Introduction

 

"It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wrack & ruin without fail. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing & searching can be promoted by means of coercion & a sense of duty.
To the contrary, I believe that it would be possible to rob even a healthy beast of prey of its voraciousness, if it were possible, with the aid of a whip, to force the beast to devour continuously, even when not hungry, especially if the food, handed out under such coercion, were to be selected accordingly."

Albert Einstein


The new education has as its purpose the development of a new kind of person, one who - as a result of internalising a different set of concepts - is an active, inquiring, flexible, creative, innovative, tolerant, liberal personality, who can face uncertainty and ambiguity without disorientation, who can formulate viable new meanings to meet changes in the environment which threaten individual and mutual survival.
The new education, in sum, is new because it consists of having students use the concepts most appropriate to the world in which we all must live. All of these concepts constitute the dynamics of the question-questioning, meaning-making process that can be called learning how to learn.
Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner

The antithesis between a technical and a liberal education is fallacious. There can be no 'adequate technical education which is not liberal and no liberal education which is not technical.
Alfred North Whitehead

"Many students, especially those who are poor, intuitively know what the schools do for them.
They school them to confuse process and substance.
Once these become blurred, a new logic is assumed: the more treatment there is, the better are the results; or, escalation leads to success.

The pupil is thereby "schooled" to confuse teaching with learning, grade advancement with education, a diploma with competence, and fluency with the ability to say something new.
His imagination is "schooled" to accept service in place of value. Medical treatment is mistaken for health care, social work for the improvement of community life, police protection for safety, military poise for national security, the rat race for productive work.

Health, learning, dignity, independence, and creative endeavour are defined as little more than the performance of the institutions which claim to serve these ends, and their improvement is made to depend on allocating more resources to the management of hospitals, schools, and other agencies in question".

Ivan Illich
See - Ivan Illich Deschooling Society (1973)
And - Ivan Illich writing on the web

Structure

  • Academic structure

 

  • Social Structure

Democratic, coeducational, non coercive, privacy,

 

  • Physical structure

Tlholego Ecovillage: A Sustainable Development Project in Rural South Africa

The Tlholego Development Project (TDP) in South Africa's North West province is a model of village settlement and rural economic development because it integrates traditional African designs, modern technology, and lessons learned from around the world. This village of 50 residents, plus extended families, provides a holistic approach to human settlement. Tlholego's residents are increasingly self reliant and confident. Their community supports land tenure, local economic development, the construction of sustainable housing, and restoration of links to the natural environment to promote a sustainable lifestyle.

 

Permaculture allows intensive farming, high yields and self-reliance from a surprisingly small piece of land – in contrast to modern, mass crop agriculture, which is labor- and energy-intensive. The key to practical permaculture is integrated and mixed land use.

When applied successfully, permaculture allows the harmonious integration of human settlement with the natural landscape, supplying inhabitants with food, energy, shelter, and other non-material needs in a sustainable manner. Permaculture shifts the emphasis away from mechanized mass production. If practiced on a large scale, permaculture would alter the prevailing social, economic, and political systems, producing a revolutionary change in human production and consumption patterns.

The research gardens at Thlolego (above) contain more than 100 useful edible and medicinal plant species. They provide a valuable laboratory for training, and serve as a genetic library for plant and seed material that are used throughout the region.

http://www.sustainable-futures.com/housing/housing4.html

Earthways

http://www.users.bigpond.com/nsw9999/

 

 

 

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