Here is Dr. Jesse Meeks’ presentation and notes from the 2013 Agency Based Education conference. Dr. Meeks brought an interesting perspective to the classroom as a chiropractor for 15 years who started a private school, and then went into teaching to find his true love, helping students grow. His topic was “Agency Based Education in a public school.”
Why do I teach?
So my students will become great human beings!
I tell them, no pressure, I only expect that they will change the world!
- Help them understand they have a unique mission / purpose, and help them discover it!
- How to think – independently and creatively
- How to create personal value systems based on fundamental, foundational, time-honored principles
- How to look to their families and core-books to find truth and to compare the information they receive, study, learn, and are exposed to those things
- How to innovate and solve problems
- How to have courage and act
- How to be organized
- How to listen to their moral compass, inner light, celestial fire
- To ask questions, and temper research with their Core Book(s).
- To not stop until the job is done excellently
- To follow their passions
- Delayed gratification
- To be positively discontent
- To join the great debate!
Twenty-five critical skills are seldom taught, tested, or graded in school.
- Adapting
- Analyzing and managing risk
- Applying economic, value and governing models
- Behaving ethically
- Being a leader
- Building and nurturing relationships
- Communicating
- Creating or process reengineering new actions, processes, and tools
- Developing security
- Efficiently meeting complex needs
- Gathering evidence
- Identifying and using boards and advisers
- Maintaining and practicing stewardship of important systems and capabilities
- Making prudent decisions
- Managing conflict
- Managing projects
- Negotiating
- Planning long term
- Prioritizing tasks and goals
- Probing
- Procurement
- Scheduling
- Solving problems innovatively
- Sourcing/buying/procuring goods and services
- Using containment strategies
-From Clark Aldrich Unschooling Rules Chapter 4
The Teacher needs to –
- Help the student reveal – mission / purpose that is unique to them
- Create the environment, master discipline and classroom management
- Constantly improve their teaching skills
- Listen to student feedback (they are our client)
- Constantly study and expand their knowledge of the material they are teaching
- Teach time management
- Teach goal setting
In the Classroom – Have the students:
- Memorize
- Teach the class
- Do special presentations
- Do projects
- Invite, secure, greet and introduce speakers
- Job shadow
- Write and re-write
- Annotate
- Give speeches
- Plan and execute events
- Apply topics to current events
- Get a job or internship
- Mentor each other
- Participate in competitions – Model U.N. Competition, Speech Contests, Debate, Mock Trial, Sports, Music, Drama
- DO STUFF – THINK – ASK ?’s
- Actively Solve Real World Problems
The Ideal School
- A foundational curriculum of classics – new and old
- Strong foundation in Reading, Writing, Math, Speech, the Arts, Foreign Language, Health and Physical Education ….steeped in practical application
- Student choice of a number of subjects
- Find the mentor program
- Personalized curriculum
- Much of the learning based in project, application, and current events
- 2 hour classes
- Students can move as fast as they want
- ½ day in “school”
- They can stay all day and work and be mentored or they can leave
- Travel / Adventure / Serve
- Schools can easily get rid of students who do not contribute to the learning culture
- The most important position in the school is the teacher of teachers and teachers are required to constantly improve and become master teachers.