ASDE News

This Sunday in the ASDE Members’ Forum, renowned SDE community organizer Joel Hammon will be available to answer questions about leaving the school system, starting self-directed learning centers, and more. If you haven’t seen Joel’s TEDx Talk, click the link in his intro, below. It’ll inspire you and elicit questions for Sunday’s event...

Hello! I'm Joel Hammon. I taught in conventional public and private schools for 11 years before leaving to help start The Learning Cooperatives, a group of three Self-Directed Education centers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. I'm a co-founder and current president of Liberated Learners, a network of SDE centers that provide mutual aid and support, in addition to helping interested teams start their own SDE centers. I'm the author of The Teacher Liberation Handbook and recently gave a TEDx Talk on the same topic.

My work over the past 10 years in the Self-Directed Education movement has been focused on how to build SDE communities that are financially and operationally sustainable — which is one of the major challenges of any alternative education program. A big part of this work is figuring out how to describe SDE in a way that makes sense and is appealing to families that currently have children in the conventional system.

I'm happy to talk about the nuts and bolts of running or starting a program as well as working with young people and families in a self-directed environment.

On Sunday, April 29th, at 12pm noon/ET, until 9pm/ET, you can Ask Me Anything!

If you are not yet a member of the Alliance, it's easy to join:

self-directed.org/join

 

The online magazine from the Alliance for Self-Directed Education, designed to amplify and celebrate the voices of our movement.

	Sexuality, Gender, and Childhood (Part II) How perception of sexuality and gender is transformed by education, and what that means in Self-Directed Education. Alexander Khost
	The Junto Why a club of mutual- and societal-improvement is good for teenagers, and how to structure one. Brian Huskie
	Special Snowflake Syndrome Self-directed is mistakenly assumed to mean self-centered and self-important. Matthew Gioia

Featured Topics:

• Following Directions vs. Making Decisions — "Many parents and educators that I've met had stressed the importance of making children follow directions, in other words complying to the demands set by a given authority figure..."
• Rewards: a deal-breaker? — "There's an implication that to reward/reinforce a behavior is somehow related to force. We don't force our kids to work, but..."
• School Sucks, so Start Your Own! — "I ran a workshop for teens about starting their own self-directed learning centers."

Job Opportunities in SDE Communities:

• ALC Mosaic (Charlotte, NC)
• Fraser Valley Learners (Mission, BC)
• The Clearwater School (Seattle, WA)
• Co-Op Seeking Teacher/Facilitator (Fountain Valley, CA)

See All New Forum Posts