My Democratic Education School: A Journal's Beginning

When you’re a hammer, the popular quip goes, everything looks like a nail.  Well, I am an academic, although subscribing to some radical learning philosophies, Democratic Education among them.  So, I do tend to see the world through an alternative education pair of funky sunglasses.  In fact, this Democratic Education, the likes practiced in Summerhill, in England, Sudbury Valley and the far more recent Brooklyn and Manhattan Free Schools here in the U.S., are worth replicating throughout many neighborhoods.  Over the coming year, or years-gee I hope not too many years-I will be commenting on and recording my attempts to broaden Democratic Education here in New York City with a “DemEd” concept which has the working title of “Rockaway College”. 

When going for my Ph.D. in Media Ecology at New York University, as well as going for my Wood Badge in Boy Scouts, I had to keep a daily journal.  The contents of which, we were told, should include observations on the processes fulfilling our obligation for the dissertation and for the completion of our Ticket project as well as the details of the process itself, along with comments on the progress of our own personal growth in the knowledge of the subject undertaken.  So, I remember writing, unfortunately rather frequently, in my Doctoral journal, items such as:  “10 am…in Bobst…looking for material on human memory…finding suitable references in catalogue but when going to the shelves the titles were missing…How can I do my literature review if the majority of the time the library just does not have the literature for me to review!”  Well, there just might be some complaints like that in the blog posts to come.  But I will try to keep them to a minimum and let my experiences spark comment on deeper aspects of the enterprise, letting the inquiry at hand be a stepping stone to another level of questioning.

To wit, the following:

Can we say that in the era of facebook, email and blogs, that ownership of our thoughts and expressions are over?  If we broadcast what we think, feel and do through social media or through other forms of web-based media do we not forsake ownership of the content?  I mean, can the author now collect the product of reflection into a book for publishing, for commercial circulation?  Or is that no longer open to those who are money poor but word, and insight, rich?  Are we not fooled into a bargain which enriches the e-platform constructors but gives us no compensation?  Do we not fall for the narcisstic illusion of seeing our presence within the trend of our time?  Do we too easily surrender ourselves...

The impacts of the answers to these questions for such as myself, a poor, itinerant academic with a big dream, a larger ambition and an even larger hole in his personal finances, are not inconsequential as in other epochs a journal of the considerations for establishing an alternative school and the experiences in trying to do so would form the foundation of a publishable work.  The blog posts still might be able to be collected into some form of book which someone would find suitable to place into a consumable commercial object.  But, if the ideas, thoughts and experiences are already “published” it is unclear to me that it can be.  However, in this age of “letting it all hang out”, I guess even that will be reported to the blogosphere when it becomes appropriate.

One last thing, reader, not each and every post will be so absorbed by this adventure.  No, there will be room enough for me to comment on other things which are worthy of your time.