by Renee Owen | Mar 1, 2014 | Director's Blog
![By Peripitus (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://rainbowcommunityschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/lotus-flower-300x219.jpg)
Peripitus, [CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Why?
For each person it would be a different reason. The short answer is that is enriches our spirit in fellowship with others.
For the teachers and students, they participate in centering — a spiritual practice — every day.
We support one another — whenever someone is ill or a life tragedy strikes, they are supported in many ways, including financially and with food, etc.
We promote internal and external peace.
We have fun together.
But one thing we don’t do is promote any sort of dogma or associate ourselves with one religion. In fact, we don’t even expect people who are “members” to consider themselves part of a spiritual community.
The only thing we all have in common is that learning is considered the core of what we do. Of course, as a school, learning is the bottom line — we are literally measured by how well we learn while at Rainbow. However, we go one giant step further into a whole different realm — I believe that “to learn” is what we, as humans, are put on earth to do. It is the core of our being. Learning is sacred.
From the post I recently wrote on Buckminster Fuller: “I work at a school that was founded by Sufis, by mystics. Rainbow was founded with the belief that there is much more to life than what we can see and prove in the material realm. Learning is far more than a fact that can be quantifiably recorded with testing data. Material data can barely scrap the surface of what goes on internally.
When I say we can’t actually see learning, understand that we can see artifacts of learning – student work on walls, presentations, and of course test score data, but the actual act of learning is invisible. Thus, metaphysical. There is something magical about learning.
At Rainbow, learning has always been recognized as a sacred activity. It stirs our soul because we can’t actually see it — yet we can we can feel it, we can enhance it, and best of all–we can share it. It provides fellowship and brings together our whole community. Learning provides passion and purpose in our lives. Many wise people have claimed that the whole purpose of life is to learn.”
What better purpose for a community to come together? No wonder we are a spiritual community without dogma. Dogma, by it’s very definition is limiting; but learning is infinite.
If you want to read the whole blog entry from the above quote, see Learning is a Metaphysical Activity
by Renee Owen | Feb 26, 2014 | Director's Blog
Two beautiful women at Rainbow. Emmylou Harris graced Rainbow’s campus with a visit recently. I am sure it was nice for her that no one seemed to recognize her. She was simply here to pick up Ryan from after school and see the new playground that she has heard so much about. And the other beautiful woman in the photo? That’s Jenny Hatcher — beloved parent and organizer of the fall hoe down…and an old friend of Emmylou’s. Thanks, gals. I admire both of you so much. ~love, Renee
by Renee Owen | Feb 12, 2014 | Director's Blog
It isn’t uncommon for people to assume that Rainbow Community School is a Montessori School. After all, our preschool and kindergarten classrooms look quite similar to a Montessori classroom. The Rainbow Learning model does have some important similar approaches and techniques, but there are some sharp contrasts as well.
Both approaches are grounded in close and insightful observations of children. Maria Montessori was a pioneer in crafting a learning approach and environment that naturally suited children, or that was “child-centered.” If one were to examine the Eight Principles of Montessori Education, one would see nothing that isn’t included in Rainbow’s philosophy:
- Movement enhances thinking and learning.
- Learning is improved when students have choice and a sense of control.
- Learning is improved when students are interested in what they are learning.
- Extrinsic rewards are avoided, in favor of intrinsic motivation.
- Learning with and from peers through collaboration.
- Learning is more authentic when immersed in meaningful, concrete contexts.
- A loving, authoritative teacher gives children freedom within clear boundaries and high expectations.
- Order in the environment is beneficial to children.
These principles were radical when Maria Montessori developed them 100 years ago. She was joined by Piaget, John Dewey, and a few others who believed in a “constructivist” approach, whereby children learn by doing, or by “constructing” their own learning. When the Rainbow Learning Model was developed in 1977, it had the advantage of being able to learn from the decades-old Montessori model, while adding some principles to create a more advanced holistic approach to education – the most notable additions being an immersion in the natural world, creativity, and an acknowledgement of the spiritual development of children. Another addition, is the strong inclusion of parents and family in the educational framework as key part of the learning community.
The most striking difference is how each day is structured around the different types of activities, especially in the younger grades. In a classic Montessori school, young children spend the vast majority of their day doing independent work for very long stretches of time. In Rainbow, children have blocks of time for independent work, but they are balanced with more time for group collaboration, group projects, and direction instruction. Even in preschool the whole class gathers each day for a community circle that is teacher-led. There is a strong sense of the class being a community, and children have more than ample opportunity to learn how to work together and to practice sophisticated social and emotional skills that are so important in today’s world.
In the middle school grades, Rainbow has a philosophy that the techniques and curriculum need to adapt to the times. Montessori schools find themselves trying to be true to a century-old model, but in the older grades that model wasn’t completely formulated. Maria Montessori never had the opportunity to develop an operating middle school in her lifetime, which is a shame, because her ideas were groundbreaking, and actually very different than her elementary school model. Were Maria Montessori to walk into the Rainbow Community’s Omega Middle School today, I think she would be very pleased with its evolution.
In summary, if you feel that a Montessori School may be a good fit for your child, it would make sense to tour Rainbow Community School, as the Rainbow model has many similar features, and several evolved features as well. If you are already at a Montessori School and wondering how the transition to Rainbow would be for your child, it is worth a conversation.
by Renee Owen | Feb 2, 2014 | Director's Blog, News
I attended a lecture by Buckminster Fuller last night. Of course, Bucky passed on many years ago, so it was an actor giving the lecture, but it was very real. Enlightening and enlivening.
We traveled through notions of time and space, which amounted to infinite cycles and angles. We engaged in a scientific theory that innovation, combined with compassion, can build a world where everyone has their needs met, making war obsolete.
As an educator, the most powerful “ah ha” concept of the whole evening was actually a validation: Learning is a metaphysical activity. You may ask what makes learning a metaphysical activity? Bucky would retort, “Can you see it?”
Why do I call this a “validation?” Because I work at a school that was founded by sufis, by mystics. Rainbow was founded with the belief that there is much more to life than what we can see and prove in the material realm. Learning is far more than a fact that can be quantifiably recorded with testing data. Material data can barely scrape the surface of what goes on internally. When I say we can’t actually see learning, understand that we can see artifacts of learning — student work on walls, presentations, and of course test score data, but the actual act of learning is invisible. Thus, metaphysical. There is something magical about learning.
At Rainbow, learning has always been recognized as a sacred activity. It stirs our soul because we can’t actually see it — yet we can we can feel it, we can enhance it, and best of all — we can share it. It provides fellowship and brings together our whole community. Learning provides passion and purpose in our lives. Many wise people have claimed that the whole purpose of life is to learn.
If life is infinite, then learning if infinite. The very concept of Pi could be seen as simple proof that infinity exists — it has no end, which is precisely why it is round and goes on forever. If we try to concretely quantify Pi — if we cut off Pi at 3.14– it is no longer truly round or infinite. If learning really is infinite, neither a school, nor a teacher, nor a politician, should ever box it up, or limit it: The act of quantifying learning can certainly be useful and necessary, but it quickly runs into diminishing returns. Bucky’s legacy motto is: “Do more with less.” So rather than spending more time and more precious resources on testing, let’s DO MORE.
~Thank you to Black Mountain College Museum for hosting the inspiring play R. Buckminister Fuller: The History and Mystery of the Universe, by D.W. Jacobs, and brilliantly acted by David Novak.
“Every child has an enormous drive to demonstrate competence. If humans are not required to earn a living to be provided survival needs, many are going to want very much to be productive, but not at those tasks they did not choose to do but were forced to accept in order to earn money. Instead, humans will spontaneously take upon themselves those tasks that world society really needs to have done.” ~R. Buckminster Fuller.
For more great Fuller quotes, http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Buckminster_Fuller
by Renee Owen | Feb 2, 2014 | Director's Blog, News
Friday morning was the new moon and the Lunar New Year. We move into the Year of the Horse, and from a “water” time — a time of lots of flow and flexible change — into a “wood” time. Saturday was Imbolc — the true beginning of spring, energetically. Seeds and other forms of life are stirring inside, preparing for their time to burst forth.
What does this mean for you? What does it mean for Rainbow? What transoformation is taking place?
Here are some suggestions for how we can each look inward– and outward:
- Light a candle for renewal
- Meditate and visualize your spirit and how it is connected to Rainbow as a spiritual entity.
- If you are a general classroom teacher, take a long quiet moment to picture each of your students’ faces and heart…then picture their family…then picture their connection to community. How are they changing?
- Have a conversation with a friend about your life from a gestault perspective.
- Have a conversation with a friend about the “state of the school” and what are the possibilities for the future. What transformation is taking place?
- Find a place to watch the sunset.
With love,
Renee
