ALF Summer 2019 at ALC Mosaic is now FULL!
Check out other great ALF training options happening around the world here.
@ALC Mosaic
For parents, facilitators, Self-Directed Education community organizers, ALC startup groups, and social justice practitioners in all stages of the work:
We designed this collaborative training for those interested in understanding and practicing Agile Learning Facilitation, starting an Agile Learning Center, developing a relationship with the ALC Network and its southeastern US region. Equally important, ALF Summer is ripe with opportunities for anyone looking to deepen their understanding and engagement in Self-Directed Education, even without plans to start or attend an ALC.
ALC Mosaic is a partner and collaborator in the Agile Learning Centers Network and educational model. This year there will be several ALF Summer experiences offered across the ALC Network, designed to provide more options for startups and emerging facilitators, and to strengthen the regional communities within the larger ALC Network.
ALF Summer at ALC Mosaic includes 3, 5, and 10-day ALC experiences. Scroll on to learn more.
ALF Summer 2019:
The Basics and Beyond
ALF Summer is emergent and always evolving. As such, while we expect to cover many of the "basics" organically and will make time to get everyone's ALC tools & practices questions answered, we also intend to continue embodying personal growth and co-learning this year by going deeper into Self-Directed Education topics than we have in the past.
There is much to explore beyond the basic questions of what it looks like and how it works! Those who have been active in SDE spaces for a while are aware of the ways in which SDE work can be a portal and a conduit to so many other levels of personal growth, community building, and social justice work. We intend to go deep in those conversations together this summer, and we’d love for you to join us.
Below is a list of possible topics to explore. As always, we’ll co-create our schedule and have a mixture of offerings that come as a direct result of the latest work of our facilitators and the requests and interests of participants.
Raising free people, raising aware people (SDE don’t make you woke; how will we integrate the two when we grew up with them feeling hella separate?)
Gender transitions in longtime SDE families
How to support a partner (in supporting themselves) who is new to SDE
All ages ALC: Developing an ALC that is more than “a school for kids”
Now that my school/center’s flow is settling in, what do I do to support and keep pushing
College readiness for the college-excited SD learner + Teen ALC
Co-founders and/or facilitators’ burnout
Technology in shared spaces: how to raise aware people while having access to internet, media, handheld devices, etc.
Supporting young people transitioning in and out of school
SDE work in your family: being in partnership and “peopling together”
Growing SDE Communities without tuition using a community co-op model
Making the social justice + SDE connection stronger in action in my center/community
Chronicling play and progress without ruining it with conventional edu tools
Freedom not license
At a Glance:
July 8-10: Basics & Beyond
Learn about the core ideas that have inspired the ALC model, dive into your personal de-schooling process, and explore ALC tools & practices with this 3-day option.
9am-5pm Monday – Wednesday
July 8-12: Basics & Beyond + Co-Creation
Stay for an additional two days to dive deeper into topics that go well beyond the basics of ALC and SDE. Be a part of co-creating an ALC with other ALC facilitators and startup teams.
July 11 & 12 is also 9am-5pm
July 8-19: The Works (Basics & Beyond + Co-Creation + ALC with Mosaic students)
Stay for an additional week and you can experience ALC Mosaic with some of our students. Immerse yourself in the full ALC experience with all ages and practice facilitation in the ALC context.
July 15-19 is 9am-5pm, Monday – Friday
Location: 6100 Monroe Road, Charlotte NC 28212
Learn more about each of these three aspects of our ALF Summer below…
Basics & Beyond
July 8-10: Monday - Wednesday from 9 am - 5 pm
Do you want to facilitate? Do you want to support self-directed learners in both individualizing their education and building a healthy community? Are you ready to do more of your own de-schooling work so you can support children more effectively? Are you looking for tools and practices to adapt for your own project?
Join us for a three-day Basics & Beyond collaborative workshop with experienced ALC facilitators and other ALC startup groups. We will put forth a range of possible topics to explore and share about, while also inviting participants to request specific offerings or make their own.
Prerequisites: Please download and read our Starter Kit, as well as Free to Learn by Peter Gray.
We may also send you some additional blog posts to read and/or videos to watch before arriving.
Basics & Beyond + Co-Creation
July 8-12: Monday - Friday from 9 am - 5 pm
This option includes the Basics & Beyond 3-day program, plus two additional days of ALC with other adults. While we may be putting forth some topics for the first three days to be covered, the immersive ALC days will have no pre-determined agenda items. You will co-create the experience with us and engage directly with ALC tools and practices for self-organization and culture creation.
Experienced ALFs will be facilitating daily intention/reflection groups, as well as making offerings to dive deeper into ALC practices. However, offerings are not limited to theory or discussions. You and others can make offerings that involve movement, the arts, literacy, mathematics, group games — anything! We will create our own ALC (for adults) so you can experience it firsthand.
The Works
July 8-12 & July 15-19: both weeks will be 9 am to 5 pm
Don’t miss a minute! This option includes Basics and Beyond, the extra days of co-creating an ALC together, and practice facilitating with kids!
We are inviting our students to come in for a week of ALC in the summer (something they are excited to do!). This is an immersive experience into what a week in an ALC feels like with people of all ages. Participants can make offerings and request offerings from other facilitators and students, or work on their own ALC start-up projects.
The day for adults will run from 9am-5pm, while the students will be at ALC from 9:30 to 3:30. Adults will have the opportunity at the end of the day to reflect on the days’ experience.
The Facilitators
Akilah S. Richards is an unschooling podcaster, writer, and founding board member of The Alliance for Self-Directed Education. Her work both challenges and encourages social justice minded people to explore privilege and power in their relationships with children. In her own family, Akilah, her partner, and their two daughters, use unschooling as a tool for decolonizing education and liberating themselves from oppressive, exclusive systems. Find her conversations and commentary at Fare of the Free Child Podcast where Akilah supports, connects, and highlights people of color designing their own liberation through Self-Directed Education and love-centered community building.
Lacy Arnold Manship is the Director of Education for the Roots program and founding community member at ALC Mosaic. Her interests are in respectful communication with young children, creating play spaces, natural literacy development, connection to the natural world and critical literacies as a tool for social change. She writes about and tinkers with these ideas as a facilitator and director of Roots, Mosaic’s early childhood program.
Nancy Tilton is the Director of Education for the Branches (7 & up) program at ALC Mosaic. After working in public schools in Maryland and North Carolina and a small private Friends school in Charlotte, Nancy set out to start her own school. Inspired by the traditions of democratic schools and unschooling, she started The Mosaic School in August of 2013. After connecting with the first ALC in NYC, The Mosaic School became ALC Mosaic and the first major collaborator in the ALC Network in 2014.
Dr. Sundiata Soon-Jahta is an Independent Educator/Anti-Oppression & Social Sustainability Activist. Sundiata’s work focuses on designing and promoting equitable and sustainable social, economic, and political systems. Sundiata is the creator of GROW SDE, a tuition-free cooperative unbusiness model for self-directed education, and host of Theory of Indivisibility podcast which analyzes the evolutionary origins, current complexities, and future of our social, economic, and political systems.
Tomis Parker has been facilitating in Self-Directed Education environments since 2009. He helped birth the first Agile Learning Center in NYC and served as the Director for three years. he now lives in Charlotte, NC where he serves as the Director of Operations. In 2017 he facilitated the launch of the Alliance for Self-Directed Education. He is passionate about sharing the ALC model, building bridges through the work of Self-Directed Education, and supporting communities where people are trusted to create a better world.
FAQs
How much does it cost?
Basics & Beyond: $225
Basics & Beyond + Co-Creation: $350
The Works: $675
We are reserving a limited number of sliding scale spots for those who are a great fit for ALF Summer but for whom the cost is prohibitive. Email us at alfsummer@alcmosaic.org for more info.
What all is included? Will there be food? Housing? Hot tubs?
Included:
Participation in the program
Light breakfast
Catered local, organic, vegan or paleo lunches
Lots of Sharpie markers and sticky notes
Some additional curated resources
New friends
A safe and inspiring space for your de-schooling and self-learning
Not included:
Dinners
Housing (see below)
Childcare (see below)
Hot tubs (unless we decided to build one together)
Toothpaste (bring your own toothpaste)
What is your space like in terms of accessibility?
Most of our meetings and gatherings will take place on the first floor of our school house, which has a accessibility ramp entrance option. There are four smaller rooms that may be used upstairs for breakout sessions that are only accessible by stairs, however breakout sessions can take place in alternative spaces downstairs and outside. All of our bathrooms are ADA compliant.
I’m coming from out of town — where should I stay?
There was a time when we offered to find and coordinate housing for everyone, which winds up being quite a thing! We’ve decided to keep the baseline costs of the program lower and ask participants to find their own housing arrangements. That said, we will gladly connect you with other participants once we’ve confirmed you are coming and send you all AirBnB options that are near our campus. We definitely recommend staying with other folks, as it will keep your costs down and provides a much more enriching experience since you can connect after-hours, too.
Can I bring my children to the 3,5, or 10-day experience?
Yes! We will organize childcare for those needing this support. We will ask you to contribute an additional $20/day/child. Children can eat with us for an additional cost, or you can pack food for them. If you sign up for “The Works” childcare for the final week will be “free” in the form of full participation in the ALC week we’ll be co-creating with Mosaic students. Please make sure your child wants to be there 🙂
I’ve already attended an ALF Summer program in the past — can I still come to all or part of this one?
Yes! If you have attended any training program hosted by ALC Network or an individual ALC, please fill out the application and let us know about your previous ALF Summer experience.
Will I be able to work in an ALC after attending this program?
We can’t guarantee that. The ALC Network doesn’t manage the hiring practices of the various ALCs, nor is there a standardized prerequisite for being hired as an ALF. There aren’t prescribed jobs awaiting those who attend an ALF Summer. That said, the ALF Summer programs we are offering in various regions are designed to serve as a catalyst into this work, primarily through our support of self-organized ALC Startups that have already become ALC Network members. What we are offering is both a foundations workshop where you will be informed about ALC as well as immersive experiences. You will be a big part of determining what comes next!
I want to open an ALC — will attending ALC Mosaic’s ALF Summer allow me to do this?
Let us know on your application if you would like to attend as a start-up ALC and we’ll go from there!
You will need to get our basic ALC Network membership at the very least, and then your participation in this program will only help you on your way to becoming a full-fledged ALC.
I have more questions — who can I contact?
Email us at alfsummer@alcmosaic.org