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SignUp to our NewsletterCOMPASS CENTRE FOR
SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING
211 BRONSON AVE # 210,
OTTAWA, ON K1R 6H4
613 916 63 03
Info@compassteens.org
COMPASS CENTRE FOR
SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING
211 BRONSON AVE # 210,
OTTAWA, ON K1R 6H4
613 916 63 03
Info@compassteens.org
—Pablo Picasso
Compass is a centre that helps
teenagers live and learn without
school by supporting teens
(13-18 years old) to create a
customized education based
on their interests, abilities,
and goals.
ABOUT
What is compass?What is compass?
OUR PHILOSOPHY
We offer classes that run throughout the day, tutoring, mentoring, assistance with finding intern-
ships and volunteer opportunities, help with university admissions, and a safe and comfortable
place for students to work and socialize.
Human beings are learning creatures. We don’t have to persuade babies to be curious and to
seek competence and understanding. The same can be true of teenagers. Rather than trying to
motivate teenagers, we support their basic human drive to learn and grow. Where obstacles –
internal or external- have gotten in the way of this intrinsic drive, we focus on helping teenagers
Many young people who are not happy in school – academically or socially – stay because they
believe that leaving school will rule out (or at least diminish) the possibility of a successful future.
We believe that young people can achieve a meaningful and successful adulthood without going
to school. We’ve seen it happen, over and over again.
It’s not enough to tell kids that we want them to be self� motivated, or that we want them to
value learning for its own sake, if the structure of their lives and their educations is actually
communicating the opposite message. Voluntary (rather than compulsory) classes, the ability
to choose what one studies rather than following a required curriculum, and the absence of
tests and grades all contribute to a structure that supports and facilitates intrinsic motivation
and self-directed learning.
Too often, education is thought of in terms of preparation: “Do this now, even if it doesn’t feel
connected to your most pressing interests and concerns, because later on you’ll find it useful.”
We believe that helping teenagers to figure out what seems interesting and worth doing right
now, in their current lives, is also the best way to help them develop self-knowledge and experi-
ence at figuring out what kind of life they want and what they need to do or learn in order to
create that life. In other words, it’s the best preparation for their futures.
Conventional wisdom says that children “go
to school to learn,” as though learning can
only occur in places specially designed for
that purpose. We believe that people learn all
the time and in all kinds of places. It doesn’t
have to look like school or feel like school to
be valuable, and it’s not necessary to make
distinctions between “schoolwork” and “your
own hobbies” or “for credit” and “not for
credit.”
Most of the time, adults working with
young people can’t truly make sure that
young people learn any particular thing –
learning just doesn’t work that way. A
group of adults can decide that all fifth
graders should learn fractions, but when
it comes to each individual child’s genu-
ine understanding and retention, we
can’t actually make it happen or guaran-
tee that it will happen. As adults, what
SEVEN PRINCIPLES THAT GUIDE OUR WORK AT COMPASS
1. Young people want to learn.1. Young people want to learn.
2. Learning happens everywhere.2. Learning happens everywhere.
3. It really is ok to leave school.3. It really is ok to leave school.
5. Structure communicates as powerfully as words - and often
more powerfully.
5. Structure communicates as powerfully as words - and often
more powerfully.
6. We should mostly strive to “Make Possible” rather than
“Make Sure.”
6. We should mostly strive to “Make Possible” rather than
“Make Sure.”
7. The best preparation for a meaningful and productive
future is a meaningful and productive present.
7. The best preparation for a meaningful and productive
future is a meaningful and productive present.
“The meaning of life is to find your gift.
The purpose of life is to give it away.”
“The meaning of life is to find your gift.
The purpose of life is to give it away.”
4. How people behave under one set of circumstances
does not predict how they will behave under a very
different set of cirscumstances.
4. How people behave under one set of circumstances
does not predict how they will behave under a very
different set of cirscumstances.
School success or failure is not necessar-
ily a predictor of a child’s potential for
success or failure outside of school. An
unmotivated student may become enthu-
siastic and committed after she’s left
school. A student who doesn’t thrive in a
classroom environment may become
successful when allowed to learn through
apprenticeships or in one-on-one tutori-
als. When we change the approach, the
structure, and the assumptions, all kinds
of other changes often follow.
we can do, however, is try to make things possible for young people – provide access, offer
opportunity, figure out what kind of support will be most helpful, do whatever we can to help nav-
igate the challenges and problems that arise.
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