[Educaciolliure] Fwd: Story of Vancouver IDEC; Penultimate Course Notice

[Izaskun Azueta]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Education Revolution E-News <jerryaero en aol.com>
Date: Tue, Aug 26, 2008 at 2:52 AM
Subject: Story of Vancouver IDEC; Penultimate Course Notice
To: zerurdina en gmail.com


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*Dear Education Revolution E-Newsletter Readers:*
If you have trouble viewing this newsletter, visit
www.edrev.org/fre.html<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGIs8W7UhXquL7lqS3QObHVhIuKVLFhxEeLe5APwJVuVEaha1DPw1GmT3DMacp1eorgoBebdQ46MUtdCji6gB1HJSupEDO62aonJVJIl_AXkIA==>for
the online version.
   *Table of Contents:
 *1) Penultimate Announcement About School Starter and Alternative History
Courses, Starting September 15th <#11bfc7f6cfac33f9_1>
2) Report on IDEC 2008 in Vancouver, Canada <#11bfc7f6cfac33f9_2>     *1)
Penultimate Announcement About School Starter and Alternative History
Courses, Starting September 15th*
The two online courses are gradually filling up. In the Start a School 101
we will have people who are at various stages of starting new alternatives,
or whose schools or programs have just started. Enrollees in this course
will also get several books and DVDs, and free AERO membership and
subscription to AEROstartup listserve

We really don't want to turn down anyone interested in either course for
financial reasons. We are pleased to announce that we have received some
additional funding, so we can extend reduced rates for enrollees who have
financial need. Of course, if you start a private, tuition based program or
even a charter, the cost for one student would be many times the cost of
this program.

For Ron Miller's Theory and History of Educational Alternatives, this
background is crucial if you are starting a new alternative and might well
come before the School Starter course, or if you just have a great interest
in the roots of our movement. We have particular additional financial
support for this program, but you must contact us and arrange registration
right away. People who have been talking to us already have priority but
must make arrangements to enroll quickly. The courses start on September
15th.

APPLY NOW, or get more info by replying to this e mail or by writing to
amkaero en gmail.com

Or guarantee yourself a place by enrolling now here:

 http://www.edrev.org/onlinecourses.html<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGJd9XAUmxExxfnZ53-IFa4_TSUoUXYB7jqNZycENlS-VYZKjp9gtD4VA3hzLvDdT1NaiYr72WFu83LzdOiwhz9b8sHqzFlY88lzzrnQocSkCFTmc3jBs7EnzzaewaFNlbc=>

In case you missed it in the last e newsletter, below is general information
on the courses:

This is the third year that AERO has been offering its Start a School 101
course and the second year we are offering the History and Theory of
Educational Alternatives Course. Note that we are spreading the courses over
a longer time period this year at the suggestion of last year's
participants.

These are some of the schools that AERO has recently helped people to start:
Brooklyn Free School, NY
http://www.brooklynfreeschool.org/<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGKzb6mmNFzjzaT7kZU68J2COlQYcbg_M822IaTgXLKwj93vtGw8s_6g47hUDELSQiBj2aYPiKcgSJskLnKm_p4hclcZvyxJjQU3ts68XHH2EBIcZqZ4YctG>

Ridge and Valley Charter School , NJ
http://www.ridgeandvalley.org/<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGKa_CLZ01XjKlgxsYN5YkJOk9nD3s17rSYq6sXwU8dctKdxrH5AWq5qyO37D3xt3phglARkLD3uqOkeYK1_4AE6dsziA8ZZDRyZetVmjusAFtBzBOhGEiqc>

Manzanita School, CA
http://www.manzanitaslo.org/<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGLxqoZff3BdGQIc7WgN-ngFbEqOPq8OTVNh4Qn9CwfLbvnDH2bAwCRR9oOqtrnnhh7GG5mXkY9sHMZOWiTQOaEIZs7GEMeQP-AeQCm_Fn5iRQ==>

Golden Independent School, CO
http://www.goldenindependent.org/<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGJCQJkCWvisWv4fBQI7BPXgEHAO22i2mynsslqnCis5ysGyLM2465kIAnzdzSjow2R95r-RuqoQ2CYogByTPe7zVjlOnUc9pUF78Ci3aWcKahpVt7sN-r-i>

Wellspring School, NJ
http://www.thewellspringschool.org/<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGJk0x1h4a9_bJYOhrENc6rc-m11XDlnJZRqRwYb5FdI0I3kepScZcVoqghMya19M94hzD2lbbIyroiaxVte0B4DE-81Gw26NFc7gjE4djyE4EBCh7m7ngXJ>

Nahoon Montessori School, South Africa

Terry McArdle Free School, NJ
http://www.tmcafs.org/<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGJ6cHxJRp4kpufOvBvuAqCc5zviKGWizt4GivaAHY1-BWzek8kW8piMRy5m9bqihCiBVzcPcBLU6vn4m6wevRUgJsI2UU153jWcpUrtiMDVfg==>

Voyagers Learning Center, NJ
http://www.voyagerskids.com/<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGLvNXCpCMpze7bOzv_aJoh3ck0bC3MZVBC6RTnuj6WsedsHSYmKxFZ3S7s880hBcJKlnqPimeM9qRdPFew-jy3BNfNpv-HU75nu6vLIPyhaMQ==>

Village Free School, Or
http://www.villagefreeschool.org/home<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGI47oS_5arRCcUVz3ay3rlUPCSsrqjy-7bB3B8N3wlUCS928hJF8m7WKA20c7L_VTAWHQ1bDiPiUv1nbV9r7e7Z7yT2ef4e1rlr2Yb-aVS63gIr4CLGUDUX>

Missoula Community School, MT
http://www.villagefreeschool.org/home<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGI47oS_5arRCcUVz3ay3rlUPCSsrqjy-7bB3B8N3wlUCS928hJF8m7WKA20c7L_VTAWHQ1bDiPiUv1nbV9r7e7Z7yT2ef4e1rlr2Yb-aVS63gIr4CLGUDUX>

Hill Country Montessori, GA
http://www.hillcountrymontessori.org/<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGKRl_P4uIYrS1n0Bx6Z8JFGeWRYhu52Gojd_EBTZmHa3CuB9aA7gVAluZEHbQKQYODL6Qc-Mw_NAQljtS9uxKoKXonEnk-o7NOUqortUwWRz_JQO57_Il5N>

Arch Academy, VA,
www.archacademy.org<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGK27dVxfIF5isGevNc1CsLQfDEjMFPgZQR7kgYtSOQxticrA4pNG2Xg4BxOWBOFczKD5zxZAWe-ienVSKJYhxo3BKwHxQkFIsuSiirnMVaXiw==>

Celebration Education, CA
www.CelebrationEducation.com<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGJWyKTcfuA3MKbRQ-POHUXkH2S2Df-c-0yH0BMAXFAGEekP-Yt-XAD8gCtQptGqeRpiBABxQncfi3Whb-7kDSs9XIEIGOWkMD55Lm_16o4FSQbScK4ft9gv>

Harriet Tubman Free School, NY
http://www.tubmanschool.org<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGIDOX07_XG_SI8z7NEowtonQLZHMbrmnC6s9qyK-W51ewR5OZdYE_9_Gn7vacou8uQxyPZpHXfMnMBv9zFtq4F0q2hd5FEnJnbP0StjATg2IA==>

Espacio A, Puerto Rico

The Discovery School, ME www.the-discovery-school.org

Shenendoah Valley Community School VA
www.svcs.us<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGK2R9_XGJsXCz8ypaKiXNEXXprppQ1u2gvkJKz5wumhwDw477XG1gsb2i3OWwwtW2uIW1h6ZeuKr117Udrdf66cTIypQJGcvfk=>

Forest School, Canada, elementofadventure en yahoo.com

The Central Coast Village School centralcoastvillagecenter.org

Wheels of Life School, WA
www.wheelsoflifeschool.com<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGJQPx5thV6JYZj8TN5j7q5esG0hVVWMh4aIKdCkxFuyDtw96MKMVI_kjREP0p0E57uBE0Rjyz6vWEX7XGGlKyfRJg6C2kYn2MilZAIWp20UAkyTSRpKPvHg>

The School Without Walls, FL
www.theschoolwithoutwalls.com<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGLr5zzs0_stkJxb2k-Gr4mHN4tvzWaHo0Gw9Q4hJUD265Xa9pxUCkcrqYFeanxlPYKofGOSgQ4QtBgcsNAm-ZmzFh0dRo_qwZKKjDfCbBXwDvID3sMOAP4E>

The Journey School and Resource Center, VT,
http://www.thejourneyschool.com<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGKmZ6eK_Pmpdjg12QbF48MaJfp7GVgBe6loudK1iZ9P6_kmsgdANEU12G_yhmC7cucm4Z1W1XvLRVnviyXw4YuMrk_UbpCqOMm1f1Wgr3XpEw==>

Wildwood School, BC

The Watershed Learning Center-Circleville, NY)

Ashuelot River Free School NH
http://www.arfs.us<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGIHhD7iFxnSru7hXF2fSjnUk7HOJ6zWKvyQNi_YuvZaQ2yAUf3JPek_ebrPQQJLUqzN7snctyL34PKUhuz-JDlTeXB2NvAVc60=>

The Whole School Limerick, ME

Home Life Academy, TN
http://www.homelifeacademy.com<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGKj5-NtNX8uLGA0tnZbfU3tuq_M97Jwv5di9QJFTsqVmuKddOWrcg-0cLBFks0q8VgpTo_7lNLaazB6t1rY6zx4UbrxiPvSqdEmQHCaqvjp6A==>

Liberty Learning Center, TX

Laura Austin Achievement Center, NY

More info about the courses and enrollment forms are at the following site.

 http://www.edrev.org/onlinecourses.html<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGJd9XAUmxExxfnZ53-IFa4_TSUoUXYB7jqNZycENlS-VYZKjp9gtD4VA3hzLvDdT1NaiYr72WFu83LzdOiwhz9b8sHqzFlY88lzzrnQocSkCFTmc3jBs7EnzzaewaFNlbc=>

If you have not received the syllabus or have questions you can request them
from Aleksandra at AMKaero en gmail.com.

If you want to make a commitment to enroll, or need scholarship help, just
reply to this e mail right away or write to Jerryaero en aol.com.

Some comments from last year's course:
*"The course was a wonderful for clarifying my vision – it helped me look at
the process of starting a school step by step and brought up many important
questions for me. The design of the course was great because it went from
looking at broad to specific parts of the plan."

"I loved Ron Miller's chapter because I thought it was really
well-researched and it helped me connect some dots. How to a Grow a School
was wonderful and inspiring, reading real stories from people who've
successfully started schools really helped me understand the details
involved and the many ways you can make things work. The Vision of a School
exercise was great, too, because although I've been adding bits and pieces
to my vision for a long time, this was a good chance to edit it and make it
more concrete."

"The course was fantastic. It was really inspiring to get in touch with a
community of people who not only don't think I'm insane but even share a
vision of what education can and should be that's similar to my own."

"I am extremely grateful to AERO for giving me the opportunity to partake in
this remarkable course! This course has proved to be a major turning point
in my long-drawn-out search for a concrete direction towards starting my own
democratic, non-coercive free school."*

Yours,

Aleksandra Majstorac Kobiljski & Jerry Mintz
 http://www.edrev.org/onlinecourses.html<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGJd9XAUmxExxfnZ53-IFa4_TSUoUXYB7jqNZycENlS-VYZKjp9gtD4VA3hzLvDdT1NaiYr72WFu83LzdOiwhz9b8sHqzFlY88lzzrnQocSkCFTmc3jBs7EnzzaewaFNlbc=>

*2) Report on IDEC 2008 in Vancouver, Canada*
The International Democratic Education Conference in Vancouver Canada took
place from August 11th, 2008 to August 18th. Some presentations received
standing ovations, such as the one by Yacov Hecht, who organized the first
IDEC in 1993. Among other things, he told us that the city of Jerusalem
wants him to help them democratize their schools. (More on that later.)

This conference was the latest in a remarkable series if such gatherings.
These meetings have led to changes, sometimes revolutionary to the
educational climate in the areas where they have been held.

First I should explain that the IDEC is not an official organization. It
started as a meeting of a dozen people, organized in Israel in 1993 by Yacov
Hecht after a broader conference on multicultural education. Yacov, who had
founded the Democratic School of Hadera, a few years earlier, decided to
pull together just those who were involved with democratic schools. We
toured his school, discussed the possible future of democratic education and
went home. Little did we know that we had sparked a movement that continues
to grow and flourish.

The next year David Gribble, who had founded the democratic Sands School in
Devon, England, organized a second meeting at his school in 1994. I didn't
go to that, not realizing its significance. David also kept the spark
kindled by putting out a newsletter.

My organization, the Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO), is
a nonprofit whose mission it is to promote educational alternatives that are
learner centered and empower students. For example, one of my earliest trips
was to what was then the Soviet Union in 1994 for the First New Schools
Festival, which opened up communication between the East and West.

So, when I realized there would be a third meeting of democratic schools in
1995 in Austria, I was determined to go. Now there were perhaps a hundred of
us from many more countries. The group didn't really have a name yet and was
just referred to as the Hadera conference, after our first meeting place.

Shortly thereafter we set up a list-serve for the participants and those who
were interest. Most of the subsequent discussion and organization has been
through that list-serve, which has about 350 subscribers around the world.

The meeting in 1996 was again in Israel, much larger and with the support of
the Ministry of Education.

The 1997 meeting was probably our most important. It was completely
organized by students from the Sands School. I remember unsuccessfully
trying to find out the schedule and calling the director of Sands to ask
about it. He said, "Yes, it's frustrating! I don't know what they are
planning!" So I was amazed the find that it really was totally being
organized by students!

The students named it the International Democratic Education Conference
(IDEC). They moved it to the summer so they could extend the time to ten
days! They felt it needed to be more of a community than a conference and
decided that there would be NO preplanned workshops. They wanted everyone to
be there first so that the students would be totally involved in the
scheduling of events and it would not be just a series of talking head
workshops by adults. It was an early practice of open scheduling. It was
brilliant! It not only had intellectual workshops, but also caving, hiking,
games, arts and crafts, music, field trips and sports.

Since that time I have been to almost all of the IDEC meetings, including
the next one, hosted by the Stark Family School in Ukraine in 1998 and the
1999 IDEC at Summerhill School in England as they were successfully taking
the English education department to court for trying to close them. In fact
the IDEC has often met at a site to support a beleaguered school. When we
met at Stork, the school was being charged 80% taxes by the Ukraine
government!

Since then we have had IDECs in Japan, New Zealand, India, Germany,
Australia, and Brazil. We organized the only one in the United States in
2003. We had 650 people from 28 countries, including 100 people from Third
World Countries. We raised $65,000 so they could come.

This year's IDEC was one of my favorites. As usual, it was organized from
scratch by a grassroots group who had never done it before. The group is
called SANE, the Society for the Advancement of Noncoercive Education and is
connected to Windsor House School, a democratic public alternative in North
Vancouver that was founded in 1971 by Helen Hughes. A highlight of the
conference was Helen's conference concluding keynote celebrating her 50
years in education, so far! Windsor House has had its own battles in recent
years, being forced to move to a smaller building, having an outside
principal forced on them, etc. But they have successfully persevered, and
hosting this IDEC will undoubtedly help them.

The biggest group of attendees this year was from Korea, which will host
next year's IDEC. It included 27 people, mostly students. The organizer of
that group, Tae Wook Ha, has been involved with AERO and the IDEC for over
ten years, starting as a graduate student in England.

I arrived in Vancouver with my heavy bags at 5 AM after a sleepless flight
from New York. The conference was to be at the University of British
Columbia. They had put me on the 6th floor but said the elevator was broken.
After I told them that I would not be dragging my bags up six flights of
steps, they put me on the second floor. It was full of ultimate Frisbee
players from Australia who had just competed in a world championship there,
coming in second to Japan.

On Sunday the Windsor House School and SANE people arrived in force,
unloading a big truck with materials taken from their school. In a brilliant
move, they recreated their school on the UBC campus, to run at Windsor House
Live throughout the conference, complete with voluntary classes and
activities and a daily democratic meeting. The site was lovely, with nearby
mountains and a beach below.

Right next to all this activity they put a ping-pong table on which I could
teach. At the AERO conference I ordinarily don't have much time for this,
but here I was able to teach about 50 people over the 7 days of the
conference. I love doing this, as it gives students confidence in their
ability to learn in a nonacademic setting. Since my teacher is a former
world champion, I am able to help people get that "Wow! I don't believe I
just did that!", moment in almost every lesson. It also enabled the Korean
students to connect with the Canadian, American and other students and adult
participants through the common language of table tennis.

One of my first tasks was to attempt to persuade Canadian embassies to
approve the visas for the Russian and Nepalese groups. In the Russian case,
a group of 10 from the Moscow International Film School was stranded there.
David Gagnon, tireless IDEC 2008 coordinator told me he had no idea how to
reach them and had not been able to get through to the embassy. Through a
typical event of synchronicity, as I went into my second floor room, from
three doors down the hall I heard "Jeereey! Jeereey!" It was Alla Kerzina,
founder of MIFS, who had immigrated to Canada! She had the cellphone number
of the Russian group leader. I called on SKYPE, reached her and the group at
the embassy, got the name and e mail address of the person in charge and
fired off a quick note to him, vouching for the group. They got their visas
and arrived at the conference 1 1/2 days later! Although I did reach the
equivalent person in India to plead for the Nepalese group, there I was
unsuccessful, the one sad note for the conference. I am continuing however
to see if we can arrange for them to visit the United States.

There is so much else to report on, I simply can't go into detail or even
list them. For example:

*Henrik Ebenbeck reported on the recent European Regional IDEC in Germany
with 380 attendees!

*People attended from many other countries including England, Israel,
Palestinian Territory, Japan, Peru, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, India,
and South Africa, some with foundation funds raised for the purpose.

*A group from Summerhill School came and showed the drama about their
successful battle with the English government having just been seen by
millions on BBC!

*There were exciting panels of teenage students and younger students,
moderated by our own Isaac Graves. When one questioner ask a student what he
wanted to do later in life, a 12 year old replied "Why do you need to know?
You'll see what we can do!"

*I did a benefit auction that raised $1000 to support the conference group.

*There were dozens of workshops every day, trips to the mountains, to the
beaches, Korean drumming and a dance at the end.

*Brent Cameron told me how he has an online unschooling program for 700
students in BC, using special software that creates a virtual school that
has gathering places, choices of teachers and libraries. The government is
paying $3500 a student, and does so because the tracking software is so
good. He plans to expand this year to 200 outside of BC.

*Keynote speakers included Don Four Arrows, a Native American speaker and
writer, and Mimsy Sadofsky, a founder and teacher at Sudbury Valley School.

Yacov Hecht's keynote had everyone enthralled. Not only has he helped start
26 democratic schools in Israel, but, "I was looking for a crazy guy and
someone found him for me!" He was the mayor of a poor, run down city in
Israel who asked Yacov to help him democratize the schools in his city. Once
that had happened, people flocked to the city, new buildings were built,
green belts were created and the city thrived. Now other cities want his
help, the latest being Jerusalem! In the Jewish religion there is a saying,
"Next year, Jerusalem!" Perhaps after that, many more democratic schools
around the world! Next year Korea!!   *SEND THIS TO SOMEONE ELSE*
We now have over 8,000 readers, all people who have contacted AERO directly!
Is there someone you know who would benefit from the information in these
dispatches?  Please forward this one to them and have them visit the AERO
Web site at  www.educationrevolution.org<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001MSlPX8yeZGJXzrKRCHROutOifwe99CedF9G8wiQXukU0ZxLP2PuiubLzkisTQoyAV8hDe_PCsNysB6oiFFq95qmb2Okmg3uHHs5Stijvl7uzgePVFadMylF4tEFNyvO6>and
sign up for the free e-newsletter.

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Email: info en educationrevolution.org

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-- 
"Nire amonak emakume ikasi bat izan nendin nahi zuen, horregatik ez ninduen
eskolara eraman"
"Mi abuela quería que fuese una mujer culta, por eso no me llevó al colegio"
"La meva àvia volia que fos una dona culta per això no em va dur a l'escola"
"My granma wanted me to be an educated woman, that's why she didn't take me
to school"
Margaret Mead
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