Communities Educate not Schools

Axioms and presuppositions are mostly held without acknowledgement. Like automatic spell check, we deem the educational process of young-ins to be bounded by the four walls of the school. Now we know, of course, as wonderfully intelligent educators that it is not true. But see the thing is we don't act like that is the case. If we were to examine our conversation it's about testing, teacher evaluation and lesson plans for school based education. The closest we get to thinking otherwise is talking about parent involvement and in the more dark corners we ask why parents are not doing their job.

Such suppositions were not always the case. After doing a little background reading on Lawrence Cremin from Columbia and his 3 volume magnus opus works on American Education (one of which won a Putlizer Prize), I was chagrined at my feeble knowledge of education history. One of the axioms Cremin suggests is that for a long period in the 1800s, that learning was spread around through multiple sources in the community including the school. The industrial era model changed all that and the axiom for along period of time is that learning is centered in the school.

Whatever we think "21st century" education will bring to the American society, we most certainly know it will be about decentralization of learning. Already we talk about distance learning and online courses. However, I never fully grasped the point of community education until I started reading about the "Learning Dreams" Group. Based out University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development, this group has in essence returned to pre-industrial model of community based education. Professor Stein and his group have a new vision for education that may well fit better with real "21st Century Education" than all the tech models we educators promote. I will let their web description do the talking and leave the link.


"Learning Dreams creates a culture of learning. We provide intense home and community-based support for parents and children to help them become active members of a culture of learning. Learning Dreams works with the parent's deepest motivations, their personal dreams and hopes for their own lives and the lives of their children. We build their strengths and continue to support them over time as they make progress realizing their learning dreams.

Learning Dreams breaks out of the mold of waiting for schools to tackle issues that belong to the family and their community. That is why Learning Dreams offers new hope.

Working with many families in a community over time, Learning Dreams re-energizes and builds sustainable support for an enduring culture of successful learning. Learning Dreams assists families to connect with libraries, employment centers, community colleges, and other resources. Using a family's own dreams as a motivating force, Learning Dreams links them to the vast local learning network. In this process community institutions also become more effective at connecting to families and the learning network becomes more creative and inclusive."

http://www.learningdreams.org/