Key Principles
Students participating in the FreedomHill Cooperative are usually very articulate and compassionate individuals. They know how to work with others and think creatively and critically. The qualities they possess are most valued by both centers of higher learning and the 21st century workplace.
All of the learning done at FreedomHill is initiated and pursued solely by each individual. Experience shows that this approach leads to the most efficient, long-lasting and profound learning. Some of the key concepts that support the FreedomHill Cooperative’s philosophy include:
- Freedom
- Responsibility
- Democracy
- Respect
- Age mixing
- Trust
Freedom
Freedom comes in many forms. Sometimes we lose sight of what it really means. The one thing we all know is that freedom is at the core of our American ideals such as “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. One dictionary defines freedom as the exemption from the power and control of another. Another dictionary offered freedom as the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action. Both of these definitions clearly describe all that is at the heart of the FreedomHill Cooperative’s core beliefs.
FreedomHill is certain that when children grow up with opportunity for freedom, learning is limitless. Without constant pressure to conform to adult ideas of learning or growing up, children are un-inhibited and eager to explore the world guided by their own interests and move at their own pace among a diverse group of people with various resources. The children are free to think about who they are and what to do with their time- play, talk openly with friends, engage in self-directed group projects, daydream, attend a formal class, or sit quietly and read a book. Each day, every member of our community defines themselves by choice and action. This is a profound experience leading to a strong sense of self-knowledge.
As a natural result of freedom, children often engage in opportunities and challenges that stretch their limits. With this comes risk and possible negative outcomes. Apparently negative outcomes: boredom, stress, disappointment and anger- are all a necessary part of individual development and not something we avoid but something we accept and allow. This level of freedom embraces these experiences as valuable lessons rather than as something to avoid. The adults in our community do not try to prevent these mistakes but rather support the child while the child works out his or her own situations.
Although children are indeed free to learn any way and anything they wish, the FreedomHill Cooperative community itself has very specific expectations of reasonable conduct from each person. Any behavior that is not acceptable is dealt with by the judicial committee and if need be by the “School meeting”.
Responsibility
Responsibility is both a joy and a burden. In a traditional school system students learn to turn assignments in on time, complete tasks quickly, value grades, and get rewarded for following instructions. Some people believe this teaches children about responsibility. FreedomHill believes the best way to teach responsibility is to allow each person the opportunity to take responsibility for his or her life. Being responsible for one’s own life from early on is at the core of the FreedomHill program. Each student is responsible for his or her time, learning, behavior, efforts, and decisions, etc. No one insists learning must be done any particular way and no one judges or rewards him or her for doing it his or her way. Some new students find this aspect challenging when they first arrive but over time they gain a sense of authority over their education, their time, and their lives in general. The children become confident in their own abilities and decision-making. They learn to ask for what they need and want and strive to get it. Children involved in the FreedomHill program learn how to try, succeed or fail and try again.
The constant task of balancing their personal needs with those of the community help students learn a lot about how their actions and choices affect others as well as themselves. It helps students learn that they are responsible for what they experience in all respects. As a result, most children become well prepared to assume responsibilities in college or in the adult world when they move on from FreedomHill.
Democracy
Children learn best by direct experience and example.
Children that spend time at FreedomHill get first hand experience living in a democratic community, which means that they share fully in running our program, and are therefore, responsible for how effective, productive and successful we are. At the FreedomHill Cooperative each child and staff member, no matter what age, has one vote in the weekly democratic meeting. Everything from rules on behavior, expenditures, use of facilities, hours of operation, etc are determined, debated and voted on during the “School Meeting”. Any rules that are broken are dealt with through a judicial system that requires all members of the community to participate. This is one of the cornerstones of the program. The democratic meeting and the judicial system are what keeps order in the community, gives students confidence in the program, ensures a fair administration of justice in a community that stands for freedom. This provides very clear lines of decision-making and rules of conduct, empowering the children to participate in all the aspects of educational freedom along with respect for the individual and community. FreedomHill, while completely committed to the concept of freedom, fully understands that in order to succeed at freedom, order and respect necessitates the need for a fair, caring a compassionate democratic system.
Respect
Because there is no arbitrary adult authority in our community, the children are treated with the same level of respect that adults treat each other. Everyone in our community is expected to treat each other with respect and be fully accountable for their actions. Being responsible for their actions means that if they violate any rules set out by the community there are very real and relevant consequences, not random punishments determined by some adult in the group but consequences voted on by their peers in the daily judicial meeting.
With their freedom comes the expectation that they do not infringe on the rights of any others or misuse our community’s property in any way. All rules are written and enforced democratically, empowering the students with a true sense of ownership over the rules and the program itself. Students feel respected since their voice counts and they have control over their lives. As a result, respect becomes a natural part of their daily lives.
Age Mixing
Other than in a school setting, people of ages work together, live together, learn from each other, and find ways to communicate. For twelve years in traditional school, children are forced to spend their days mostly with their peers, meaning people of the same age, not necessarily of the same mindset or sharing any interests at all. Age groupings and even ability groupings limit the opportunities to interact, learn and develop friendships.
FreedomHill does not separate children based on ages. In any given moment you will find students interacting with children and adults of vastly different ages. It is common to find a five year old sharing his or her ideas with a seventeen year old, or a ten year old helping a six year old with reading or a mix of children working on a play together and more importantly, exchange ideas.
When children and adults of different ages freely associate with each other, learning accelerates. Children gain exposure to more ideas, skills and knowledge than when they are limited in their associations. Older children get to practice many different roles such as leadership, nurturance, and responsibility and test their knowledge and skills by helping and teaching the younger students. The younger children often gain confidence that they have something to offer and engage in more complex activities and ideas than they would if only with the same age group. The ability to converse and interact with people of all ages is at the heart of our program. Learning happens in every one of those interactions.
Trust
The FreedomHill Cooperative is grounded in the belief that children can be trusted, not just to learn, but to play a vital and intelligent role in their own development. While many of us recognize that infants, babies, and toddlers all have an inherent drive to learn all the basics, walking, talking, running, etc, many of us forget that throughout their lives this drive continues. At FreedomHill we believe that children, and for that matter adults as well, want to grow, thrive and become literate, articulate and compassionate members of society. At FreedomHill we believe that these desires are part of all humans’ natural drive and if un-intruded upon, each person will find what it is they need to know.