Education for Social Change:
The Role of Field-Based Education in Building Social Movements
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DATES: April 18-21, 2015
LOCATION: New Gloucester, ME Now accepting applications on a rolling basis. TUITION: We ask participants to contribute on a sliding scale from $450 to $975, taking into account your employer’s ability to contribute and that any profit from this program goes into financial aid for our student programming. Tuition includes all meals and housing for the duration of the retreat. College or graduate student minimum tuition: $200. If 3 or more participants from the same school attend, individual rates are $150 per person. CREDIT: Graduate level credit is available through Marlboro College for an additional $360. Please let us know if you're interested in receiving credit when you apply, and we'll send you more information. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
This participatory and experiential workshop is for educators who are passionate about educating for social change and who are or want to be teaching about social and environmental issues in the field. Participants will be introduced to the nuts and bolts of field-based curriculum design as well as the skills, tools, and techniques for facilitating students to seek multiple perspectives on an issue and to determine their own beliefs and actions. Throughout the workshop, participants will be asked to reflect on issues of identity, accountability, and privilege inherent in field-based* education. In doing so, they will consider mainstream-margin dynamics and structures of power as well as their their own role as facilitator/educator. Other topics will include engaging student partnership, solidarity vs. charity in field-based education, and tools for partnership-building with people and communities. *The Field Academy uses the term “field-based” to encompass the practice of engaging students in “the field” through an exploration of the individual, the group, and the larger systemic context. Educational terms like experiential, expeditionary, place-based, adventure education, and critical pedagogy, while not interchangeable, are all relevant. |
ABOUT OUR HOST: WAYFINDER SCHOOLS at OPPORTUNITY FARM
Wayfinder Schools, located at historic Opportunity Farm outside of Portland, ME, offer relational learning programs, founded on restorative justice practices, to provide students with the skills and experience necessary to discover their strengths, connect with their families and communities, practice personal responsibility, and graduate from high school. Learn more here.
The Field Academy's Educator Retreat was an absolutely phenomenal experience. A passionate, genuine, and talented organization drew passionate, genuine, and talented individuals to a beautiful and wholesome place. We energized and inspired each other in building Place-Based Education curricula, which I can't wait to apply to my work. |
