Progressive Education Institute

2011 Registration Form

In these challenging times for educators, all too often the voice and vision of progressive educators are silenced and invisible. We offer the Progressive Education Institute to bring progressive educators together for renewal and connection with like-minded educators.  Our goal for the Institute is the renewal of our basic values, which include honoring the learner, trusting professional wisdom, engaging in meaningful inquiry and assuring safe, inclusive learning communities. The Institute also can serve as a summer undergraduate or graduate course.
 
We invite you to join us for an exciting and engaging five-day retreat on the Goddard College campus, located on a 175-acre woodland setting in central Vermont.  Both current matriculated Goddard students and educators seeking professional development opportunities attend the Institute. The program is planned for teachers, administrators, counselors, community organizers and activists as well as graduate and undergraduate students interested in education.  Participants will receive a certificate verifying Professional Development hours enrolled.

For an additional cost, institute participants can elect to enroll for 3 BA or 3 MA credits. To do so, participants will work with the Institute faculty to complete a individual study plan based on the question/problem you want to explore.  Included in the plan are the resources you will use (books, articles, journals, activities, etc.). Following the Institute, you work independently and complete a culminating project/reflective essay.  This culminating product is due by August 19th.  A faculty member will assess the final product and write a narrative evaluation of the study.  The title of the participant's culminating project, the number of semester credits and the faculty’s narrative evaluation are included in the student’s official transcript.

Institute  participants will select  enrollment in one of the two strands outlined below.

1. Progressive Education Institute: Strand A: Voice and Vision: On campus dialogue and collaborative inquiry.  Strand A creates an open space that participants plan together to meet the professional aim of each participant. There is time for individual work and reflection as well as whole group and small group learning sessions. Each participant will have an opportunity to present a burning issue, a compelling reading, or case study  that invites others to engage in a meaningful way around educational inquiry, action and reflection.  The group is limited in size to allow for individual voice and group collaboration.
2. Progressive Education Institute: Strand B: EarthWalk Institute:  A model of place and nature-based education. Participants will complete the EarthWalk Institute with a powerful experience and understanding in holistic experiential education; living and learning in community while fully immersed in the natural landscape. The overarching understanding of this model of education is that as a culture we must foster ecologically sustainable and compassionate forms of education if we wish to live such values in our daily lives and communities. Although appropriate time will be allocated to individual reflection and research as well as group discussion, the bulk of the EarthWalk Institute will be experiential. The EarthWalk Institute is a “camping-only residency” at Hawthorn Meadow, an approximate 5-10 minute walk into the woods from the Goddard Campus.  Late-evening teaching and learning experiences on the land are an integral part of the EarthWalk Institute. For more information about the EarthWalk Vermont and the EarthWalk Institute, go to: http://earthwalkvermont.org/about/programs/educators.

Over the five days of the Institute, from Noon on Friday, July 15 through 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 19, both options will use a variety of interactive learning sessions that include:

• Participant-Directed Learning: We encourage you to bring an issue or project that you’re dealing with in your practice. Our aim is to facilitate your learning by building upon your knowledge, experience and special areas of interest.
• Collaboration: By looking at topics through a variety of lenses, including gender, race, and class, you’ll participate in full-group sessions and discussions, small group meetings and personal reflection time. During the Institute, participants will form working groups based on similar interests and projects. We encourage district or school-based teams to work on a shared project.
• Shared Critical Inquiry: Participants will study those challenging dilemmas that we encounter as K-12 teachers, counselors, administrators, and community educators. Inquiry, action and reflection will embody Goddard’s progressive education practices during our time together. The learning format is primarily of active participation rather than faculty presentation. The Institute facilitator employs a retreat format intended to develop the voice and vision of each participant. Through shared inquiry, the institute fosters our collective wisdom. Participants are encouraged to come ready to share their expertise, interests and questions about the integration of theory and practice.

For more information about the Progressive Education Institute, which also can be elected as an undergraduate or graduate summer course, contact Susan Fleming, Education and Licensure Program director. Susan Fleming susan.fleming@goddard.edu&/8232;Plainfield, VT 05667