Schools without Patriarchy
19
Finally, Starhawk’s concept of mystery, which builds interconnections between multiple bodies
of knowledge, is the final guiding doctrine of the Liberty School. Mysteries “are made up of the stuff of
everyday life. They center on the most common of human experiences: birth, death, love, nurture,
challenge, passion, time” (Starhawk, 1987, p. 20). Mysteries can be found in everyday life and by
simply changing our consciousness, together we can get to the heart of our world. Instead of viewing
subjects in school as separate and disconnected, teachers and students together would examine them in
relationship to the world and to their own experiences in order to create new ways of looking at the
world. I believe that incorporating a little mystery into our classrooms would make students less passive
and learning less mechanistic.
Organization
Like the Modern Schools, the Liberty School will be self-managed by the teachers, students,
parents, and the surrounding community. If the school affects a person in some way, he or she has a
stake and therefore, a say in how the school is directed. Anyone interested in guiding curriculum,
administrative, and financial decisions would be welcome to assemble. Association will always be
voluntary and never permanent. Decisions will be made collectively by exercising critical judgment and
or choice in accordance with the guiding principles of the Liberty School. Since conflicts will
inevitably occur, no voice shall be excluded or privileged over another and no decision is entirely
binding or permanent. This will ensure that everyone associated with the school will be in agreement
with all decisions that are made.
Building & Classrooms
I have always wondered why schools are designed as they are. For instance, why are bathrooms
located down the hall away from the classrooms? Why are classrooms square? Why do schools assign
different subjects to different wings of the building, such as the math wing or the science hall? Why
must students sit in desks? But most importantly, why do parents, teachers, and students or members not
have a say in how their buildings and classes are constructed? At the Liberty School, everyone will
Convention