Freedom in Education Conference at Tallgrass

[Melissa Bradford]

Hi, everyone,

 

Here in the Chicago area we are planning a one-day conference this March 9 at Tallgrass Sudbury School entitled "Freedom in Education."

 

We wanted to bring Peter Gray to Chicago again this spring, especially since his new book, Free to Learn, will be coming out on March 5. He usually speaks at our local homeschooling conference and at our Sudbury model school each spring, but the conference is not being held this year so I wasn't sure how to best feature a talk by him in the Chicago area. At the same time, I've begun work on my doctorate in education, and discovered that many local professors of education are as dismayed by the dominant factory approach to education as many of us are. I've actually been quite surprised at how positively everyone reacts in my doctoral program when I share about our school with them. Friends and teachers at other local private schools as well as fellow doctoral students have also described to me some of their struggles with the current standardized system. (A fellow doctoral student shared with me that at her Chicago public high school, the students take standardized tests EVERY DAY for their entire high school career!)

 

We decided to plan our own conference to network and create allies among those who support learning through living and self-directed learning. In addition to bringing in Dr. Gray, we have several local professors of education participating, panels of Sudbury/unschooling graduates and parents, and local private school/unschool presenters. We will provide space and activities for registered children and teens in our rooms upstairs.

 

If you are located in the Chicago area, please consider joining us on March 9 from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. for our first ever conference! To register, go to http://conta.cc/11CteY0. To keep costs low, we are having the conference at our school in Riverside, a Chicago suburb, but that means space is limited, so make sure to reserve your spot now. The early bird rate expires Feb. 18.

 

You can "like" the event on Facebook to receive updates: https://www.facebook.com/events/508564149175252/?ref=notif&notif_t=plan_user_joined.

 

Melissa Bradford

staff member, Tallgrass Sudbury School

www.tallgrasssudbury.org