A event on Today. The event starts at 10:00.
Are you involved or interested in the role and purpose of education?
Do you feel the shaping of education in mainstream settings is serving a system in decline, rather than the benefit of the students, communities, and wider ecosystem?
Do you feel education could be different?
Are you curious about how education can be woven with activism, community building, justice, empowerment for marginalised groups, and more?
Do you want to find out what alternatives already exist?
Do you want to meet others working in mainstream education who wish to do things differently?
Do you want to collaborate with others to help support, sustain, and grow current or new forms of education, which will help to create new systems of change?
If you answered to any of the above, then you would enjoy taking part in an Educators Unite Gathering!
The Pickle Factory, 13 All Hallows Road, Easton, Bristol BS5 0HH
Saturday 29 March 2025
10.00 - 10.15 : Arrivals & Refreshments : Tea, Coffee, Cake!
10.15 - 11.00 : Welcome & Recap : Agreements, EdU Context & Warm-up
1.00 - 11.15 : ‘Seed Swap’ Introduction
- Introduction to each Seed of the ‘Seed Swap’ session.
- Exploring each Seed topic, and what fertile possibilities exist in the ecosystem to plant and nourish these ideas.
11.15 - 11.30 : Tea Break
11.30 - 12.45 ‘Seed Swap’
- Seed 1: Deschooling and Decolonising Education, with Artemis Bear
- Seed 2: Place-based Action Learning, with Deborah Benham
- Seed 3: New to Educators Unite? The history so far and how to join in, with Laura Corfield
- Seed 4: Open space to be filled on the day
12.45 to 13.30 : Lunch
13.30 to 14.00 : ‘Seed Saving’ & Next Steps
- Capturing the emergence of the session to summarise and present back to everyone.
14.00 to 14.30 : Crosspollination
- Seed Presentations; sharing summaries, plus ideas for next steps and ways to support the growth of EdU
14.30 to 15.00 : Closing: Round-up and check out. Until next time.....
FREE : But please register, so that we can have an idea of who is attending.
SEED SESSIONS:
SEED 1) Deschooling and decolonising education - Led by Artemis Bear.
"What if the answer to the polycrisis is not more coercion but less? In a recent session with young people, someone asked why people don’t act on global issues and the response from a wise 11 year old was “because they think what they do doesn’t matter”.
Too much teaching, hierarchically imposed rules and coercive behaviour management has stripped us of agency, critical thinking and relational skills; the most crucial elements of building community, challenging authoritarianism and taking action. In this session we’ll collaboratively explore what education and organising might look like without coercion, for people of all ages. How we can deschool and decolonise ourselves, in the hope that we can co-create a less hierarchical and competitive society, in order to address our most fundamental problems"
Bio: Artemis Bear (they/them) lost faith in our system of government working in climate policy in the 2000s and is committed to co-creating new structures for rapid, pragmatic systemic change. They founded The Garden, an innovative education project, in 2016, which centres young people's rights and has been a laboratory for the building blocks of an emergent culture that is fairer and freer. They also coordinate the Freedom to Learn network and co-produce community cabaret SCRiTCH.
SEED 2) Explore how place-based action learning can transform education into a tool for local and regional ecological, community and cultural regeneration. Led by Deborah Benham.
"We’ll surface some of the principles and practices of place-based action learning, a method that deeply connects learning to the ecological and social realities of specific regions. This approach draws inspiration from bioregioning, commoning, social ecology, biomimicry, and ecosystem services, creating opportunities for learners to engage with their environment as active participants in its regeneration.
Through group discussions, reflective exercises, and participatory mapping, we’ll uncover how context-specific, experiential learning opportunities can foster local stewardship and systems thinking. Whether you’re an educator, community organiser, or curious learner, this session offers a collaborative exploration into how we can create transformative education experiences deeply rooted in place.
Join us to build a foundation where education becomes a regenerative and empowering force for communities and ecosystems alike"
Bio: Deborah is a trainer of trainers with Gaia Education - focusing on participatory methods. She is also a Transition Town, Sociocracy, Biomimicry and Deep Nature Connection trainer and facilitator. She brings participatory facilitation into all the spaces where she is working with groups or providing learning environments.
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We aim to create a nourishing day that allows for networking and connection, learning and skillsharing, and action planning for next steps.
We also aim to create a gathering container and culture that will meet a diverse range of needs, inspired by the carefully curated events recently put on by the Bristol Commons movement. This includes:
* Not charging to attend the event
* Offering free Tea, Coffee and cake (vegan & gf)
* Providing lunch (vegan & gf): for a suggested donation £4-£6 Details TBC
* Welcoming accompanied children/families into the space, and providing activities and resources for children. We cannot be responsible for minding children without their parent/carer present.
* Adopting group agreements used by the Bristol Commons to create a safe, brave, inclusive, diverse and welcoming gathering space for all. And ensuring a container of accountability to challenge any behaviour or attitudes that are harmful to others.
* Using a venue that is accessible for those with physical health needs (ground level, accessible toilet).
* Facilitating the gathering in a way that is mindful of neurodiversity and different learning and participation styles.
If you would like to talk to a gathering facilitator about your needs ahead of the event, please email [email protected]
Entry requirements: no age restrictions (under 18s to be accompanied by an adult over 21yrs, 1:1 ratio)
Do you feel the shaping of education in mainstream settings is serving a system in decline, rather than the benefit of the students, communities, and wider ecosystem?
Do you feel education could be different?
Are you curious about how education can be woven with activism, community building, justice, empowerment for marginalised groups, and more?
Do you want to find out what alternatives already exist?
Do you want to meet others working in mainstream education who wish to do things differently?
Do you want to collaborate with others to help support, sustain, and grow current or new forms of education, which will help to create new systems of change?
If you answered to any of the above, then you would enjoy taking part in an Educators Unite Gathering!
The Pickle Factory, 13 All Hallows Road, Easton, Bristol BS5 0HH
Saturday 29 March 2025
10.00 - 10.15 : Arrivals & Refreshments : Tea, Coffee, Cake!
10.15 - 11.00 : Welcome & Recap : Agreements, EdU Context & Warm-up
1.00 - 11.15 : ‘Seed Swap’ Introduction
- Introduction to each Seed of the ‘Seed Swap’ session.
- Exploring each Seed topic, and what fertile possibilities exist in the ecosystem to plant and nourish these ideas.
11.15 - 11.30 : Tea Break
11.30 - 12.45 ‘Seed Swap’
- Seed 1: Deschooling and Decolonising Education, with Artemis Bear
- Seed 2: Place-based Action Learning, with Deborah Benham
- Seed 3: New to Educators Unite? The history so far and how to join in, with Laura Corfield
- Seed 4: Open space to be filled on the day
12.45 to 13.30 : Lunch
13.30 to 14.00 : ‘Seed Saving’ & Next Steps
- Capturing the emergence of the session to summarise and present back to everyone.
14.00 to 14.30 : Crosspollination
- Seed Presentations; sharing summaries, plus ideas for next steps and ways to support the growth of EdU
14.30 to 15.00 : Closing: Round-up and check out. Until next time.....
FREE : But please register, so that we can have an idea of who is attending.
SEED SESSIONS:
SEED 1) Deschooling and decolonising education - Led by Artemis Bear.
"What if the answer to the polycrisis is not more coercion but less? In a recent session with young people, someone asked why people don’t act on global issues and the response from a wise 11 year old was “because they think what they do doesn’t matter”.
Too much teaching, hierarchically imposed rules and coercive behaviour management has stripped us of agency, critical thinking and relational skills; the most crucial elements of building community, challenging authoritarianism and taking action. In this session we’ll collaboratively explore what education and organising might look like without coercion, for people of all ages. How we can deschool and decolonise ourselves, in the hope that we can co-create a less hierarchical and competitive society, in order to address our most fundamental problems"
Bio: Artemis Bear (they/them) lost faith in our system of government working in climate policy in the 2000s and is committed to co-creating new structures for rapid, pragmatic systemic change. They founded The Garden, an innovative education project, in 2016, which centres young people's rights and has been a laboratory for the building blocks of an emergent culture that is fairer and freer. They also coordinate the Freedom to Learn network and co-produce community cabaret SCRiTCH.
SEED 2) Explore how place-based action learning can transform education into a tool for local and regional ecological, community and cultural regeneration. Led by Deborah Benham.
"We’ll surface some of the principles and practices of place-based action learning, a method that deeply connects learning to the ecological and social realities of specific regions. This approach draws inspiration from bioregioning, commoning, social ecology, biomimicry, and ecosystem services, creating opportunities for learners to engage with their environment as active participants in its regeneration.
Through group discussions, reflective exercises, and participatory mapping, we’ll uncover how context-specific, experiential learning opportunities can foster local stewardship and systems thinking. Whether you’re an educator, community organiser, or curious learner, this session offers a collaborative exploration into how we can create transformative education experiences deeply rooted in place.
Join us to build a foundation where education becomes a regenerative and empowering force for communities and ecosystems alike"
Bio: Deborah is a trainer of trainers with Gaia Education - focusing on participatory methods. She is also a Transition Town, Sociocracy, Biomimicry and Deep Nature Connection trainer and facilitator. She brings participatory facilitation into all the spaces where she is working with groups or providing learning environments.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We aim to create a nourishing day that allows for networking and connection, learning and skillsharing, and action planning for next steps.
We also aim to create a gathering container and culture that will meet a diverse range of needs, inspired by the carefully curated events recently put on by the Bristol Commons movement. This includes:
* Not charging to attend the event
* Offering free Tea, Coffee and cake (vegan & gf)
* Providing lunch (vegan & gf): for a suggested donation £4-£6 Details TBC
* Welcoming accompanied children/families into the space, and providing activities and resources for children. We cannot be responsible for minding children without their parent/carer present.
* Adopting group agreements used by the Bristol Commons to create a safe, brave, inclusive, diverse and welcoming gathering space for all. And ensuring a container of accountability to challenge any behaviour or attitudes that are harmful to others.
* Using a venue that is accessible for those with physical health needs (ground level, accessible toilet).
* Facilitating the gathering in a way that is mindful of neurodiversity and different learning and participation styles.
If you would like to talk to a gathering facilitator about your needs ahead of the event, please email [email protected]
Entry requirements: no age restrictions (under 18s to be accompanied by an adult over 21yrs, 1:1 ratio)
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