A community, where members create the rules

So at a sudbury school, and so including the one I work at, the members of the school/community are required to abide by the laws/rules approved through majority vote by the members. For cases of grievances, a case can be submitted to the Judicial committee, which is formed by the members. The Judicial committee holds a hearing, and investigation, which involve questioning the witnesses, and the victim(s). Upon finding members guilty, then a decision is made as to the consequence that fits the offense.

Also, weekly, a school meeting is held where all propositions/requests are heard and voted upon. This can include requesting for funds, voting on new rules, or any matter that affects the school/community as a whole.

A school sleepover is an event, which can be set up without having to go through school meeting, unless they require funds. Each person is free to go and create any event or field trip. And naturally, someone must take on the responsibility to create the project. This involves sending out invitations, organizing a day, requesting funds, asking permission etc... The school is designed as a community that grants the individual power and protects each individual. So power is equal here among the members, and this includes how each individual is restricted in their power. Commonsense, no? So no one is restricting you unnecessarily out of their own self-interest. Can there be mistaken rules or laws that are voted upon? Sure, but then the community learns that, and takes the corrective actions. So The community, very much acts like an individual person in that sense, because we do make mistakes and learn from them. We also restrict ourselves in what we do. And we also express ourselves greatly, or at least we should... But that is what is missing isn't it? That expression is missing in the world.

You can't make a rule that enforces continuous expression. So rules are designed for managing the conflicts that occur among individuals, when problems occur. So when less rules are needed then you know how much integrity, and expression, and understanding/respect for life and each other exists in the community.

At the same time however, the question is whether everyone is participating in the rule creation, or whether someone else is. So if we look at countries and societies... politicians vote on the rules, and so the members of the communities don't. So there could be many rules or laws which are not needed. The only way to know would be to allow every member to propose and vote in laws/rules.

First 2 weeks at Sunset Sudbury

So two weeks ago, I had started visiting, and afterwards being hired, and now working at Sunset Sudbury. I can say that the last two weeks have felt like a really long time. Each day I was there felt both timeless, too short, and when looking back, it seems like I had let another life that was ages ago before all of this. So my plan for this blog is to capture the stories, lessons that everyone reading this will benefit from, including people who may not have any children, or never plan too. Because Sudbury is a school model, and we tend to think that this is just a place for children. Though really this is a place where something that is ancient and timeless occurs, which is the rearing of children within a community. That aspect has been lost in all schools across countries across the world. Was there a sense of community in all of your schools? Perhaps a lucky few of you could say yes. What is interesting too, is how many of us may have forgotten completely what is means to be genuine among people, and to be your real self. So for those that still have a spark of remembrance within you, hold onto that, and walk these blogs with me.

So something interesting that happened was how someone was playing with paper airplanes. I saw them and I asked if they knew how to make them in a different way. They said no. I then showed them, and after we flew them for a while and had fun, some other kids saw us. They then made their own and started playing. Eventually this spread to the other kids, and one of them lead a small group into how to make paper airplanes. They decorated them as well. So I observed how one thing spread from someone to another. And even though they hadn't played all together at once, it spread over time. The first people playing with paper airplanes had already left to do something else when the next group started.  Much of the world and reality works in this way, or at least it could. However, because most of us have barriers in place that prevent us from spreading our ideas and teaching and learning from others, the good ideas die. In a "normal" school, what is taught is not a decision that students make. Students do not give permission to be taught or learned something. There is no agreement, contract, or permission given. This is dangerous, as even the parents, and teachers also do not have the power to decide what is learn or taught. Instead 99% of us are trusting that whatever is taught in schools is correct, and what is best, without 99% of us actually participating in the investigation and the decision/determination of what is best to learn or taught. And because Sudbury  model is a complete democracy, everything that is learned or taught is through the permission and decision of both the learner and teacher. Thereby even the process of how to determine what is best to learn, can actually happen. This itself is a skill or lesson to learn, which can only happen through actually using one's ability to determine, decide, measure and test out a reality/situation, and set of knowledge to its value/promise.


Yogan Barrientos
786-216-2572
Miami, Florida