Training Opportunity for New Schools and Learning Communities
Are you part of a new school or learning community? Are you looking for a curriculum to nurture the whole person? Do you need training in mentoring young people?
The Biophilic Education Alliance (BE All) has created the holistic Da Vinci Life-Skills curriculum for students aged 10+ and are offering you the opportunity to implement it at your learning community. To keep the cost as low as possible, they are giving educators the chance to be trained as a group so that the fee can be shared between several schools and learning community start-ups.
They are looking for 10 participants from start-up (or newly established) schools and learning communities to form a cohort for their Biophilic Education Mentor training, to commence in September 2023. Please join this online information session with BE All co-founder Rosina Dorelli on July 24th if you would like to find out more.
The Problem
“If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.” - John Dewey
Many people are questioning whether the current standardised national education system is fit for purpose. Is it providing the necessary skills for the 21st century? Is a one-size-fits-all, high-stakes exam model enabling all students to achieve their potential?
A Solution
Biophilia - the "passionate love of life and all that is alive... whether in a person, a plant, an idea, or a social group." - Eric Fromm
The BE All vision is to inspire and empower learners and educators so that together we can build a more sustainable and equitable world where everyone is valued for their unique talents.
They deliver holistic, contextual, transdisciplinary, project-based courses for students, that are assessed formatively and evidenced by project portfolios. They say:
Da Vinci Life-Skills Curriculum
BE All’s Da Vinci Life-Skills curriculum has five project pathways (as opposed to conventional school subjects), including:
1. Food (nutrition/permaculture/cooking/world food);
2. Enterprise (product design/engineering/entrepreneurship);
3. Multiverse Games (role play/LARPing/animation/SEL);
4. Production (film/theatre/music/events/exhibitions);
5. Personal Exploration (autonomy/curiosity/passion).
Training
At BE All schools, adult staff members are mentors rather than teachers. BE All Mentor development courses are offered to BE licensed schools and learning communities:
“Biophilic Education is a new approach to teaching and learning, bringing together years of academic research in the fields of psychology and neuroscience. We are shifting the values away from an all knowing, authoritative teacher figure that stands at the front of the class to fill empty children with remembered knowledge, to a shared learning journey where a teacher becomes a facilitator of learning.
We ask students what they are interested in, what they are curious about and help them discover where their talents lie. We foster environments where both teachers and students can explore their passions, grow in confidence and collaborate to produce innovative and imaginative solutions to the worlds problems.”
Are you interested in implementing Biophilic Education in your school or learning community?
If you would like to find out more about the Da Vinci Life Skills curriculum and BE Mentor training, please join BE All co-founder, Rosina Dorelli in this online information session.
We’d be grateful if you could forward this on to anyone else you think might be interested.
Thanks!