To stave off the terrible loneliness

WHEN ASKED "What do we need to learn this for?" any high-school teacher can confidently answer that, regardless of the subject, the knowledge will come in handy once the student hits middle age and starts working crossword puzzles in order to stave off the terrible loneliness.

~ David Sedaris

I love this line from David Sedaris. 

Not gonna lie, being able to solve the Sunday NYT crossword puzzle is an impressive trick to show off. One does not need to spend 15,000 hours in school to get there though. Simply reading and being engaged in the world is a great, often better alternative.

But it is the end of the line that packs the punch. “To stave off the terrible loneliness.” We certainly have a loneliness problem in the US. One report suggests that 61% of young adults and 51% of mothers with young children feel “serious loneliness.” 

Such widespread loneliness is not a feature of human existence, it is a feature of modern, schooled society, where young people are segregated from life and forced to compete against their peers on almost entirely useless tasks for 15,000 hours of their young lives, so that they can then compete against others in college, and then against more people in the workplace. 

Very few young people get to experience what community feels like, where the existence of others allows us to support and be supported. When young people are exposed to such environments they begin to value themselves and others simply for being, not for how they perform against others. And those young people are more likely to grow into adults who commit to cultivating communities of care. 

Community is an antidote to terrible loneliness. Schooling is not.

—

Cover photo by micheile henderson on Unsplash

Friday, March 6, 2020.

Three years ago, today, Abrome broke for spring break not knowing if we would return when spring break was scheduled to end on March 23rd. News of a dangerous novel coronavirus left us debating what our options were given the responsibility we had to support the young people in our learning community, and the duty we had to protect them, their households, and the staff at Abrome. When it became clear that we would not be able to safely come back together, we extended spring break to three weeks. On March 30th we came back together remotely and stayed remote through the end of that first pandacademic year. 

It was a challenging time. We needed to find ways to get some Abromies reliable internet connections and devices to log in to our remote gatherings. And connecting with each other over video was difficult when we were used to meeting in person. We struggled financially because some families pulled their kids when we went remote. We worked hard to maintain a sense of calm assurance that we would all come through it together.

It was a scary time. There were people in our immediate community who were at high risk. There were elderly grandparents, two people living with cancer, multiple immunocompromised folks, uninsured people and others without access to quality health care, frontline essential workers, and members who were at risk of losing their homes if they could not work. We wanted to protect and support them, and while we could protect them in part by not meeting in person, could we really support them against the conditions of society that put them at increased risk?

It was also a hopeful time. We saw people staying home to protect others from disease. We saw people coming together to support one another through mutual aid efforts. Against the backdrop of illness and death, for a moment we saw people focused less on getting ahead by leaving others behind, and more on considering how they could help others survive. We saw people questioning the practices and structures of not only schooling, but of society, and some began to believe that they could alter or abolish those practices and structures. 

In that moment, when no one knew how the pandemic would play out, Abrome made a choice that was clear ethically, but murky from a business perspective. We reaffirmed our commitment to community care. Community care means centering the needs of those who would be most impacted by our decisions and actions, and leveraging our privilege to support them. It is easy to talk about centering the needs of others when the costs are low, or when it causes only a temporary inconvenience. It is another thing to do so when society demands that we turn away from those most impacted for our own benefit. Unfortunately, the moment of societal solidarity soon began to fall apart as the demands to turn away grew strong. We chose not to turn away. 

It is not preordained that “everyone will get it eventually.” We do not need to “learn to live with COVID.” Institutions are not powerless to stop the spread. We chose people over profits, and solidarity over enrollment. We chose to embrace a multi-layered approach to preventing the spread of COVID-19 that includes masking, physical distancing, filtration and ventilation, testing, and vaccination. Because of those efforts, and some luck, we have not had a single case of spread within our learning community. And our culture is stronger for it, even if our community is smaller—74% of lost enrollment since the pandemic began has due to our pandemic policies. 

Three years in, the pandemic continues. And we will continue to take it seriously because we are committed to community care.

—

Cover photo by Deborah Jackson from Pixabay

Will liberated youth choose to do nothing?

There is a belief among too many adults that young people, if given the opportunity to do nothing, will do nothing. It is based on an ageist, anti-youth, and often ableist mindset that children are flawed creatures and must be forced to work to overcome their inborn sloth. It is also untrue. No one is more eager to explore and learn than the youth.

A young Abromie facing away from the camera sits curled up on a yellow chair reading a graphic novel she checked out from the library. 

First, they are biologically wired to try to engage with the world and learn. The best thing adults can do is stop interfering in that natural inclination.

Two masked Abromies hanging out in the lounge playing a game of Uno. 

Second, they have less life experience so they are much more likely to find their experiences novel, and hence more likely to be excited to engage in it. Except when adults ruin it by mandating it, gamifying it, or testing it.

Third, to the extent that they do act “lazy” when given the freedom to play and learn, it is more often an inability of the adults to understand how young people learn outside of schools settings.

Finally, if they are truly slothful and want to do nothing, it is usually because they have expended too many cognitive resources performing for adults.

If adults want the young people to grow into grownups who are eager to engage with the world, to be lifelong learners, they would be wise to let the young people be free to play and learn, today.   

An Abromie, facing away, working with the Scratch programming platform for the first time.

A masked Abromie standing at a whiteboard working through some multiplication problems. 

Two masked Abromies in the kitchen working some flour for a cooking creation. 

Two masked Abromies facing the camera after they created a new dessert together. 

Why families choose the schools they choose

Families who have the means to do so will choose where to send their kids to school (public or private) based on a variety of factors such as price, proximity to home, average class size, education philosophy, clubs and extracurricular activities, and the colleges the school’s graduates get into. Families rarely get everything they want out of a school because many of their wants cannot coexist in a school setting. So, families are forced to prioritize their wants.  

But there is more to the decision process than where various schools land on each of the preferred factors. There is the motive behind sending a child to school in the first place. And that motive, for the great majority of people, almost always revolves around, “what school is going to do to make my child ‘successful’?” And success as measured by schools means testing and academic performance and sometimes college placement; and by society it generally means the prestige of the colleges and jobs the students end up gaining access to, as well as their potential future earnings. 

And because most families are members of dominant society, and are enculturated by it, their motivations and prioritized wants become a response to their own anxieties and notions of scarcity. They think in individual rather than collective terms. They focus on the “best” schools for their kids, choosing security over liberation, and what helps their kids get ahead even if it is at the expense of other kids or society. And the schools give them the assurances they need to keep the kids enrolled. And then, too often, the families bemoan the state of society. The same society their kids will grow old in.

Our recommendation: be different. 

“Even our supposedly "best" schools—maybe especially these most resourced, largely white schools—fail to give young people a chance to teach and learn the meaning, the responsibilities, and the demands of freedom. Schools serving the wealthy do the most extraordinary job teaching children to define success in individual rather than collective terms—to get ahead rather than to struggle alongside, to step on rather than to lift up. On any serious measure of practicing freedom, these would be the "failing" schools.”
~ Carla Shalaby 

Educators need to break some laws

Overtly political post here.

We need to learn how to navigate the world we live in, but we should also try to live in a way that allows for the creation of a better world. Laws are rarely enacted for ethical or moral reasons. They are most commonly enacted to take or preserve power. That is also why laws are arbitrarily, selectively, and disproportionately enforced; with the impact of that enforcement falling most heavily on the most historically marginalized and oppressed peoples.

Some laws need to be broken.

Day 108 of AY20-21: taking out the trash

The forecast for Wednesday, March 24th, included thunderstorms as late as the evening of Tuesday, March 23rd. But the thunderstorms were scheduled for the afternoon, and it seemed that thunderstorms kept clearing out of the forecast the closer we got to it. Which makes sense, since meteorologists need to work with probabilities based on current conditions. As a forecast becomes closer, uncertainty reduces, and while there may be a 30% of thunderstorms in five days, come the morning of, that 30% may now be 80% or 10%. On this day there was a small chance of afternoon thunderstorms, which meant we might have to cancel the day or plan for an early pickup. Having missed out on January and February thanks to Covid-19 spread and the Texas freeze, we really wanted to find a way to allow everyone to come together, so I sent the following email to Parents and Guardians at 6:50 a.m. (our start time is 10:00 a.m.):

Current weather forecasts say there is a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon. Based on the updated forecasts at noon, we may ask you to pick up your Learner/s at 1p. We will not contact you if there is no need for an early pickup. If you would not be able to pick up your Learner/s at 1p if there is a half day because of inclement weather, your Learner should stay home today.

More concerning to me was that some of the Learners have not been drinking enough water. This has always been a concern for us, so we asked every Learner to bring a water bottle with them every day so they would always have water nearby. At the Abrome facility I got a standup, 5-filter water purification system and dispenser so that there was never an excuse for not drinking enough water. Even with that making drinking water easy, Learners would often get so lost in other activities that they would fail to stay hydrated. This is certainly one area where conventional schools may have an advantage, because there students are often be permitted to leave a painful class if they go get a drink at the water fountain. During this pandacademic year we are entirely outdoors, so we are doubly challenged because the elements can make it more difficult on the Learners (hot weather requires more water, and cold weather makes drinking enough water less desirable) and we can’t carry much water with us. Each Facilitator brings at least two-gallons of water per day in their vehicle, but sometimes getting back to the vehicle is challenging. So last Wednesday I asked if we could get everyone to give drink half of their bottle of water by the end of the morning meeting so that they could top it off before we headed out for the day.

We expected Wednesday to be a great day. We were still three Learners down due to quarantine, which sucked, but we had made plans to act upon a young Learner’s interest in addressing all the litter in Austin. I brought gloves and garbage bags to make the pickup easier on us. After the morning meeting we talked about how we would spend our day and when we would make time for the pickup. I suggested maybe early in the day before it got too hot and before we were too tired, especially because folks were already tired from the two days before, while others suggested we do a cleanup after the afternoon roundup. But the city employs folks who clean up trash at the park that we hold our meeting, while other parts of the city do not. Eventually they decided that they were going to pick up trash on the way back to the pickup point at the end of the day.

But they also decided they did not want to walk very far this day. Instead, they wanted to go across the street to Zilker Park and play in the large fields and on the rock outcropping in the middle of the park. When we got there the Learners immediately got to playing in various ways. We worked our way to the outcropping and I hung my bag from a tree and sat down with the intention of writing down some notes. One Learner found a pack of cards that had been left there, asked to borrow my stick of glue, and worked to repair the box for future use.

A younger Learner climbed up, over, around, and through the rock outcropping, and eventually decided that he was going to make a home out of a cave. He began to gather branches, grasses, and other materials he found to decorate his space. I looked over at another Learner who was sitting and eating some chips. I asked him what he planned to do while we were there and he said there was nothing to do. He’s one of our newest Learners and is still deschooling. I offered up some of my books to read, some art supplies to work with, and offered to throw the football with him. He passed on all of it, and I recognized that it was a good time for him to sit with himself.

Later, an adolescent Learner chose to join in the play of the younger Learner and they climbed up into some of the trees, and I offered to pass the football to them in the tree to see if they could catch it without falling (they were not very high and I did not throw the ball very hard).

The weather was really beautiful, it was overcast and pretty so there was no direct sun on our backs, but the warmth of the air meant we were not chilly in any way. We could feel the nice, warm, springtime mist on our faces.

Facilitator Ariel asked the Learner who did not believe the had anything to do if he was willing to throw the football around. He passed on the opportunity, but the others Learners said yes. I also joined in, and we played a variety of spontaneous games such as try to tackle Facilitator Ariel, try to avoid being tacked by Facilitator Ariel, let Facilitator Ariel kick the ball as far as possible and see who can recover it first while everyone else tackles each other en route to the ball, etc. The laughter and joy emanating from the other Learners pulled the Learner who was standing on the sidelines into the games. There was lots of running, some jammed fingers, and a couple of scrapes from biting it on the turf.

I briefly checked the weather apps on my phone and confirmed that the thunderstorms had cleared out of the forecast for the afternoon, so there was no need for me to let the Learners’ families know that they needed to come pick them up. I was thrilled we were not going to be stuck with a half day.

Afterward the Learners were interested in resting. Facilitator Ariel offered to set up the hammock and one of the Learners assisted him in setting it up. This gave me the opportunity to sit down and eat some lunch, and afterward I broke out Usual Cruelty and continued to slow read the first essay of the book. An essay, that by the time I finished it, I felt was the most perfect essay written about what the criminal injustice system is.

What good is the hammock if folks can’t relax in it. One of the Learners was really eager to enjoy it and asked Facilitator Ariel if he could hang out in it, and Facilitator Ariel said he could. There was some conversation about the Learner getting his own so they could set up multiple hammocks in the future, and so that he would not need to wait his turn. The Learner said he might ask his parents to buy him one, and Facilitator Ariel asked if instead he might consider saving up the money to buy his own.

While we were sitting around an older guy wandered into the area where we were and observed us for a minute. He seemed interested in what these two guys and these young people were doing, hanging out, playing, laughing, and talking in a care free way on a school day. One of the Learners shied away from him, perhaps having learned from dominant culture that strangers, especially men, seemingly poor folks, or houseless people (we had no reason to believe that he was poor or houseless) were a potential threat. Facilitator Ariel saw the Learner’s apprehension so Facilitator Ariel spoke out to him to ask him how he was doing. He said he was okay, but that his brother just died and he was dealing with that. Facilitator Ariel and the man then had a conversation about life, family, Austin, and eventually schooling.

At this point, a young Learner who sometimes struggles with remembering to wear his mask around others walked up into the area where the two were talking. Noticing that this was a new person he immediately put on his mask, and then waved to the man. The man smiled, appreciating the acknowledgement. When he was finished speaking to Facilitator Ariel he walked my way and I expressed my sympathies. We then had a conversation about what schooling is and what education is not, that some of the Learners took note of. Even if they didn’t catch the content of the conversations that Facilitator Ariel and I had with the man, they all recognized that we were willing to have a conversation with the man, and that maybe dominant culture can sometimes get us to focus on the wrong things.

After spending a good amount of time in the park, the Learners decided that now it was time to head out to some food trucks for a late lunch. At the food trucks Facilitator Ariel talked with a Learner who is interested on getting a job and saving money. The Learner said that they were too young to work, and Facilitator Ariel talked about what the real constraints on working was. The Learner said they might be interested in working at a food truck for their first job, and was interested in one of the trucks on the lot. Facilitator Ariel encouraged the Learner to start a conversation with the person in the food truck so they could see if there was any opportunity for them. The Learner was anxious, and was not willing to start the conversation. Facilitator Ariel asked if he could start the conversation, so the Learner could see how to strike up a conversation that would include an ask. The Learner said that would be great.

Soon it would be time for the afternoon roundup, and the day was winding down. I reminded everyone that we said we wanted to do a trash pickup and that we would need to get going pretty soon if we wanted to do justice to the effort. Facilitator Ariel and one of the Learners agreed, but two said that they changed their mind and were no longer interested. This was an interesting response because the Learners who were no longer interested included the one who introduced the concern of litter, and the other was concerned about the environment. I felt that the lower energy at the end of the day might be the challenge, but I kept my mouth shut. After having a conversation about intentions and the fact that the cell was explicitly designed to be a social justice oriented Flying Squad, they decided that they would participate in the pickup. We pulled out three large, heavy duty garbage bags and everyone put on disposable gloves.

We made our way back down a major road where there was a good amount of trash, but it was when we got to the hike and bike trail that we hit the garbage jackpot. In the brush along the trail, and eventually along the lake, there was lots of garbage laying around to include candy wrappers, junk food containers, beer cans and cases, and discarded or lost clothing. It was a challenging task thanks much to the temperature and humidity, and the poison ivy everywhere, but there seemed to be somewhat of a desire to collect more garbage than the others. We made a great haul, and when we got back we took a photo and then stuffed the garbage bags into garbage bins. We all felt decent to great about helping to clean up a tiny part of the city, and a couple of us felt good about the physical exertion of the effort. It was nice that random people kept thanking us for cleaning up while on their walks and runs. What a great ending to a great day.

Meanwhile, at the other cell there was lots of walking and talking, looking at flowers, watching turtles, pretending to be squirrels and burying pecans. Unfortunately there was an incident where the Learners left their bags to go refill water and when they returned they saw a man going through their bags. Fortunately, Facilitator Lauren approached the man and told him to leave and the guy did not take anything. They could not be certain if he was trying to help or if he was trying to take, but the crew was not thrilled that the man had been touching their stuff, and worse, that he was unmasked and did not give them the space that they wanted. Afterward, Facilitator Lauren spoke to them about ways that they can proactively advocate for themselves in the future if they come into contact with someone who does not honor their need for space and security, and how they want to feel when they came back the next day. They discussed talking through scenarios, and then some of the Learners took some personal time to paint or just sit. The Learners all rallied despite the frustration of the incident, and the day ended well even if the day itself was not great.

Day 102 of AY20-21: a tough day for some

Tuesday was day 102 of the pandacademic year, and that morning I woke up and worked on the blog post for day 100 of this pandacademic year. I got distracted a bit and tinkered with the website. For those who do not know, Abrome is a Self-Directed Education community. We are members of the Agile Learning Center community, Flying Squads, and the Alliance for Self-Directed Education. I updated the website so that each of these were represented on the front page. I’ve only been meaning to do that for over a year now.

When I arrived at Abrome later that morning I got to hand out copies of Usual Cruelty: The Complicity of Lawyers in the Criminal Injustice System by Alec Karakatsanis to everyone who committed to reading and discussing it. The author’s publisher, The New Press, was offering to give free copies to educators and we jumped on it. We will begin to read it this week and we have our first discussion planned for Friday.

When it was time for the morning meeting one of the Learners opted to be the gameshifter and had us sit or stand, and use popcorn to participate in the meeting. Building off the conversation for the day prior, we each shared something about Self-Directed Education that we appreciate or value: freedom to be a little human, being able to wander, Learners not spending energy focused on pleasing adults, instead of someone teaching you you get to freely learn, freedom of speech, safe space, freedom to do anything you please (except murder or things that get you in trouble [later rephrased to except anything that hurts others]), and I don’t have to make lesson plans. That last one was Facilitator Ariel’s contribution.

The meeting went really well and it seemed we were going to have a really good day. Everyone had shown up and the weather was great and people seemed energized. I asked anyone if they wanted to join me in the morning hike and they all passed, so I went up by myself and jumped on a call with the remote Learners. Then I came back down and joined the rest of the crew at the lake, where they most often choose to spend their day.

Reading Usual Cruelty

It was a busy day at the lake as the Learners were engaged in a wide variety of activities. Some of the activities included a couple of Learners riding the bikes that they brought that day, one of the Learners reading their copy of Usual Cruelty, and multiple Learners discussing water births. As for reading outdoors, it is something that all Facilitators and several Learners do at times. While I thoroughly enjoy reading indoors, I am also a big fan of reading outdoors. There’s just something wonderful about being able to dive into a great book when the sun is not too bright and there is a very gentle breeze. I highly recommend it.

Learners checking out video edits

Facilitator Ariel was working on some video edits of the GoPro footage that was taken earlier in the week. He showed some of the Learners the progress he had made on editing the videos, and one of the Learners asked to go deeper in the conversation so that she could also edit some video. They edited some video together, and then Facilitator Ariel gave her some of his footage that she wanted to work on. We will probably upload the product of that initial conversation on our YouTube channel.

Over at the other cell Facilitator Lauren and the younger Learners were having a less easygoing day. For one, the Learners were getting pretty tired of the tick situation. Facilitator Lauren has tried to educate the Learners (and Facilitators) on the presence of ticks, how to protect against them, and how to check for them.

Climbing rocks within safety limits

Also, it was a rough day in terms of safety boundaries. As you know if you have been following us for a while, we want Learners to exist autonomously while at Abrome, but we must also keep them safe. For example, Learners are free to roam, but we are not going to let them play in the middle of a highly trafficked road, or allow them to play on the top of a moss covered dam with water flowing over it. Facilitator Lauren set some safety boundaries on climbing up on higher altitude rocks on this day and the Learners went past it, and this resulted in a difficult situation with Facilitator Lauren asking the Learner to please come down while the Learner protested. It led to difficult conversations afterward about why safety boundaries exist even if we are not a schoolish community. Testing our limits is a good thing, but there are limits to what counts as reasonable limits.

Additionally, the wind that day was a challenge, and a big gust of wind kicked up a lot of dirt and blew it into one of the Learner’s eyes. This is the same Learner who got a really nice cut on his foot thanks to a zebra mussel several months ago, and short of a really tough incident he rarely chooses to go home. But on this day, he chose to go home. That’s just the type of day it was at the other cell.

Furry blue journals are great for math

But it wasn’t all difficult. There was still plenty of play in between the more challenging moments. There was imaginative nature play, and one of the Learners broke out her brand new, furry blue journal where she played with math.

And no, she wasn’t encouraged to do so. At Abrome we don’t try to nudge the Learners to read, write, or do math, much less engage in more advanced academics. We want them to pursue their interests no matter the domain and no matter if it is academically valued in a schooled society. When they want to learn to read or do math then we are happy to be supportive, and we try to cultivate a culture of literacy and numeracy through modeling and psychological safety. But the thing is, all the Learners learn to read, write, and do arithmetic. It is just the way humans are—because it is socially valued they want to learn it. And they do, on their terms, on their timeline.

Back at Abrome I ventured out to the dock where several of the Learners were in conversation and one of the Learners asked me about what it would take for us to be allowed to meet at the Abrome facility, again. He had never even been there because he joined at the beginning of the pandacademic year. I reminded him that we would not be able to do so until we hit pandemic risk stage level 1 in the local region, and that would not likely happen until the summer at the earliest. Further, I added, it may only be an option for those who have been fully vaccinated, and that I would be reviewing the policies over spring break. The conversation allowed us to talk about the effectiveness of the vaccines and the likelihood that it would become available to the Learners by the end of the year.

Later, a group of fisherman showed up to fish on the dock so the Learners cleared out. While we were hanging out nearby, two of the fisherman left for some reason and the remaining fisherman cried out for help. Turns out he was an inexperienced fisherman and he caught a fish. Two Learners approached him, asked him if he needed help, and he said he did. One then assisted in reeling it in, while the other walked him through the steps of how to grab a fish. It was a fun experience for all involved. After that the Learners talked about doing some fishing of their own, in the future.

Captivating conversations

Toward the end of the day one of the Learners asked me if the term “super straight” was transphobic. Turns out that it is a term that is used to self-identify as someone who is straight, and could never possibly be attracted to or date a trans person. It was an interesting question that led us down the path of the implications of using such a term, the different contexts that it might be used in, and whether or not it was even possible to be “straight” to such a degree that it was impossible to be attracted to a trans person. After considering the issue I came to the opinion that it was a transphobic term, regardless of the intentions of the person who uses it, and regardless of the intention behind the creation of the term. I appreciated the opportunity to think about it in an open way, looking at all sides of the possible argument, even if some may be repugnant, and doing so in a way that centered the humanity of trans people. And yeah, “super straight” is most certainly a transphobic term.

After the afternoon roundup and after the Learners all went home the Facilitators had a long after action review where we talked about the events of the day, and some of the real struggles of the day. Self-Directed Education is not always pretty, and sometimes it is downright messy. Sometimes feelings get hurt, and sometimes people get frustrated and frazzled. But that is the cost of freedom. And at the end of the day, we will take a messier freedom than a more orderly form of control.

How Abrome Differs from School: Emancipated Learning versus Bells and Whistles

When people ask us what type of school Abrome is, or how we differ from other schools, we remind them that we are not a school. Abrome is an alternative to school. Abrome is Emancipated Learning.

Every public school in America is fundamentally the same, as are 99.8% of private schools. They operate on a coercive model of command and control schooling that prioritizes conformity and obedience over learning. They believe students are incompetent learners that need to be taught by knowledgeable adults. They rely on standardized curriculum. They believe that students must be constantly assessed, tested, and measured against same-aged peers. They believe that competition is the appropriate way to distinguish the intelligent and hardworking students from the stupid and lazy ones. They value students for the dollars they bring in, either seat-time revenue or tuition, as opposed to the value young people can provide to society.

Of course many of those schools will insist that they are different from the failed traditional schools that most young people are subjected to. Some are charter schools. Some are private schools. Some are even alternative schools! Instead of restrictive, standardized curriculum, those schools might claim that their students get to engage in personalized learning, meaning students are allowed to rearrange or stretch out certain aspects of their standardized curricular requirements. Or perhaps they will give lip service to peer learning and flipped classrooms as a way to suggest that they do not have an authoritarian, adult-directed schooling environment. Some schools may even eschew quantitative assessments for seemingly more compassionate qualitative assessments. But these efforts are nothing more than attempts at articulating differentiation (in name only) of the commodity known as schooling.

If schools cannot distinguish themselves with an educational fad (e.g., personalized learning), and because schools are all largely the same, they are left relying on and promoting superficial differences to convince families that they are better than other schools. These are called bells and whistles. Bells and whistles can be the promise of personalized learning, peer learning, flipped classrooms, or qualitative assessments. It can be technology in the classroom, with online academic support at home. It can be the promise of access to mentors and internships. It can be programing classes or maker labs. It can be an award winning yearbook club, robotics club, debate team, or science Olympiad team. It could be a 30,000 seat football stadium, an Olympic sized pool, or a 9-hole golf course. But what does not change with these bells and whistles are the underlying structures and practices of schooling.

Abrome is often described by what we are not. We are not a school. We do not replicate or perpetuate the structures and practices of schooling. We do not have teachers, classes, instruction, curriculum, testing, homework, grades, or age-based segregation. And there is good reason for us not replicating what is happening in school—schooling harms children. Schooling convinces most students that they are incompetent, stupid, untrustworthy, lazy, and inherently flawed. These students’ lives are substantially altered for the worse because of schooling. From a societal perspective, schooling destroys more human capital than any other institution. A small minority of school students do not become convinced that they are damaged goods, and instead fall into the trap of believing that they are inherently better than everyone else. This is also harmful to society, as students with a belief of superiority often assume positions of power and make decisions with little regard or understanding for the general public.

While eliminating the structures and practices of schooling is necessary, it is not sufficient to create a society where everyone is able to lead a remarkable life. Abrome goes beyond eliminating the harmful aspects of schooling by leveraging our Emancipated Learning model. Emancipated Learning is not an adornment, it is a fundamentally different approach to education based on the axiom that young people are competent and active knowledge seekers. We trust young people to take charge of their educational experiences and their lives.

The Abrome logo provides a visual representation of how the Emancipated Learning model works. The Abrome logo is an adaptation of Borromean rings, which are an arrangement of three interlocked circles, with no two circles being interlocked. This is a form of a Brunnian link. If one were to break one of the rings in a Brunnian link, the other rings would fall away. Borromean rings show strength in unity, as the whole is much stronger than the sum of its parts.

The Abrome logo consists of a triangle, a square, and a circle, all in different colors, as opposed to three symmetrical rings. This was done to emphasize the importance of diversity in the Abrome space.  

Well-being:

The circle in the Abrome logo stands for well-being. The circle is the best representation for a focus on the whole child. The circle has no end and no beginning, but it is reflective of the iterative or cyclical aspects of life such as personal growth and understanding. The circle draws people toward the center, just as we want Learners to look inward.

At Abrome, the well-being of Learners comes first. We recognize that in order for Learners to engage in deep, meaningful, and enduring learning experiences, they must first be happy and healthy.

Self-directed learning:

The square in the Abrome logo stands for self-directed learning. The square is the most flexible of the three shapes, which comports with the agile and adaptive approaches one must take to learning and discovery. The square is the best way to visualize the construction of knowledge using multiple dimensions. Whereas a circle draws you inward, a square invites you to investigate it from end to end.

Abrome Learners choose for themselves the activities and experiences they engage in. They embrace the responsibilities of learning and life.

Learning community:

The triangle in the Abrome logo stands for the learning community. The triangle is a rigid object that does not easily buckle under stress. The triangle symbolizes how the learning community provides strength to individuals in times of need. The triangle also makes space for an individual to choose to be surrounded by others or to find themselves in a more acute and solitary position, all the while still being supported.

An Abrome Learner's learning community is comprised of intellectually curious Learners, committed Learning Coaches, and a personal network that is standing by ready to lend their support.

Psychological Safety:

The overlap between well-being and the learning community represents psychological safety.

Abrome is a psychologically safe space where young people feel free to engage in unlimited free play, and take intellectual and personal risks without fear of being assessed, judged, or ridiculed. The ability to remain vulnerable in the pursuit of growth is an extension of our focus on well-being coupled with a learning community that values diversity.

Learning and Inquiry:

The overlap between self-directed learning and the learning community represents learning and inquiry.

At Abrome, self-directed Learners leverage a dynamic and diverse learning community to engage in deep, meaningful, and enduring learning experiences. Connection with others is valued. Collaboration, debate, and peer learning are outcroppings of a culture that values mentorship and dialectical inquiry. 

Meaningfulness:

The overlap between self-directed learning and well-being represents meaningfulness.

Given the time and space to focus on their well-being and engage in self-directed learning, Abrome Learners come to understand themselves and how they fit into the world. They find significance in creating connections with others and contributing to something beyond themselves. Abrome Learners develop lives that have purpose, value, and impact.   

Emancipated Learning:

The interplay between psychological safety, learning and inquiry, and meaningfulness represents emancipated learning.                                                                                                                           

Abrome Learners feel comfortable taking risks and diving deep in pursuit of knowledge in their fields of interests, rather than skimming them at the surface. Learners construct knowledge by leveraging resources that are directly available to them, to include their learning community, or by acquiring necessary resources in the process of exploration and discovery. This process is unique for every Learner as they link various resources, in pursuit of their own purposes, according to their own needs. Like any two distinct individuals, no two Learners or educational pathways are the same; only in retrospect will a learning pathway become fully defined. When an individual is able to marry such educational experiences with a life of meaning, the result is a remarkable life lived.

Education should be a liberating experience that allows people to lead remarkable lives so they can positively impact society and improve the human condition. Education fads and supplemental experiences do not unwind the oppression of schooling. Emancipated Learning, however, allows anyone to leverage their education so that they can lead a remarkable life.