Week 1 2024-2025 in Review
Dear TCC Families,
Our return to being together was full of kindness, of knowing, of reconnection. The land welcomed us back and held us as we enjoyed some of the most beautiful weather of the season.
We emphasized intentional culture creation, and focused on building some initial consent-based and community structures for how we'll be together. In our album you'll see photos of charts that include notes from these conversations. We'll continue establishing norms and guidelines for our community. We will be exploring the notion of needs, and of feelings, and how these play a role in community decision-making and processes. Needs and feelings and how we communicate about them are relevant in all communities.
PLAY - and by this we mean freely chosen, self-directed, voluntary PLAY - is how we know we learn and connect with one another. Pure play is incredible - it feels incredible, and observing (from a distance!) young people in deep play is beautiful. It looks different at different ages, and for young people, does not include adult-direction (for example - we initiated a game of community "Blob Tag" this week, and that was very playful, but does it meet the full definition of PLAY - the type that confers deep and meaningful benefits, and that has "enormous educative power"? What do you think?). We intentionally made space for abundant free, pure play this week in addition to our conversations about creating culture.
Sometimes having a clear picture of what a day at TCC is like may feel out of reach for you - sometimes folks have to see what we do in person to believe it! It's important to us that you understand how we spend our time together, and what our roles as facilitators are. It's the most challenging, deeply meaningful work we've ever done. Please give this short, 25-minute webinar with Akilah Richards and Dr. Sundiata Soon-Jahta a watch for an overview of what self-directed, agile learning communities like ours offer. And what about facilitators - what do we do all day, exactly? This recent, comprehensive piece from the Alliance for Self-Directed Education's magazine, Tipping Points, sheds light on the complex role of the facilitator. We invite you to give it a read, and share your thoughts and questions.
Our goal is to move with intention in what we do here - and that includes in our communication and partnership with you! As we begin this year, we want to be purposeful with how we share about what we're doing (for example, the Week in Review), and how and why we gather (for example, at parent meetings). In the same way we connect with young people about values and how we'll BE with one another as we navigate our various needs and circumstances, we want to make space to do the same with you. We will be reaching out about a time to connect in community and explore these ideas soon - we want our weekly communications and our gatherings to be meaningful, and to be responsive to community needs!
With care,
Emily, Sarah, and Zoey