The Cairn Post – Written by Tetons West founder, Peter Poutiatine, Cairn is the collection of thoughts and musings about nature and education going back 15 years. Most of what the author believes to be true about high quality education is captured in these essays.
A View from the Tetons – IN PRODUCTION. Authored by the educators of Tetons West Experiential High School, this is the written record of a startup independent high school.
Sources of Ignition
Recorded Work that Inspires the Educators of Tetons West Experiential High School
BLOGS
Stop Stealing Dreams (2012) – A TEDx talk by Seth Godin, author, thinker, and strategist. Godin begins with the question, “What is school for?” and proceeds to detail how we landed on the current traditional model of education. He includes 8 things we should change.
What if the Purpose of School Were Purpose? (2022) – A TEDx talk by Rob Wehner, school designer. Wehner advocates for schools of today to help students find purpose in learning.
How Gardening Enables Interdisciplinary Learning (2013) – An Edutopia video that profiles a high school student and his project to grow food in a greenhouse, give back to his community, and pursue his interests.
Changing Education Paradigms (2010) – The late Sir Ken Robinson speaking at the RSA (Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts) on the shift in thinking and systems going on in education worldwide.
First Follower: Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy (2010) – The now quite famous First Follower video. In it, narrator Derek Sivers, explains how movements really happen.
Suli Breaks: Why I Hate School but Love Education (2012) – The spoken word artist Suli Breaks speaking his truth on the difference between schooling and education.
Is School Enough? (2013) – An outstanding PBS production that examines a few of the main concepts in interest-born learning. It includes interviews and cameos by many of the legends of the early deeper learning movement: Linda Darling-Hammond, Elliot Washor, Henry Jenkins, Joseph Kahn, and others.
Taylor Mali: What Teachers Make (2012) – Slam poet Taylor Mali on the value of teaching. An oldie but goodie, and still true.
VIDEOS
Redesigning High School: 10 Features for Success (2024) – A report by the Learning Policy Institute, which is led by Linda Darling-Hammond. The report details the 10 factors that are most influential in student learning and well-being for any redesigned high school.
Turning the Tide: Inspiring Concern for Others and the Common Good through College Admissions (2016) – The seminal report, commissioned by the Harvard Graduate School of Education and endorsed by over 90 colleges and universities, including most of the Ivy League, that concludes that ethical engagement and concern for the common good are as important as test scores and grades.
The Dark Side of Rigor, Abram & Jorgensen (2021) – Published by NAIS, a concise explanation of the semantic drift of the term “rigor” in schools - and also of the somewhat problematic roots of the term that still pervade much of the thinking about high quality schooling. Includes examples from several top-tier independent schools that have wrestled with the term and come out in favor of a deeper understanding of challenge.
ARTICLES & REPORTS
Eastside College Preparatory School, East Palo Alto, CA – Founded on a park bench in 1996 by Chris Bischof and Helen Kim, ECPS has achieved some extraordinary results. The vast majority of their students are the first in the their family to go to college. Be sure to read the history page.
The Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center, Providence, RI – Founded in 1994 by Dennis Littky and Elliot Washor, the Met, as it is known, mastered many deeper learning practices that have influenced scores of schools, including teaching one kid at a time and learning through interests.
Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center, Estes Park, CO – Eagle Rock is a tuition free private school fully funded by the Honda Motor Corporation as a philanthropic social good endeavor. Eagle Rock is exclusive in exactly one way: it is a school designed and run only for students who have been unsuccessful in traditional school environments.
The Mountain School, Vershire, VT – Founded in 1964 on a working farm in rural Vermont, the Mountain School, while having undergone several tectonic shifts in structure over the years, has retained its experiential approach and strong community orientation.
SCHOOLS FROM WHICH WE DRAW INSPIRATION
In Search of Deeper Learning: The Quest to Remake the American High School, Mehta & Fine (2020) – Perhaps the best current examination of the state of deeper learning in American high schools.
The Other Side of Curriculum: Lessons From Learners, Easton (2002) – A book written about Eagle Rock and the practices that work for kids other schools call “tough”.
Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work, Crawford (2009) – A fairly high level treatise on the philosophy and the value of embodied learning and perseverant craftsmanship.
The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life, Palmer (1998) – An eminently readable deep dive into what it feels like - and what it is - to teach.
The Book of Learning and Forgetting, Smith (1998) – A clear and compelling treatise on two competing views of the learning process. This is a potentially mind-changing book for any thinking educator.
An Ethic of Excellence: Building a Culture of Craftsmanship with Students, Berger (2003) – One of the definitive texts on the topic of excellence as a value in student work. Short, compelling, potentially game-changing.
Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire (1970) – Friere’s seminal work exposing the damages of transactional education. Also, his advocacy for a way of teaching that liberates, rather than oppresses.
One Kid at a Time: Big Lessons from a Small School, Levine (2002) – A case study and a how-to for personalized pedagogy.
Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom, Hooks (1994) – A detailed and high level examination of “liberative” education.
BOOKS
MindShift: How We Will Learn – Published by the Bay Area’s public radio station KQED, MindShift offers a collection of written and recorded works on the broad topic of learning, in school and out.
Edutopia – One of the efforts by the indefatigable George Lucas Educational Foundation and a consistent source for what works in education. Great videos, great case studies, great research summaries, all searchable by topic.
Making Caring Common Project: Harvard Graduate School of Education – A site full of outstanding resources for teachers and parents on the most relevant current topics in education and student well being.
SITES
PODCASTS
Coming soon.