AERO E-News 25.05.2010

Some items from AERO’s  May E-news

“Democratic Education: Foundations & Principles,” a talk by Isaac Graves (VIDEO). The following talk was delivered at Voyagers’ Community School’s 2nd Annual Education Conference.  Find out more about the school and future events at www.voyagerskids.com

Description
Democratic education is on the cutting edge in contemporary educational philosophy and practice. This workshop provides a concise overview of what democratic education is, its common threads, goals, and key elements followed by painting the big picture of democratic education today. This is a highly informative and short (twenty minutes) presentation followed by questions and answers.

Watch the entire talk on our blog at: http://aeroeducation.org/2010/05/22/democratic-education-foundations-principles/

“Democratic Education with Young Children,” a talk by Elizabeth Baker (VIDEO)

The following talk was delivered at Voyagers’ Community School’s 2nd Annual Education Conference.  Find out more about the school and future events at www.voyagerskids.com

Description
Discussions about democratic education often revolve around the capabilities of older children (10-18 years old). Older children can make important decisions regarding the operation of the school, the rules governing the community and the manner in which they spend their time. But how does democratic education look when your community is mostly or entirely comprised of the very young (2 1/2 to 6 years old)? Using The Patchwork School as a working model, we will discuss the ways that we can adjust our practice of democratic education for the very young while still honoring the philosophical tenets which drive the movement.

Watch the entire talk on our blog at: http://aeroeducation.org/2010/05/22/democratic-education-with-young-children/

NEW: Making an Extraordinary School by Len Solo (BOOK)
Making an Extraordinary School: The Work of Ordinary People
Len Solo & Forewords by Jonathan Kozol & Roland S. Barth

Len Solo will be a featured presenter at the 7th annual AERO conference.  Visit www.educationrevolution.org/conference.html for more information.

“What a gift! Making an Extraordinary School offers an enlightened and enlightening alternative to what so many today must experience and endure in schools. It offers a powerful example of a better way.”
-Roland S. Barth

“Len Solo’s beautiful and tremendously useful story of the Graham & Parks School is one of those rare works on education that is a genuine joy to read”
-Jonathan Kozol

You can order the book and find out more at:/strong> www.educationrevolution.org/lensolo.html

 Len Solo has been an educator for most of his professional work life. He has been a public high school teacher of English, math, and social studies; founder of a small, private alternative school in Atlantic City (Atlantic County New School); founder and department chairperson of the Teacher Drop-Out Center at Stockton State College, Pomona, New Jersey; principal for twenty-seven years at Graham & Parks Alternative Public School in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and is currently an education consultant. He is also a painter, writer, and poet.

Len’s books include: Landscape of the Misty Eye, with Steve Weitzman; Rooted in Place; Making an Extraordinary School: The Work of Ordinary People; The Magic of Light; and has most recently contributed an essay in the anthology, Turning Points: 35 Visionaries in Education Tell Their Own Stories.