How We Learn

Learning is a way of life at Journey School. In our early conversations, we found that while it seemed most families had a common philosophy of education, none of us could easily summarize it. Learning saturates all of our experiences, from toddlers to elder members of our community.

The world is changing so quickly, so dramatically, that we do not have the luxury of “the way things have always been done.” Flipping a switch, turning on a faucet, flushing the loo are reflex actions we have taken for granted. The first few times that the lights don't come on, water flow, or wastes disappear instantly are a shock. Our minds have become so conditioned to convenience that it is a real work-out to think through an entire sequence of actions required for generation, distribution, and disposal of daily functions – to track the problem back to the root cause and thus find a sustainable solution.

The younger community members actually have an
easier time creating and adapting to new strategies than those of us raised with quickie marts and online shopping. This effectively puts everyone on the same page – no hierarchies here! Of course, we all have our special talents, things we do better than anyone else. But the idea that the young are to be taught static lessons established by a disconnected authority has be trampled by necessity. We are moving into an unknown future. The lessons of the past can help us evaluate our situation but will surely mean our failure if we cannot move past conclusions already proven wrong. We don't have to crash into the brick wall just because we can see that we are speeding towards it!

One unforeseen benefit of this education philosophy has been the seriousness with which people approach special talents. So many “radical” improvements have come from following an idea all the way through to completion that it has become the norm immerse ourselves in our passions. I suppose this puts an element of responsibility, even discipline, on skills previously thought of as hobbies. Certainly, we listen to each other with our full attention now – too many times, a farmer's irrigation challenge has been solved by a computer programmer or builder's options for materials opened out by watching children play. Critical thinking, awareness, adaptability, and respect for the whole system within which our individual skill resides are the cornerstones of our education practice.