And Here We Are

I’ve wanted to open a school for over half my life. Maybe for as long as I’ve been able to consider the concept.

For the last 10 years, I’ve been working in the Self-Directed Education movement. I’ve seen schools and centers open, struggle, flourish, and everything in between. I’ve had lived, first-hand experiences and heard secondhand accounts of the struggle and beauty involved in running a center or school. My understanding of the reality of running a space, a community, has changed, but my dream has stayed the same. Starting and operating a community, a school, a center — whatever you want to call it — is hard. But it is worth it. I asked some friends, colleagues, dreamers, people I know, to tell me why they started their SDE/unschooling/learning communities. Here are some of those responses:

“I wanted to work with kids, but I couldn’t find a school I was willing to work in.”

—Nancy Tilton

“One of my reasons for starting an ALC was because I am a dreamer with a list of things I wish I could be and do. I figured if I couldn’t do all of the things, because I can only work so many jobs and raise a family, I could help other people do the things. I love the excited energy of a person diving in to what they are passionate about. I wanted to create a space where they had support from people that were as excited about their ideas as they were and willing to help them make it happen, while being flexible enough to not hold too tightly to one idea or path.”

—Anonymous

“Growing up, the adults around me would freely admit that many things we did made no sense then resign themselves to doing it anyway. School was the starkest example. Everyone knew it failed to inspire real learning or support healthy development. Everyone did it anyway. My career creating self-directed learning spaces is my refusal to accept that resignation.” —Anonymous

We start communities because we want to create what’s missing in our, and others’, lives. We start communities because we know there is another way. We start communities because we care about one another. We start communities because we want to be the change we wish for the world.

Years ago, my friend made a very astute observation about me, she said “Bria wants to open a school for people who are like her.” This comment, which I assume was meant as a compliment, caused my stomach to flip uncomfortably. She wasn’t wrong, I had wanted to start a school for people like me because in my mind, what I personally needed was what was missing from the education system. For years, I assumed something that many of us assume—that every child learns in the way that I do and needs the same things that I need, and I had planned to design my school based on that assumption. This is no longer anything close to my belief. But when you remove the assumption that everyone learns the way I do or needs the things I do, the heart of it remains: We start communities because we have needs that are not met by the current options.

Brooklyn and I are starting a school because we have a dream of a space where youth are not only respected, but get to make the decisions about their place, their community. We are starting a school because we want to practice and live something that currently seems rare in this culture, but doesn’t have to be: a community where conflict is accepted as normal and embraced and worked through; where people work to balance agency with responsibility to one another; and where we are free to explore and be curious and create and play and experiment and move and sit quietly and laugh and talk and live.

So here we are. At a dream that I’ve waited for the right time for. Because some dreams aren’t right in a certain moment, and that’s okay. But sometimes, they tell you exactly when it’s time. When there’s a need, when people are wanting for this, when you have learned and grown and are ready. And now I know we are creating a community we care deeply about, but also one that others will create alongside us. Because this isn’t about what one or both of us need individually. This is about co-creating what the community itself needs and wants. And that will change, and be messy, and be beautiful.

We hope you come along with us.


***

Speaking of community, we want to invite you to our May Day gathering next week. Come gather, talk, play, eat, and be in community together! Brooklyn and I will also be happy to answer any questions you may have about Meraki School of Democracy. Details are here.