In Human Rights, we discussed the responsibilities of human rights (who and how to hold accountable) , taking special interest in the Megaquarry planned for southern Ontario. This class is slowly moving timeslot to Tuesday at 7:30pm, OISE. Therefore the Human Rights Class will take place Tuesday at 7pm, Sunday the 15th at 1pm, and then, starting Tuesday the 17th, Human Rights will only take place on Tuesdays.
Homework for the week: create a drawing, poem, lyric, sentence, article, word, etc. on the right to water.
Next, we split into 2 groups for Real Democracy and First Nations History.
Real Democracy had a review week - discussing the 3 major oligarchies (feudalism, monarchy, and republic), next week the class will begin to explore Athenian democracy.
First Nations History read narratives and had a discussion on residential schools, and Brenda shared a little about her thesis which uses storytelling and mapping to exhibit her experiences.
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During social hour we had peaches, cherries, water, and pasta with vegetables, as well as our skule-wide discussion. We discussed: student accountability, workshops for teachers, and the school's name.
Student Accountability: Our classes have fairly consistent numbers, however, it is often not the same people. A combination of being free, and happening on a summer weekend affects the consistency of all the classes' student-base. We discussed ways in which to improve regular attendance, applicable at the teacher-learners' discretion. These range from assignments, to class synopses, to certificates. The linked document presents a list of all approaches we hope to continuously develop: Raising Learner-Teacher Responsibility Skule-wide support: create a memory box and recycling bin for Sundays - an anonymous system for continuously receiving ideas and criticisms; weekly rotations of organizing group to take responsibility of passerby and general email list; statement of collective liberation visible on Sundays represented by its mascot Anti O.
Workshops for Teachers: recognizing that most are new to the type of paradigm we operate under, and following up on requests from both students and teachers, we discussed workshops/classes for teachers to learn about popular education methods. We discussed asking popular educators to give a workshop on their experiences/popular education methods. Looking to do a workshop once every 2-3 weeks outside of our Sunday classes. Please contact Roxy (course coordinator) if you would like to get involved in the development of these workshops.
School Name: the freeskule has recently received notice from the UofT engineering society, that 'skule' is a registered trademark, and we have until the 31st of July to cease use of the word. We discussed the legality of this cease and desist letter, as well as its immorally. We talked about solution-names: freeskule *get rid of the space*, toronto free skool *need to talk to anarchist toronto free skool*, toronto free school, the rad school *rad as in radical*, and jokingly entertained the idea of the Alternative University of Toronto (AUofT). These suggestions + those from the facebook group will be brought to the student union meeting on Tuesday the 10th. Ultimately though, we need to talk to a lawyer before a decision can be made.
Other: fundraising - some members of the student union are organizing a treasure hunt on the island to fundraise for freeskule. If you would like to get involved, talk to George on Sunday, or email us. Next Sunday, July 15th, from 6-8pm we have a guest-teacher-learner, Grace Thompson-Campbell, coming help develop a political intervention theatre piece in support of the fundraiser.
space - Laura has started a gallery space with others, and will have some workshop/art space for freeskule sometime late August/early September.
July 11th - meeting to discuss general intro to freeskule class.
July 25th, 7pm Hart House UofT - Human Rights class' Families for Education Festival organizing meeting.
July 28th - keep your ears open.
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After social hour, we had Economics, followed by a new 6-week course that started this week entitled Understanding Resistance (equity class transformed, 8-10pm). In this class, we completed a thought experiment which asked learner-teachers to imagine themselves as a cooperative society whose homeland had been overtaken by a competitive society and they were forced to make refuge in the competitive society. Learning from their experiences, they recognize that the only way their culture will survive they must assimilate the competitive society. In groups of 6, students created mindmaps exploring how they would assimilate the competitive society, and then shared. At the end of the class, we will re-do this exercise and examine the differences. Next week, Understanding Resistance will look at ways in which people are resisting the dominant education system, with specific focuses on Ghanaian education, and Indigenous Research Methodology.
Homework: write down 1 way in which education is used as a tool to segregate, suppress, or hurt people.
All in all, it was a great day. Teachers, look to the attached document for freeskule tips on how to create classroom continuity. Students, see you tomorrow (Tuesday June 10th) at 6:00pm OISE 5th floor for our student union meeting, followed by Human Rights from 7:30-9pm. (That means we have to start the student union meeting on time!)
p.s. next Sunday Doug is coming at 1pm to teach a Plant Identification Course, followed by natural dyes in the evening. Bring a white shirt if you want to learn how to dye naturally!
