

·      Slow school movement

·      Differentiated Instruction

·      Sustainability

Monique

·      Museums, cultural institutions and their education programs

·      Engage Org. in the UK

·      Un-schooling/de-schooling

·      Alice Water’s edible school in San Fran

·      Ecological Education

Nicole

·      Memory

·      Neuroplasticity, brain training and learning – Norman Doidge

·      Alfie Kohn and the “no homework” issue

·      Summaries of education related books

Gabe

·      Problems with universities

·      Reforming the institution

·      Antioch Atlantic College in the States

·      River School

·      School House

·      Play in relation to theatre education

·      Mind/ body

·      Post-secondary reform

·      Adult education

Decisions regarding format of future meetings

• ·      Active
• ·      Workshop style
• ·      Sat mornings every 2-3 weeks
• ·      Speaker series
• ·      No cats on premises- Micah will sneeze loads

Action items for next time:

Each member will research an alternative school of their choosing. Our hope is to increase our knowledge of the alternative schools that have existed and/or presently exist.

Monique- Edible Schoolyard

Ben- Summerhill School

Nicole- St. Mary’s School (Mary Ward Catholic School)

David- Sudbury Valley or River Schools

Malcolm- Black Mountain College

Gabe- Antioch College of the Atlantic

Deanna- Deborah Meier school in NY

Amber- Sundown School