Apendice VIII Encuentros educativos

Acabo de escribir un mail, un super-mail ¡Un ladrillazo! a varios profesores de Holanda, Inglaterra y Gales. Después de varios días aprendiendo y des-aprendiendo... pues a compartir con ell@s información, charlas, talleres y mojitos ja ja ja...

Sin duda, los encuentros de ALE (Asociación para la Libre Educación) son una pasada ¡altamente recomendables! ¡son abiertos! ¡son vivos! ¡las familias se encuentran! ¡l@s niñ@s se encuentran! y también ¡l@s "profesionales" nos encontramos!.

Os lo copio y pego, por si queréis ver por donde anda investigando vuestro amigo Kalabaza en terrenos educativos y psicológicos... 

Ante cualquier duda, ¡consulte con su farmaceútic@!  ja ja

(si tienes dificultades con el inglés más abajo en comentarios lo he traducido al castellano aproximadamente je je)

 

INFORMATION ABOUT SPANISH ALTERNATIVES EDUCATION

WHERE DO WE START?

If we need to understand how is “magic” (learning by ourselves) works. I think we need to put attention since first moment, the first. In other words when a women is pregnant. In this moment or maybe before the conception there are many interesting factors that contribute (or not) to the satisfactory development of the baby.

The attendances begin not only for the future baby, also for their parents. It so important put attention not only in the baby or future baby. A respectful education is the key, it is not possible if we do not respect ourselves. I always put the attention in one part of the system and usually forget ourselves, ours needs, ours motivations.... The change of education system starts with our inside change, there are no way, the powerful learning with the practical example. This is one of keys for start to understand the “learning magic”.

PREGNANT

If we desire to have a respectful education, we have to be careful with the violence during the birth and post-birth process, in spanish language say “violencia obstetricia” I do not how translate this. This is a consequence of medical model so invasive to woman, she change as her role as passive agent and all decisions are taken by the medical specialist. It is another consequence of patriarchal system. More information in the website www.elpartoesnuestro.es

These days we try to recover old roles that we have forgotten during the modern race. For example the figure of accompaniment during the pregnant, in old times my grandparents called “acompañante de la partera” now we say “doula”. More information in the website www.redcirculardedoulas.blogspot.com

BIRTH

It is so important that we understand in this moment already is a person. And we need to considerer how complete persons, as us. Maybe there are more keys about try to understand “magic”.

If we think that a baby is similar a empty box or a blank notebook that we have to put into or write. This a consequence of us traditional teacher mentality, always think that children need to us and as super-hero teacher we need to help us, to save us.

This a metaphorical example of our society, since we are child start to obey, and after when grow up now we are ourselves that command to others. Repeat and repeat any times... it is also produce inside of the school the students obey to the teacher, and in the future will obey the boss instructions and recommendations in theirs jobs. There are not any space or possibility to learn about ourselves autonomy and self-management (autogestion), always needs somebody for do something (parents, teachers, managers, government...)

UPBRINGING

It the baby has and feel a safe place, safe adherence and context ready for his/her exploration. The food is so important, in the modern race we development many of possibilities, but one of then is more easy, economic, healthy and only depends of the mother, the breastfeeding. Maybe often forget that many solutions is not there out, there inside us. And so important the community, the social context, to share with other persons in “grupos de apoyo de lactancia materna” (breastfeeding support group).

More information in the website www.laligadelaleche.es

Kindergarten is one possibility, but be careful in this place usually reproduces the roles command and obey. There are other possibilities as “grupos de crianza compartida” (upbringing share support group) and “Madres de día” www.redmadresdedia.com (day's Mother) a person who cares a smoll group of 3 or 4 babies in own residence.

In relation with the attendances of context and the process of clean, sleep and food inside a respectful education, maybe the reference is the great research and experiential process was development by Emmi Pikler http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmi_Pikler in the famous “Locy institute” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s5Gbbnjf2Y with orphans child in Bulgaria. It is interesting how the attendances during clean, sleep, food and other primary needs the adult does not stop to talk, always with respectful, in the opposite approach is when clean or feed the baby become a mechanical process. Also respect the motricity skills of the baby, do not force to stand up or walking, the baby will do it when he/she is ready and his maduration process was complete and feel the need to explore walking. If putt attention is quite similar to the natural process to learn a language and the skills for reading and writing. As adult we need to provide the prepare context for learning and help him/her when they need, not before. The learning is a process not a result.

SCHOOLING OR NOT SCHOOLING

In my opinion, freedom is the capacity to decide it between few options or educations alternatives, not only two possibilities schooling or not schooling, and also many of education's methodology. And the capacity of decisions, it is not a responsibility only of adults, the children have the capacity to decide about theirselves as adult as well, but they needs the opportunity. Take decision is a ability that can learn since we are babies, with simple options and step by step, the can empowerment and take the ourselves futures.

Nowadays, we hope that the teenagers have not problems with decision progress, the adults have many difficulties for understand that the adults (parents, teachers...) decide for the children everything and when they birth eighteen we say “right now, you must to take all your decision about your life”.

In the web site www.ludus.org you can find more information about many educations projects, democratics schools, homeschoolin, unchooling, etc. and select a web site of the many education proyect. If I pick one, I recommended the Paideia www.paideiaescuelalibre.org in Caceres (west of Spain) with more 30 years of experience. In September I am going to this school and make the introduction course.

More web sites in relation with homeschooler and unchooler are:

ALE (Asociación para la Libre Educación) http://www.educacionlibre.org/ and the youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/videosEducacionLibre

Platform for freedom education (Plataforma por la libre educación) http://www.libertadeducativa.org/

Blog Homeschooling Spain www.homeschoolingspain.com

Specifically I recommend the personal blog http://welivelearning.blogspot.com.es/ she is mum, teacher and practice unschooling of their children at home is Ivonne Laborda. In this website you find the personal blog of his daughter Ainara http://creciendotodosjuntos.blogspot.com.es/

and the youtube chanel “la gran guia de la educación infantil” https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU-gEQnIhZVPT4HYgwBYvWg you can find speeches between mum's unschooling – homeschooling about topics, for example sex in the childrenhood, daily problems and practical solutions in a very easy language, so far a technical language that usually use the specialist of education. Laura Dodd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDiDxYzFySk also participate, she is a teacher from Wales.

One more thing, is identify needs and who is need that. First we can think carefully, it is really a need or is a adult need. And also, is a need or a requirement, or desire, or expectations of the adults that we dress as a need. For example, the children with seven or eight years need to learn to read or write or is a “need” of adults (parents, teachers, society expectation).

This is another reason (a key also) so important and always bring to change ourselves, a personally inside work because the systems is inside us and repeat and repeat it unconsciousness. The change start with ours.

Finally add, the Not Violent Communication (Comunicación No Violenta) by Marshall Rosenberg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiJH9_IJFUM methodology about counselling that it is very useful for the last proposal and also is a good strategy for identify and resolve conflicts.

ADULTS EDUCATION

I like so much the vision of Paulo Freire and popular education approach. In Madrid there is a school with more 30 years of experience. La Escuela popular de adultos www.prosperesiste.nodo50.org and working with methodology GAC, Colective Learning Group (Grupos de Aprendizaje Colectivo) everybody learn to everybody, is a learning experience in group.

There are many populars university education in Madrid as UniPoSIBLE (Universidad de la Sierra Norte de Madrid) www.unipopularsierranorte.wordpress.com or UPAU (Universidad Popular Alternativa de Usera) www.upausera.org in relation with social movement 15M (15 de Mayo).

SUBSIDY YES OR NOT

In relation with education projects usually we are need about money, in the first moment we can think in self-management but sometimes there is the possibility of subsidies (government subsidy, companies subsidy, ect...)

If we say no, it is ok only our education projects depend only ourselves. But if we say yes... (how Derry would say Thinking a smart little fox).

In my personal experience with older people in relation with alternatives projects of differents fields, I have learned that they catch the money but not use for grow up the project and build a big new structure. If we use the money for this proposal, the next year need other subsidy for maintain the new structure project. Then the project is depend of this subsidy, unconsciously we are sold the project.

There is other possibility, we can use the money for external activities, external things that if the next year we have not the subsidy, the main project continue without problems, and everything depend only ourselves, not a external organization.

OTHER ALTERNATIVES

In other fields we can learn a lot differents alternatives, and relation with our education projects. For example we can think and reflect about what is public and reconfigure the meaning. We usually talk about

public but forget adding the word governmental. We can change step by step, the public governmental to public community, public cooperation or public self-management.

In the relation with the economy is so interesting learn to manage with other economics relations, using a time's bank https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banco_de_tiempo land's bank https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banco_de_Tierras or our social currency https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moneda_local In Spain there are a lot projects in relation with this options.

For our mentality, we specialised in one or two fileds (I think it is a consequence our traditional education system). In my case is Education and Psychology, but I try to open my mind, left to think only cause-effect and start to think in system, in nets, in the relations between fields, persons and groups.

Maybe the next step in this path, is how can relation different fields, for example production (organic agriculture, handicraft), consumption (nearly a sustainable), employment (self-employment and cooperatives enterprises), political (development a direct democracy and using a virtual system vote) etc.

A real example is the platform in Madrid called “Economia bio-regional” (bio-regional economy) www.economiasbioregionales.org in this projects work together many people of differents field. They development a system that relation waste recycling, composting, agriculture, local shops and a social currency.

In the actuality, it so difficult try to develop a self-management education project, we usually have difficulties with money, with legal system, ect... and it is so common to other projects of different projects, maybe we need common solutions to common problems.