… and working at Summerhill

This might seem a normal move to some of my friends or an unexpected one for others, but from this month I’ll join the Summerhill School community as a science teacher.

While in Japan I’ve heard there was a possibility to join the Summerhill community and have this experience while also living together with Andresa who’s been there for the last school term. For many that know me from the work and study on learning communities and my interest in collective learning, this will be a good space to live it.

Many years the interest in collective learning could be hidden behind the work with companies, governments or in the retreat programs I’ve hosted, but a closer look can show that all this work has this perspective behind it. When I moved to Sweden to study, my aim was to include sustainability on collective planning for organizations, but after 2 years of a closer look, it seems that it is not the time or space for this yet — ?

So… Summerhill. If you haven’t heard about this school, you should — here is a fair video about it that shows a bit of the story (some of it in a romantic way):

You should definitely read the book too – it’s very interesting regardless of your direct involvement with education. It’s called “Summerhill” by A. S. Neill. It’s out of print, but many old copies can be found in many different languages.

Coming to visit? You are welcome, but visitors must be approved during the school meetings by everyone and many come — if you tell me in advance we’ll find a good bed for you. ;)

Leiston - Suffolk - UK

Because of joining the school, I’ll also join the routine that runs here around time off and vacations — that are, by the way, mostly the same for staff and pupils. That means that I had to cancel or postpone some of the trainings and hostings that were scheduled for this last semester — my apologies! I’ll be still working on those for the available periods I have during the year, mainly the months of April and August to September.

As usual, I will not send e-mails to everyone regularly, but will continue to share the news and learnings from the social networks and the blogs in english and portuguese. Hope to also hear from you!!