Microschool

A Learning Center or an Educational Commons for homeschool/school/unschool for children (learner educators) and adults (educator learners). 

• • The root meaning of ‘school’ originates from leisure.

  • Exploring both the ‘outer world’ and the ‘world within’ and their relationship and interaction.

  • The environment does not promote: (i) reward and punishment, (ii) the avoidance of failure or the worship of success, (iii) conformity to authority (external or internal - i.e. our own conclusions and beliefs).

  • The intentions, curriculum, and pedagogy of the micro school are rooted in directly exploring the world and not based on abstracted methods of practice and application.

  • Inter and transdisciplinary curriculum exploring questions and themes.

  • 'Mandala' design reflecting contingency and impermanence - generating a real-learning world rather than real-world application.

For an inspirational resource/starting point see: Video clips (below) of Rishi Valley School's RIVER, MGML (Multi-Age and Multi-Level), 'School without walls', with narration from Education and the Significance of Life - Krishnamurti.

School Without Walls (3 min excerpt) 

Teacher: Home-life and life-at school (30 seconds) 

Microschool Operations: 

(Please note the following structure is pliable to chaange drawing on the intentions, questions, and priorities of the participants including the educator learners, learner educators, parents, and wider community members).

Below is a provisional iteration/version of how the pilot micro school would work. The school will start operating with 15–20 children, aged 6–15, in a multi-age learning environment. The operation is intentionally small to ensure close relationships, pliability, and personalized attention. 

A day in the life of the school includes:

• Whole school assembly in the round: movement, singing, dancing, noticing, sitting quietly, announcements, wonderings, and sharing.

• Morning Circles & Inquiry Blocks: dialogues rooted in core questions of the week/month.

• Project-Based Learning: students engage in interdisciplinary, hands-on, and minds-on explorations in diverse subject matters - centering explorations relevant to local and global themes and challenges.

• Independent Learning Pods: time for self-directed reading, writing, drawing, movement, making, and other explorations responding to the child’s individual explorations.

• Reflection Time: daily journaling, drawing, nature walks, and group sharing.

• Meal times.

• Walks.

Weekly/Monthly Structures:

• “Deep Dive” Days: extended time to explore community-linked themes (e.g., living systems, culture, storytelling).

• Reflective Inquiry Sessions: small group or one-on-one reflection related to subject matters including human development, and social and emotional learning.

The root meaning of ‘school’ originates from leisure. The structure will prioritize a sense of leisure.