American Architectural Foundation
There’s an interesting conversation going on over here, that maybe has to do with some of the things I’m thinking about. I’m certainly thinking about curriculum, so I’m interested in The Met School which

has no classes, grades, or tests, but every student in the Met’s first two graduating classes has been accepted to college.

I’m also interested in creating assignments based on students’ own interest, creating learning paths that are meaningful for them, so I’m interested in Gatto’s and Littky and Washor’s designs which include internships, and so on.

After reading Doc, the story of Dennis Littky and the Thayer School in Winchester, New Hampshire, I’m also interested in school design, which includes curriculum and timetable. Littky (and Elliot Washor) both believe in the importance of dialogue, between school and students, between school and parents, between school and community. The importance of dialogue between teachers and students is to elicit students’ interests, around which a suitable curriculum can be built. This is an idea I got from Gatto, and have been trying to put it into practice in some of my own classes.

The Architectural Foundation Summit event includes an mp3 of Littky’s Big Picture co-founder, Elliot Washor. There’s a lot I don’t understand, so it’s hard to jump into this conversation, but I want to hang out and listen some more.

Here’s a radio show which includes an interview with Elliot Washor on the subject of small schools and local communities.