Freelearning

Traditional Language and Advanced Technology

Seminole elders used money from their casinos to set up a school for their children that uses advanced technology and teaches the traditional ways.

Students at the school, which opened in August and cost $10 million to build, are learning how to navigate the 21st century while still retaining their culture. So in one classroom, children learn language arts -- by podcast. Down the hall, others recite words in Creek, the Seminoles' language. Outside, just beyond the school's fence, cattle graze.

Children use laptop computers and ipods.  They have classes in beading and other crafts.

Classes are small and the children enjoy learning.  They teach their parents the Seminole language and ask their grandparents for help with pronunciation. This is an experiment to see whether traditional ways and modern technology can both exist in a culture.

I wonder whether internet contact with other original peoples would increase the value students place on their language and culture.  Would interest from students in another part of the US who are curious about the Seminole students' way of life lead to mutual respect for native ways?

Successful Inner City School

Edutopia reports on an inner city school in Baltimore that is successfully meeting the needs of its students.  Out of 570 who have ever attended the Baltimore Talent Development High School , only 11 have dropped out.

An HBO series called The Wire has reported on the problems in city schools.  In its fourth season it tells the true story of a successful school.

. . . Located in the same West Baltimore neighborhood as the fictional school in The Wire, one small learning environment, Baltimore Talent Development High School, is doing this imagining in real life.

"The premise of the model is double dosing," says Robinson. Citing academic failure as the most significant reason for dropouts, he explains that Baltimore Talent students double up on classes in key content areas, taking the equivalent of two English courses and math classes in their ninth-grade year, with skill-building courses in the first semester. Because most Baltimore Talent students come in below grade level, this schedule "better prepares them to succeed and pass and move on to tenth grade," explains Robinson.

The principal knows every student by name and interacts with them lightly as he walks through the halls.  Adults separate the rules of the street, which they do not try to tell students how to deal with, and the rules in school that are to be respected.  University and community members meet with students to review their report cards and make plans for improvement.  Successes large and small are celebrated.

This school is more traditional than many I have reported on here.  It has the advantage of showing how schools might become more successful working within the school environment.  This example does not require a revolution.  It does show respect for students and a sincere desire to see them succeed, meeting them where they are.  Though it is not an example of "free learning", I suspect that the students graduate with confidence in their ability to learn.  Future lifelong learners.

Learning Centres Replace High Schools

No more school as council opens 'learning centres' Independent, The (London) - Find Articles.

The style of learning will be completely different. The new centres will open from 7am until 10pm in both term-time and what used to be known as the school holidays. At weekends, they will open from 9am to 8pm. Youngsters will not be taught in formal classes, nor will they stick to a rigid timetable; instead they will work online at their own speeds on programmes that are tailor-made to match their interests.

A school district in England, where many students had low test scores, has decided to develop an unorthodox approach to "school."  They are in the process of transitioning their high schools to a learning centers approach.