At our first event, we held a discussion around the questions: why is it important that a free-skool exists? and, what should that free-skool look like?
We talked about positive and negative experiences in education and what made them distinct. From there, we moved towards answering those central questions and designing our own pedagogy, one that makes sense for us as a community in Pittsburgh, and one that is ongoing and critical.
Our free-skool…
- is inherently anti-capitalist/antiracist/anti-colonial
- is a place to learn from one another
- respects everyone’s autonomy
- sees kids and adults as equals
- values all forms of learning
- sees learning as a tool for liberation
- prioritizes relationship-building
- believes anyone can be a teacher, regardless of any degree or special qualification
- acknowledges that violence often takes away the natural teachers in our lives
- aims to value non-traditional learning and teacher-student relationships
- aims to act as a support network for trauma experienced in normal school
- aims to use plain language for plain understanding, define terms together, and be accessible to everyone
POSITIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCES LOOK LIKE…
- Teachers that adapt to students’ needs
- hands on classrooms, catering to different types of learners
- People learning at their own pace
- One-on-one learning
- Human connection and meaningful relationships between teachers and students
- Flexibility and autonomy front and center
- Culturally competent learning/content
NEGATIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCES LOOK LIKE…
- Competition inhibiting learning
- A theme of shame and embarrassment
- Guards holding students in a physical environment
- prison-like: bodily autonomy reserved for private schools vs criminalization and subordination at public schools
- mobility/movement associated with wealth
- compartmentalization and separation
- dissociating learning-content from reality
- being black in school → isolation
- being black increases chance of being labeled with adhd
- no fun!
- teachers that do not reflect the experiences of students
- excuse culture/teachers have authority of truth over students
- school = factory for knowledge, producing machines and workers not people
- culture of violence and criminalization
- “neck up” teaching → lack of focus on the body
- lack of support/no network for trauma that occurs in school
- language barriers
- no one helping students who don’t speak dominant language/english
- education = racist