Theme Guide :: Learn as You Go

Why Life's Best Lessons Are Outside the Classroom

Our schools aren’t giving us the tools we need to face the unprecedented demands of our time. Here’s how we can learn the skills to take on environmental and economic challenges, build resilient communities, and create good lives for ourselves and our loved ones. 

[Full table of contents of our Fall 2009 issue]

Editor’s Introduction

Reinvent Yourself, Reinvent the World.

:: Quote Page: Mark Twain

Take Back Your Education

Tests and grades don’t really matter, says John Taylor Gatto. Experiences do.

Higher Education

The 12 capacities of highly educated people.

:: Get the poster

Grace Boggs: Teaching Freedom

At 16, Julia Putnam met the mentors who would teach her to turn her love of Detroit into action. 

Life's Best Lessons Are Outside the Classroom

Kids who get involved in their communities do better on tests—and in the real world.

The Power of "Why?"

The youth of Hampton, Virginia, have an official role in city government: Ask hard questions.  

Trade Your Job

Old-style apprenticeships prepare workers of all ages for jobs in the green economy.  

Healing Power of Prison Poetry

Young inmates gain respect and dignity by expressing themselves through poetry.

Grounded Learning

Why educator Ron Miller is turning to soil, water, sunshine, and greens.

:: Madhu Prakash on Bringing Education Back to the Ground

Interview:
Parker J. Palmer

When you show up to work with your values intact, you can be a powerful force for change.

Just the Facts: How do You "Know"?

Find out which way of knowing best describes you, and see what you can learn.

5 Best Ways to Reschool on the Interweb

Melia Dicker share her favorite online resources to educate you from the comfort of your couch.

13 Acts of Radical Education

1. Roadtrip Nation Visits YES!

2. Free School Kids Take Charge

3. Santa Fe Tells Its Stories

4. Teens Listen to 90-Somethings

5. Melia Reschools Herself

6. Draft Horses Teach at College

7. Youths Face the Holocaust

8. Citizen Scientists Listen to Flowers

9. Volunteers Teach Healing Arts

10. Activists Dream a New Future

11. Seniors Find More to Learn

12. Udaipur Hands Down Skills

13. Parents Learn to Listen

Fall 09 Online

Videos, photo essays, music, and more around the education issue.

Discussion Guide

Conversation starters and article summaries for the education issue.

Resource Guide

Reschool yourself with these organizations, initiatives, and a library about education.