1. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
of sorts

2. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
communication:verbiage as we’re currently seeing and using it,
because…
The single biggest
problem
in communication
is the illusion
that it has
taken place.
- George Bernard Shaw

3. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
adjacent possibilities
Steven Johnson’s TED
The potential (and serendipity) created when you notice and connect the unlikely.
Incremental potential solutions to help people caught in conflict or looking for change to keep moving.
corey

4. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
art
Perfection in making is an art. Perfection in acting is a virtue. - Ivan Illich
Trying to get away from acting, being people that we aren’t for
whatever reasons, and instead, doing what matters most to us.
Art is that interesting piece inside each one of us. It’s that thing you
can’t not do. In providing spaces to be, we allow people to find, grow,
and create their art. If people are doing, making, and being their art,
they become indispensable, rather than simply virtuous, or bored or
delinquent or depressed.
We get so worried about, and expended in, a means to improve or to
prove. If we focus on authentic art, as opposed to prescribed learning,
the proving will not longer be an issue. We’ll wonder what all the fuss
was. The kids already wonder. The art, the sharing of that art, because
you can’t not, is its own reward.
lucas… doing happy

5. attachment & authenticity
From Gabor Maté ..
Imagine we work on both.
That’s the quiet revolution,
be you – authenticity,
be us – attachment.
see following slides.
redefineschool.com/1341-2/gabor-mate-attachment-authenticity/

6. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
On the other hand, and strikingly more of a risk, yet more
overlooked, denied, or accepted, too many people aren’t
getting what we think are the basics now. They may be
playing the school game so well that it appears they are, but
legitimately getting the basics has been proven time and
again to be false when they enter the job force or arrive a the
the basics
The most common question we get is “What about
the basics?” Find a great answer to that on the site
of the - Brooklyn Free School.
The answer is a question... “What are the basics?”
Perhaps that’s what we need to redefine per an
individual, per their community.
The basics as defined by school is a very limited and
restrictive set of skills. However, the word basic is
often referred to as essential. Essential translates
to absolutely necessary or extremely important. If
we deem something as basic it should by it’s nature
show up as we live, ... No?
For those worried about basics that might not show
up, these can be strewn, offered, and exposed. But
our urge to mandate perceived basics, most often
cripples and compromises the learner.
university campus, and are unable to perform expected basics. Research is telling us that over 90% of kids either cheat
or cram the day before a test, so that a week later, they don’t remember. Even by their own measures and prescribed
basics, test scores continually reveal a great disconnect. ie: It’s hard to go through a day of real life without engaging in
mathematical thinking. School math, however, per the common core standards, isn’t necessarily practical, useful, or
basic. Have you rationalized a denominator or conjugated an imaginary number lately? And if you have, how common
do you think that is?

7. why
Setting people free,
to be themselves.
how
Creating (physical & mental)
spaces of permission.
what
Soul peace
unleashes brilliant minds/art.
startwithwhy…working in the shadows, in incubation,
testing and prototyping and failing and
learning.
We experimented with spaces where
people could tap into their own genius,
their own art. Spaces free of proof,
credentialing, measurement. We were
seeking ways to facilitate self-directed
learning. Our findings are not new.
Practicing them, however will require a
change in mindset.
It will require a culture of trust, with
(mental and physical) spaces of
permission.
be you. be us.
why
Setting communities free,
to share themselves.
how
Creating (physical & mental)
spaces of trusting/giving.
what
World peace
allows for gatherings that matter,
per choice.
..how do we become us.
what types of gathering spaces does
a community want, need, believe in,
most. On the art of conversation. ..
listening to each other without an
agenda and ongoingly. Web access
has shown us the value of connection
and ways to better connect with the
invisible/silent, globally. How to use
that insight to better listen to each
other, locally. For any type of thriving
sustainability to happen,
we must create, be, together.

8. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
If we fix the cities, we fix the world. - Tony Hsieh
In the US, when you say real life people tend to define it as:
outside of school. - Michael Wesch
The end of this plan,
youth crafted two
years ago, has
community as school,
with the entire city as
the floorplan. The high
school buildings
become resource
centers and meet up
spaces. There is a city-
wide art hall and
engineering hall,
forensics hall. The
town acts more like a
university campus..
where people are
walking and biking to
and from buildings
through the course of
a day.
University/school as
coffee house even.
Dave Cormier, community as curriculum
community/city as curriculum/school

9. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
community of practice
Getting together with your people and doing, making or
learning something you all just can’t not do.
The coming together is because of that thing and that thing
is what you make or do.
Community is built from each ones love for that thing.
ie: I love to train dogs, or make kites. I find people in my city
or virtually that shares that same love. We connect and
immerse ourselves in that topic. We become a community
practicing that art. Wikipedia’s more formal definition.
connected adjacency
Many have said there will be no revolution within the
system, within the institution. While that makes
mental sense, we also believe that the system, the
institution, is where many of our best resources are,
people in particular. Today, especially in education,
even though many are breaking away to charter
schools, online schools, homeschooling and
unschooling, the masses reside in the system.
Through a connected adjacency mentality we exist
both in and out of the system. We spend more of our
time playing offense, than defense. Nothing is for
everyone, so we seek to facilitate non-prescribed
learning. We’re currently creating spaces of freedom
for a very small percentage to get at authentic
experimentation and innovation. Spaces to test new
ideas out within a community. Spaces where failure
won’t affect or offset the whole, but unexpected,
unknown, and delightful success will certainly and
pleasantly benefit the whole. Saul Kaplan, connected
adjacency; google 20%
Deborah Frieze on two loop theory of change.

10. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
Take a listen, as Bunker Roy explains how credentialing could come from how well your community is doing.
imagine a community such as mine, Loveland, CO. You, a university, or a
CEO of a company, come to me today, asking if Peter is a good fit, if he’s
worth consideration at your establishment.
I say, most likely not. I explain to you, that currently,
Loveland has 400+ charitable organizations, so one would think we wouldn’t be dealing
with homelessness, our county wouldn’t be 6th in the nation in suicide rate, etc.
I say, I wonder what the heck has Peter been doing, letting that happen in his community.
imagine you come to me a year from now. Loveland no longer has 400+ charitable
organizations, but rather, one kitchen table. They have connected. They engage in
ongoing conversations, conversations that matter. They’ve freed people who were
homeless up to take care of their own situation. Because they question how we spend
our days, health has improved, people start to believe they matter, the suicide rate has
gone down….
And now, now I say to you, … yes, Peter. Peter is perfect. Whether or not he helped to
change our community for good, he has been living in it. He’s associated and with people
that are free and are practicing their art. Peter is gold. Peter is indispensable.
bob
credentialing via community

11. culture
What if transparency is the new currency? What if
knowing people, being known, building a community,
holds more value than what most of us end up
spending most of the hours in a day doing or getting.
We’re thinking school has perpetuated a corporate
America long beyond it’s need to be, if it ever was a
need. We’re thinking technology wants to free us up
and back to a focus on people – conversation,
community, sharing, and listening.
We’re experimenting with a focus on a social currency,
rather than a monetary currency. We’re thinking if you
want to know how good someone is, take a look at how
well the people around them are doing. Most of what
we’re suggesting, doing, and being, will only thrive in a
culture of trust. (read more in ch 5)
… the very word culture celebrates the human capacity to
learn and adapt, something the rest of society should
support.
A sense of coherence is almost as needful as food and
drink.
Trying to improve people by interfering with their own
preferences often makes things worse.
The question for everyone living in a world of constant
contact between cultural groups, is how to become
routinely sensitive to patterns, even with minimal cues,
suspending judgment and looking for how they fit
together. - Mary Catherin Bateson,
Peripheral Visions
for more see slidedeck: more resourceful

12. detox
Detox is simply what we are calling
this manifestation,
this play-acting
or prototyping, if you will,
of the internal process
a healthy self-directed learner would model
if we could see
in their head.
We’re wondering if this jump start back to
self-reflecting, self-assessing,
might help many of us get back to our
propensity toward curiosity.
We’re wondering if it might help those of us who have
become addicted
to routine,
to directions,
to prescriptions,
to regain, unleash, strengthen, and awaken our natural
mindfulness toward
imagination and play,
toward self-directed learning.
We’re wondering if it just might be
the shot of adrenaline
our souls crave.
(more about detox in ch. 1)
This video first explains research, then about 4:40 models it.

13. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
detox [process of learning to learn]
A brief description of each of the five words of detox: be, notice, dream, connect , do.
be.Rid your mind of chatter that has
previously determined who you are.
For some, for most even, this element
of detox could take quite a while. We have
become so used to pleasing others, to listening
to other voices. We need to listen to ourselves,
to our gut, daily. We change daily.
While it’s difficult for some to be alone, many need
space to listen from within. Spaces of permission
and of solitude help cultivate a culture of trust. It’s
not about prescribing you, or proving you, it’s about
becoming you, unveiling you. Now. Perpetually now.
It’s less about finding a specific passion, and more
about being awake, being fully alive. It’s not as much
about finding good to do, as it is about finding that
which you can’t not do.
begin being.
for more on be
books: buccaneer scholar, significance of life, tools of conviviality,
mindfulness, we are all weird, linchpin, orbiting the giant hairball

14. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
notice. Step out of the routine and notice the unlikely. Ellen Langer
writes in Mindfulness and Colin Ward writes in The Child in the City, how focus on
outcomes can lead to mindlessness. Many of us need directions. We’re afraid to
wander. We don’t embrace failure as an opportunity. We get impatient with the
unplanned, the unlikely, the undefined. Yet, these are the very things that afford us
spaces to make decisions based on the newness of the moment. Vulnerability in
context (alive in the moment) begs noticings. You can’t explain perpetual beta
because it is always changing. Mindfulness isn’t an alternative if you choose to live
awake. Noticing alone could change the world.
for more on notice
dream. Imagine yourself doing, solving, becoming, creating, and making.
Roger Martin encourages us in The Design of Business to question everything
respectfully. Too often we quit or fold because of something as simple as the raising
of an eyebrow. We need to boldly and gracefully confront reliability-thinking
(proof/data speaks) of the corporate world and of our traditions. We need to wonder
and ponder. We need to question assumed risk. Might we face a greater risk in
playing it safe? Meg Wheatley in Walk Out Walk On, quotes Paulo Freire - If you
don’t have any kind of a dream, I’m sure it’s impossible to create
something.
for more on dream
books: linchpin, art of possibility, war of art, democratic ed, we are all weird, walk out
walk on, stop killing dreams

15. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
connect. Today, even in public ed, you really can choose what,
when, where, how and with whom you want to connect. Connections can start with
the personalized framework of why. That choice has the potential of ultimate
empowerment. That choice facilitates and enlivens a person’s curiosity, getting at a
deep, intellectual, just in time learning. Connections, our new currency.
for more on connect, higher ed & cities
books: talent code, power of pull, reality is broken, diy u, diy college credentials
people: downes, siemens, cormier, ..
do.The criteria youth have determined for doing: does it matter? and is it
awesome? Both beg to whom, which is exactly the mindset we believe is vital to this
paradigm shift (change in basic assumptions.) We can now facilitate personalized
definitions of success in public ed. Youth’s drive, contrary to the belief of some,
contrary to perceived activity or inactivity, is not toward laziness. Youth crave hard
work.
A great question for a healthy self-perpetuated feedback loop, am I doing this to
finish or am I doing this just to do, to be, to make? Remaining mindful of that
mindset could set you free to experience the richest of lives. Find and do that which
you can’t not do.
for more on do
books: at work with thomas edison, reality is broken, rework, the war of art, linchpin,
tools of conviviality

16. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]There are no replica thumb prints. That is discrimination to infinity.
When we facilitate that, prejudice will decrease.
What the world needs most, is people being themselves. People driven by that which they can’t not do.
clicktoplaytrailer
discrimination (as democracy as equity)

17. disruption(as per Clay Christensen)
[a quiet revolution]
By design, we are
currently in the
shadows at the left
end of the upward
exponential curve.
As we begin being,
those most in love
with the idea,
experiment, fail,
and tweak,
continually
making and being.
We believe obscurity is key to self-directed
learning, so self-organizing.. as imposed
definition, routine, and focus on outcome, can
encourage mindlessness.
We welcome the shadows, as we believe you
may be more inclined to be working, doing, and
failing there. You may be more inclined to be you
there. Publicity often nudges us toward theory
and meetings and defending and talking perfect
case scenarios, and following the masses, more
so than doing and being.
We believe in what we’re doing. And while we’re
not selling or pushing, we believe we’re creating
something your soul might just be craving.
redefineschool.com/systemic/

18. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
Today, people are learning online, on boats, in buses, in
classrooms, in schools of all sorts, in other countries, at home,
in the city, … this is great. What we are suggesting is that we no
longer pigeon-hole learners to any of these spaces. You want to
learn on a boat. Great. But let’s not say now, that you are a
boat learner only. Maybe tomorrow another space will serve
you better. Change is good if we choose it. Learning is change,
it’s innovation. And it’s never finished or set.
More liberating (and breathtaking) mindsets/spaces emerge
when we focus on curiosity rather than proof. Curiosity in
where, when, how, what and/or with whom a person is
connecting. Curiosity in what is going on in their head. The
more differentiated those answers are,
from person to person,
but even more important
within one person,
the more
evidence
of life
and
learning.
These shared spaces
begin to let Joe
be Joe.
eachpersoniseclectic eclectic

19. equity
Equity doesn’t mean equal. Equity involves
personalization. It begs choice. It allows for redefinition of
success per individual, per community. The achievement
gap is a misnomer when we prescribe what the gap is
about. None of the data we’ve been gathering, and
spending most of our time, energy, money, and people on,
has a statistically sound basis. Everything is variable.
Everything is debatable.
ie: PISA, the test most often referred to when comparing countries,
has it’s main focus on math. Math, many say, is more universal
because there are relatively few barriers due to language. Yet, the
math on these tests are more likened to school math, than
mathematical thinking. This can translate to a competition between
countries on a topic that is very restrictive and not beneficial to
most people. We’re suggesting a more equitable means to monitor
growth, if you must. We’re suggesting we model more of a self-
directed feedback loop, comparing personal bests.
People have all the skills, creativity, and ingenuity they need.
- Meg Wheatley
Equity will come when we free people of a predetermined outcome. Equity will come when we offer resources per
choice and facilitate self-directed learning. Equity fades the more we focus on a means to improve standardization.
ie: We realize many more resources if we allow people to look at and use what they have. Many people have and
prefer cell phone use, so why insist everyone have an ipad. Save the money for the few that don’t have anything,
but again, let them choose their means of access. We’re thinking a good start for choice of connection or access
involves laptops, phones, bikes, bus passes…
redefineschool.com/equity-glossary/

20. exponentiate
Within our great concern that people might miss the
basics, our minds are trained to translate that most often
to math. And the math, often translates to school math,
that most people won’t need in their life time.
Unfortunately, with that mindset, and with that urgency
and demand, to get the school math, most people end up
missing the more useable and vital components of
mathematical thinking.
Exponentiation is one such component.
Being able to visualize or conceptualize size or growth.
Most people have a hard enough time imagining what one
million of something might look like. Then throw in
movement, the ongoingness of exponentiation. Especially
if the little number in the air keeps growing as well.
So, unknowingly, we often miss out on potential, because
we don’t realize the vastness of growth, just around the
corner.
Scaling the individual, is an exponentiating phenomenon.
We have no idea how incredible that would be. How
equitable, and how sustaining.
People have all the skills, creativity, and ingenuity they need.
- Meg Wheatley

21. fractal
Focusing on the part that looks the same whether you zoom in or zoom out has been at the essence of our finding
a narrative that can go anywhere. What shows up over and over. What is the same, no matter where you are, or
from what angle. It’s also helped us focus on what matters most, rather than falling to distractions.
What if we just zoomed out more often..
Fractal thinking simplifies and helps us focus on what matters most.

22. grok
To understand something so thoroughly and intuitively
you become it.
Like the form around tacit knowledge..
first heard from
Thinking we grok by doing.. and so ..suggesting we free ourselves up for that.
Perhaps let’s do this first… ie: a-nother-way-book
in an ecosystem with enough eclectic people.. not as an add on to your already busy day, but..

23. interdependency
This came as we were researching laws for homeless teens. While some states allow 14 year-olds to declare
independence, often resulting in homelessness, some are trying to restate that to a declaration of
interdependence, where each teen is matched up with an adult. If we want to create spaces of permission, where
learning is accomplished through living, we feel this interdependency will provide stability in the
potential, and in fact encouraged, chaos.
When we set people free to choose their mentors, their connections, their interests, amazingly, we discover that we
don’t need more resources. If you take a look at the community around you, there are incredible mentors and
teachers and unlikely topics, in unlikely places.
There are countless means to learning what you choose, by connecting. No end really.
And the beauty of all of this, it isn’t an either or, but rather, an incredible and.
ie: Imagine, an 80 year old, who most likely takes too much medication, his family/
friends rarely visit, so he spends much of his time watching TV.
Imagine a 12 year old, who most likely takes too much medication, spends a lot of time playing videos games,
yet who dreams of being and doing something similar to what the 80 year old has done and been.
Imagine these two connecting per passion, per choice, rather than per kindness. Soon, neither can wait to get
up in the morning. And at night, well the 80 year old now has wifi, and is stretching his expertise to no end,
from the curiosity and energy flowing over from the 12 year old, and vice versa.
This surpasses the issue of school, of achievement gaps, even of learning. This takes on the matter of what it means
to be human and alive. A declaration of interdependence, being known by someone, could be more vital to a person
than food, water, or shelter.
Imagine if we were to focus on feeding the soul, rather than on our current (often unquestioned) dependencies, ie:
feeding the test scores, the number crunch.
We are because we belong. We are all connected. - I Am (documentary by Tom Shadyak)

24. indispensable
Original thinkers, provoateurs, people
who care. People we can’t dispose of or
outsource. People who are vital. What we
want/need are indispensable people.
- Seth Godin, Linchpin
knowmadic learner
A creative, imaginative, and innovative
person who can work with almost
anybody, anytime, and anywhere.
Industrial society is giving way to
knowledge and innovation work. Whereas
industrialization required people to settle
in one place to perform a very specific role
or function, the jobs associated with
knowledge and information workers have
become much less specific in regard to
task and place. Moreover, technologies
allow these new paradigm workers to
work either at a specific place, virtually, or
any blended combination. Knowmads can
instantly reconfigure and contextualize
their work environments, a greater
mobility is creating new opportunities.
- John Moravec
cristian

25. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
lurk
In particular, online, a lurker is someone who reads or listens in, but rarely shares back out. While
the term has a negative connotation, lurking is often advised in order to get a feel for the
community or the topic. It can often be a welcome and safe place for new people.
There are some advantages to lurking. One is that you can catch multiple communities and topics,
without getting so entrenched in potential and ongoing debates, ie: over semantics or egos.
An especially great advantage, is that the space of lurking allows for the development of trust.
Rather than being forced to participate, a person is able to determine for themselves when and if
they are ready or want to jump in. Observation is an incredible teacher in and of itself.
We are hoping to incorporate the ability to lurk as we emerge as a physical community. We are
planning to livestream, archive, and offer backchannel capabilities for our weekly community-wide
conversations. We believe that people who are skeptical of a community gathering, might be able
to observe from a distance, or lurk, until they feel comfortable enough, or trust the
process/community enough to join in.

26. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
maker space
A space for making, hacking, playing (definitions below via Bud Hunt).
A space where messy is ok, and failing is expected.
A space where you can tinker like a five year old, or make a robotic arm …

27. If you are lucky enough to be connected to someone per passion, or be known by some youth, one key element
toward facilitating self-directed learning, is to deliberately not teach. We live in a world that is
so used to directions, so used to
being told how and what to
do, it’s hard for many of us to
function on our own. In most
learning situations and
opportunities, we seek out
the perceived expert, sit in
their path, and wait to be
filled. This mindset disables
and disengages the
indispensable person from
within. This pattern, tradition,
training, encourages
mindlessness.
If the goal is self-directed learning,
if the desire is youth who know what
to do when they don’t know what to do,
if the aim is for youth to fall in love with learning, then the mentor, needs to be positioned, physically and
mentally, alongside. Alongside, doing their own thing, modeling what it is to learn, what it is to be.
The word assessment is derived from the Latin verb, assidere, which means, quite literally, to sit beside.
mentor alongside
redefineschool.com/the-be-you-web/

28. Imagine spaces within your city
where people come to share ideas,
to share dreams, to share spaces,
to share tools/toys, to share.
We notice what we have.
sharing as currency
mesh
~Lisa Gansky
We notice we have all we need.

29. In Net Smart, Howard Rheingold refers to this as networked individualism, via Barry Wellman.
Rather than relying on a single community for social capital, individuals often must actively seek out a variety of
appropriate people and resources for diff situations
- the person has become the portal.
These connections provide needed support, safety, accountability. The belief that you are known by someone
is a most liberating feeling, an incredibly vial piece to freeing your mind up to being, to becoming you.
We are prototyping an app that could listen, find, and leave a trail such as this – a non-linear portfolio even. Which excites us
tremendously, because then it’s even less about credentialing/proving and more about doing/being.
First we saw Joe, choosing available spaces/gatherings
(ch 1), here a student/learner chooses people (above),
and a person, aka John T. Spencer, (right), simply
choosing, … living.
networked individualism redefineschool.com/networked-individualism/

30. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
people agenda
Our desire is to be green about people.
To value, embrace, and delight in what it means to be
human and alive. [a favorite quote from Carol Black’s
beautiful film, Schooling the World]
We’re experimenting with how to listen with no
agenda.
We believe that every actor has a reason, and that deep
within, everyone has a desire to do good. We believe
this space of trust awakens people, and that awakened
people are indispensable. We believe the paradigm
shift a people agenda begs, is that it be based on a
culture of trust where
community is the
curriculum,
non-prescriptive.
When we refer to
youth, we intend
that to mean you,
to whatever degree
you decide.
read more about this philosophy here: people agenda
or this slidedeck: respect for every voice
Dave Cormier, community as curriculum
books: linchpin, buccaneer scholar, significance of life, cognitive
surplus, mindfulness
Clay Shirky tells a story of ten daycare centers in Israel
in his book, Cognitive Surplus. The story really gets at
this culture we believe is vital to change.
Here’s the short version: These ten centers had no late
fee for picking up children and very few parents came
late and not by very much. Then they imposed
approximately a three dollar fine on 7 of the 10
centers. The number of late parents increased, and
stayed elevated even after the fine was dropped. Shirky
explains, the parents see the day care workers as
participants in a market transaction rather than as
people who’s needs should be respected. Parents
viewed workers time as a commodity. They assume the
fine represents full price of the inconvenience they
were causing.
He goes on to explain the difficulty, once a new
mindset for the relationship has occurred, to go back to
the culture of trust and humanity. Dealing with one
another as a market can fundamentally alter
relationships.
Have we turned relationships into marketing
transactions, that now require such a large overhead
that we have lost the art of living? Are we trusting and
valuing people? Or are we trusting and valuing
paperwork that basically represents mistrust? And that
takes billions a year to run in public ed alone.

31. perpetual beta
Never ending, never done beginning. Always fresh,
mindful, and new.
It's dirty and wholesome. It's the way that knowledge
actually is, rather than the way we try to package it so
that it can be measured. - Dave Cormier
One thing people have said that have visited the be
you house, is that every time they come it’s
different. Routine can cripple us. Doing things in
order to finish them, can compromise us.
We’re practicing, embracing, and modeling
perpetual beta. Through our eagerness to learn from
ourselves and others, we share our mistakes. We
seek to hold ourselves accountable to a continual
freshness and mindfulness.
This does however, unsettle people at first.
People think they need definition.
Can you explain something that is always changing?
Luckily, people’s souls crave aliveness.
It is perhaps because we have not learned to recognize
and respect existing order in unfamiliar forms that we
are frightened of social change, unwilling to support
and work with the forms that peoples find for
themselves.
- Mary Catherine Bateson
click here to view 1 min video
We believe this mindset is a sign of good health. The
believe, of a 5 yr old, that every day is new.

32. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
prescribed learning
The idea that you will learn this particular topic,
this particular year or month or day.
The issue is with publicly prescribed learning... not
with getting better at doing publicly prescribed
learning. - Ivan Illich
To date, much of our attention, even in the
field of online learning, has been focused on
a system of learning centered on the class or
cohort: groups of students studying the
same curriculum pace through the same set
of learning activities. (Fenning, 2004) We
continue to organize classes in grades,
sorted, especially in the earlier years, by age.
Time continues to be the dominant
metaphor for units of learning, and learning
continues to be constrained by time. As it
was ten years ago, the model is that of a
group of people starting at the same time,
studying the same materials at the same
pace, and ending at the same time.
- Stephen Downes
Mary Catherine Bateson on chocolate milk

33. rhizome
has no beginning or end; it is always in
the middle, between things, interbeing,
intermezzo.
The tree is filiation, but the rhizome is
alliance, uniquely alliance. The tree
imposes the verb 'to be,' but the fabric of
the rhizome is conjunction, 'and . . . and . .
. and' (pp.24-25)
Break the rhizome anywhere and the only
effect is that new connections will be
grown. The rhizome models the unlimited
potential for knowledge construction,
because it has no fixed points…and no
particular organization (p. 389).
a tangle of tubers with no apparent
beginning or end, constantly changes
shape, and appears to be connected at
every point with every other point (p.
389).
All life organizes into networks, not neat
boxes or hierarchies. – Meg Wheatley

34. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
Take a listen to Leslie, aka @onepercentyellow, if
you’d like
to get more of a taste and color
and visual of rhizomatic learning,
how it is happening, has been
happening, in spaces, lovely spaces.
Dave Cormier himself ...
explaining
rhizomatic learning.

35. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
self-directed learning
within public ed - or
open source
The environment that they happen to
be in, whether it be a productivity
tool, hobbyist web page, or online
game, constitutes (at that time) the
personal learning environment.
Resources from across the internet
are accessed from that environment:
resources that conform to the
student’s needs and interests, that
have been in some way pre-selected
or favorably filtered, and that may
have been created by production
studios, teachers, other students, or
the student him or herself. Content –
interaction, media, data – flows back
and forth between the learning
environment and the external
resources, held together by the single
identity being employed by the
learner in this context.
. -Stephen Downes
Educational delivery
systems will recognize
the identity of the
student making the
request and will
coordinate with other
online applications
(which may include
commercial brokers,
open resource
repositories, or
additional student
records) to facilitate the
student’s learning
activity.
-Stephen Downes
from 2008
self-directed
learning
Knowing what to do when
you don’t know what to do.
- Erica McWilliams
This comes about through
experience and just in time
learning. Self-directed learners are
life-long learners. Their drive comes
through listening to the curiosities
from within. Their drive to dream,
connect, and do is second nature.

36. self-organizing
Self-organization is a process
where some form of global
order or coordination arises
out of the local interactions
between the components of
an initially disordered
system…The resulting
organization is wholly
decentralized or distributed
over all the components of
the system. As such it is
typically very robust and able
to survive and self-repair
substantial damage ..
wikipedia
hello stigmergy

37. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
solitude
The most spectacularly creative
people in many fields are often
introverted.
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi,
Gregory Feist.
Without great solitude, no
serious work is possible. -
Picasso
We're often so dazzled by
charisma that we overlook the
quiet part of the creative
process.
When we take a stance diff
from a group's we activate the
amygdala, a small organ in the
brain associated with fear of
rejection. Gregory Berns calls
this "the pain of
independence.”
private spaces of solitude – Susan Cain
time &
lucas

38. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
spaces of permission
where people can be themselves,
where they can find and craft their art,
where they don’t have to prove themselves,
where they are driven by wanted stress & structure,
where they can gather with others, per choice,
to do things that matter.
imagine an ideal home situation.
Quite possibly an unschooled home, where
the parents trust that learning is natural
and non-linear. The natural part implies
that life is rich enough to suffice a
curriculum. The non-linear part implies
that no pre-scribed basics are needed. This
frees them up to focus on knowing their
child. This knowledge allows them to
facilitate the unique curiosity (curriculum)
from inside.
This child has access to any resources
needed, is known by someone, believes he
has nothing to prove, and is free to be
curious, to be himself.
We’re thinking this is a more sane,
equitable, and humane definition or
rendering of no child left behind.
What distinguished
programmers at the
top performing
companies wasn't
greater experience
or better pay. It was
how much privacy,
personal workspace
and freedom from
interruption they
enjoyed. If you have
talented and
motivated people,
they should be
encouraged to work
alone when
creativity or
efficiency is the
highest priority.
- Adrian Furnham
lucas
time &
cristian at tedx

39. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
swimming in the compromise
Schools today are filled with people, lovely people. People that have no ill
intentions. People doing their best to make things, to make life, better. However,
most people are bound by policy. The policies the institution of school has birthed
and bred, now hold many captive. The following speaks of teacher and student.
We’re thinking it addresses a captivity most all of us are in or have been in, teacher,
parent, admin, etc. This is us, each one of us, swimming in the compromise:
Defining children as full-time pupils permits the teacher to exercise a kind of power over
their persons which is much less limited by constitutional restrictions than the over wielded
by the guardians of other social enclaves. Their chronological age disqualifies children from
safeguards which are routine for adults in a modern asylum - madhouse monastery or jail.
Classroom attendance removes children (teachers/admin) from the everyday world of
Western culture and plunges them into an environment far more primitive, magical, and
deadly serious. School could not create such and enclave within which the rules of ordinary
reality are suspended, unless it physically incarcerated the young during many successive
years on sacred territory. The attendance rule makes it possible for the schoolroom to serve
as a magic womb, from which the child is delivered periodically at the school day’s and
school year’s completion until he is finally expelled into adult life.
We are rather concerned to call attention to the fact that the ceremonial or ritual of
schooling itself constitutes such a hidden curriculum. Even the best of teachers cannot
entirely protect his pupils from it. Inevitably, this hidden curriculum of schooling adds
prejudice and guilt to the discrimination which a society practices against some for its
members and compounds the privilege of others with a new title to condescend to the
majority. Just as inevitably, this hidden curriculum serves as a ritual of initiation into a
growth-oriented consumer society for rich and poor alike. - Ivan Illich,
Deschooling Society
for more on calling into question how we spend the hours of our day: redefining
success as slidedeck as ebook
click to hear Adam recite.. swimming in compromiselucaschanning

40. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
tech vs web
We’re seeing quite a difference here.
We see the web as connections.
Connection to information and to people.
These connections have really changed
considerably in the last 3-5 years. We
believe this change is why we are able to
boldly redefine school. We believe this
newly amplified access to people and info
is the reason we’re able to actuate ideas
and theories toward self-directed learning
that have been addressed and desired for
hundreds of years. These connections are
allowing us to differentiate to infinity in
public ed.
We see tech as tools. We’re suggesting less
of a focus on the tech as tool, and more
focus on the web as connections. If people
geek out on tech, that is fine, that is great,
we need those people. We’re suggesting
that a focus on the tech can cause us to get
sidetracked into thinking it’s the ticket to
change, ie: if we all have the same tools, or
learn and use them in the same way.
Great insight here in Douglas Rushkoff’s
Program or Be Programmed:
tacit knowledge
Knowing more than one can tell. Not
acquired from other; it requires
learning through mind, body and
senses and is facilitated by
experimentation and inquiry.
- Mary Ann Reilly
John Hagel, Edge Perspectives

41. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
ted talks
TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing
together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become
ever broader. Along with two annual conferences -- the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs
each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh UK each summer -- TED includes the award-
winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Project and TED Conversations, the inspiring TED
Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize.
The above is from the about page on the TED site, click here to find out more.

42. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
on why
Setting people free,
to be themselves.
A comment was made, if you are setting people free, you aren’t empowering them. You
are doing the setting, you are doing the action. Because we believe empowered people
is key, sharing a little analogy here of our thinking. Hoping if it’s bunk, people will let us
know. Please help us challenge all the thinking we are sharing. This is important stuff, we
need you.
A turtle is protected by its shell. If someone took all the turtle’s shells away from them,
that would be deadly. Perhaps some turtles would be strong enough to get their shell
back. But for those not strong enough, returning their shells to them would be returning
them to their natural state. It would be a setting free of sorts. Free from the bondage
the stolen shells created. Back in its natural environment, the turtle is then, ready to be.
We’re seeing public ed as a stripping away of a kids’ shell in a sense. Their culture, their
natural state of curiosity, has perhaps been stolen. We’re thinking this setting free, is
simply restoring to each person, their shell. We’re not telling them who to be or how to
be or what to be, we’re just creating that free space, once again. That space of
permission, that many haven’t seen since they were five. Perhaps.
Again, we see this space of permission, this shell, as a new way to look at what it might
mean when we say the words, no child left behind.
turtle as fractal

43. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
unschooling/desc
hooling
Very generally speaking,
homeschooling is about taking the
curriculum home, as a means to do
it more efficiently and perhaps
more humanely. In other words,
doing publicly prescribed learning
in the comfort of your home.
Unschooling or deschooling calls
into question publicly prescribed
learning itself. It is generally
founded on the belief that learning
is natural and that following the
curiosity within each person attains
a higher quality of life because it
values/fosters the genius/gift within
each person. Life at home and in
the community, simply living, is
learning. Deschooling perpetuates
self-directed learning.
The personal learning environment
is more of a conferencing tool than
it is a content tool. The focus of a
personal learning environment is
more on creation and
communication than it is
consumption and completion. -
Stephen Downes
Learning is the
fundamental pattern
of human adaptation,
but mostly it occurs
before or after or in
the interstices of
schooling.
Preoccupied with
schooling, most
research on human
learning is focused on
learning that depends
on teaching or is
completed in a
specified context
rather than on the
learning that takes
place spontaneously
because it fits directly
into life.
- Mary Catherin
Bateson
Let’s define
ourselves
around
enquiries: in
other words,
by what we
are curious
about,
rather than
what we are
authorities
on.
http://dougald.poster
ous.com/the-
university-project-
five-elements

44. I don’t know…
[a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
useful ignorance, then, becomes a space of pedagogical possibility rather than a
base that needs to be covered. ‘Not knowing’ needs to be put to work without shame or bluster.
- Erica McWilliams
Mentors available to the youth, and ready to learn from the youth are most beneficial. The mentor’s mindset should
be that of keen interest and inquiry into what is going on in the youth’s head, not the mentor’s.
Sugata Mitra calls this the method of the grandmother: friendly but not necessarily knowledgeable in that topic.
Wrongologist, Kathryn Schulz
As mentors, listen without an agenda, demonstrating and communicating genuine patience and caring. Encourage the
expression of ideas, even (and especially) if they are different than our own. Rather than alarm, try to honestly
understand the underlying sentiment, in order to more fully understand.
For an effective mentor, “I don't know” is always an okay answer. “I don't know” is an opportunity to access and use
resources together. When we don't know, we brainstorm together with youth.
Keep from developing an inflated view of our roles; there are mentors all around us. The key element is to deliberately
not teach, as constant instruction encourages mindlessness. Encourage independence. Youth need time for self-
discovery. Time to be. Trust that learning will happen. No, know that learning is happening.
Be available to youth, modeling what it is to learn, what it is to be, doing our own thing,
exploring our passion, discovering ourselves.
As mentors, we should underscore the importance of learning and working for oneself and
one's own self-improvement. The youth should understand that they alone assess their
progress, without outside influence. We also need to recognize the effect of inappropriate
praise. Praise shackles youth to a course of pleasing others, rather than themselves.
Amy Lewark
unschooling mom

45. more on the spaces we were experimenting with…
story-board [2008 to present]

46. the innovation lab
Year one, (2010-2011), the lab was a
physical space where kids could go to
learn per passion. We are hoping that
in year 2, people will see that rather
than a physical space, they themselves
are the innovation lab, to whatever
degree they choose. With this mindset
dispersing into the entire district, we
envision a your school design it, your
pd design it, community as school.
To be innovative is to be useful. The
most endearing innovations focus on
an unmet deep human need.
We are about creating spaces of
permission, so that people can
practice and share their art.

47. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
the be you house
Year two, (2011-2012), the house is a
physical space mimicking the fluidity,
transparency, malleability, and allure of the
web, eclectic, like the web, for the purpose
of facilitating self-assessment. (Is the web
getting us back to a more humane state
perhaps, reminding us what it’s like to be
alive?)
A space of permission to be yourself.
A space to jump start curiosity, imagination
and play, to enliven self-directed learning.
A space encouraging mindfulness.
A space modeling no child left behind
(NCLB) redefined: a safe space of resources,
including an alongside mentor.
Besides currently showcasing a physical space to model
what a city could be like, when virtual and reality play together
for the good of people, we envision the be you house as an ongoing community detox center. As we free up more
people in the city, we’re imagining many not knowing where to start. The be you house will be a space for just that.
people in the house: Peter, be you house post
Video tours of the house: begin being, house happenings, Linda posts on the house
googleplex; google 20% space/modeling for everyone in the district
books: Kelly, What Tech Wants; Hawken, Blessed Unrest; Gansky, The Mesh; Godin, We Are All Weird

48. [a q u i e t r e v o l u t i o n]
visions of a pi lab
..a conduit to communities of
practice. A gathering space, on the
ground, in the middle of town, to
crowdsource our city’s thinking and
ideas and interests. A means to listen
to and harvest and facilitate what
spaces and resources are needed for
these gatherings per choice, in order
to make and keep our city healthy.
Then to use that continually changing
information to start to enliven spaces
that already exist and to free up and
continue to free up people to be able
to gather per choice and do the things
that matter most to them.
A physical space to prototype and model what a school district (a city) could be like, when the only difference is that
all gatherings are per choice.
World Café to hear all voices, to harvest invisible experts
Walk Out Walk On, Wheatley & Frieze
Communities of practice
More choices for teachers

49. visions of a be us collaboratory
..A gathering space, in the sky, in the middle of town, the middle of the nation,
to crowdsource our city’s thinking and ideas and interests, along with and
visible to, the world.
Much like the pi lab, but with a window/door to the world.
Practicing and experimenting with what tech wants, .. for us to connect.
As described in Wheatley’s Walk Out Walk On, a space for the Art of Hosting,
so that we can become us:
• w/o core beliefs... without the why.. people just co-inhabit, they coexist..
• we only support what we create
• to make a system healthier...we simply need to connect it more to itself
• if we have a convo first ( hear each others stories) we discover one another
as colleagues
• ... start anywhere... follow it everywhere
• we can't design anything that works if we don't have the whole system
involved in it's creation…that way we harvest invisible intelligence
• people will give up role of master creator and move into the dance of life..
there is no alternative.. life insists we put ourselves in motion
collaboratory
Art of Hosting, World Café, to hear all voices.
Walk Out Walk On, Wheatley & Frieze
Video on art of hosting

50. your school design it
.., city as school. Each learner/person eclectic
within themselves, moving around the city,
much like a university campus. City sharing
resources and spaces.
Using what we have. Sharing what we have.
Harvesting invisible expertise. Ongoing
crowdsourcing of options and ideas and
curiosities. The community spaces always
morphing to facilitate.
Perhaps city as connected adjacency (small
experimental lab) to state or country as we
experiment without compulsory standardized
tests, or seat time, or prescribed curriculum.
Perhaps funding comes as Homeschoolers
and Unschoolers see this as new spaces for
them to gather. Perhaps we experiment with
funding via census.
A city as school, as university, as alive.
Gathering per choice connect ed
People aware of options
City as floorplan – slidedeck
book: for the love of cities, Kageyama –
with people in schools unleashed to play
city-as-floorplan-deck
(city vision, city sketch-up, et al)

51. story-board [2008 to present]
update on years/spaces of
experimentation ..et al

52. faq
What about social aspects of kids,..because they aren’t following the social norms. Facing people who
call them dropouts, etc.. Read Seth Godin’s We Are All Weird for incredible insight on societal norms and
Read Kate Fridkis, among many, for insight into homeschooling/unschooling experiences.. Refer them to
Tebow.
Also know, that whenever your doing things on the edge, people will question you. I’ve seen enough
research, and life experiences, and heard enough stories, to believe I’d rather live on the edge. So it’s almost
a knowing that if I’m not being questioned.. maybe I’m not fully alive.
What about getting into places..
Take a look at these options, help tweak it and help educate other parents/people if you’d like. If still too
worried, may want to wait a year. Unis aren’t going to stay open, imo, if they don’t start offering more
options. Looks like we may get to experiment with local uni kids redefining uni.
.
Eric Mazur’s
research of
AP
courses/tests.
Yong Zhao’s research
of PISA test (used to
compare countries).

53. faq
What about math - can you “just in time” math..
Funny.. that’s exactly why you don’t need it, it doesn’t show up. School math isn’t used by most people. If we
were learning mathematical thinking, we’d see a much bigger issue at hand. That we are spending
money/time/people on things with no return. If school math does show up in real context, only need to learn
it once. Here’s one of many, just most recent. Learning/life is not linear, you can join in anywhere, no
foundation necessary. Think rhizome.
What about structure? Structure is in everything. The difference is that we are
facilitating structure created by the learner.. not pushed or forced on the learner.
What about SAT/ACT, gpa, diploma or ? We are working on a non-linear portfolio.
College admissions and CEO’s are intrigued because we have gotten so good at proving
ourselves, that the tests, the diploma, et al, are no longer distinguishable. ie: so many top scores.
The non-linear portfolio we’re prototyping is modeled after the brain.
If you’re so inclined, take a look at what we have gathered over the years: faq
.
lauren
i updated a few pages of this slidedeck april 2015
find ongoing glossary here:
glossary-words-people