Volo’s pedagogy is based on the belief that young people are inherently curious, motivated, and capable. All children are born creatively gifted, and Volo strives to foster that creativity from the start.
Our learning model draws methods from a broad pedagogical framework, including Montessori, Waldorf, Forest schools, European public and community schools, and others.
Our pedagogy is inspired by human connections, real-life experience, service, and other ways that people learn.
Pedagogy refers to the art of teaching, particularly the methods, practices, and theories used to teach.
A now traditional educational model was built for an industrializing and growing society. Schools formed to serve the maximum numbers of students in controlled settings, indoors, with large groups of people sorted by age and all expected to learn the same things at about the same rates.
While many agree that the traditional schooling paradigm is woefully outmoded and progress has been made, there continues to be a great need for bold innovation to reimagine education for a realistic future.
Volo Natural Learning Community educates from a transformative paradigm, re-imagining education for the modern world and the future.
This means that students are active in their own learning and the classroom becomes a. problem-solving environment rather than a one-way delivery or teacher-centered environment.
Two major categories of pedagogy (methods for guiding learning) occur in Volo: conducted (like music is conducted), and free (where learning emerges spontaneously). Volo is inspired by years of practice.
One conducted method involves the steps of flow learning, inspired by Joseph Cornell. Learning moves from awakening enthusiasm through focusing attention to sharing experience. We have tried these principles and applied them to many different kinds of learning, with great positive effects.
Inquiry, Experience, and Observation (IEO) methods. Arthur Morris developed these methods over many years and experience as a student, as a teacher, and while training teachers. These methods work great for learning that inspires and lasts.
The Play Cycle is often found in Forest Schools. This is a formalized explanation of play that involves young people and adults in different roles and is probably familiar to most parents who listen to their children, even if they don’t know it by this name.
The 3-Day Learning process is an effective learning progression typically found in Waldorf schools. It is a powerful way to guide young people through developmentally appropriate learning.
Self-Direction, which is important for learning, is typical for Montessori schools and is found in many other places (see, for example, Ponton and Carr. 2016. Autonomous and Self-Directed Learning: Agentic Perspectives. Watertree Press)
Opportunities to influence and lead can be powerful and very effective. In Volo, we follow developmentally-sensitive practices designed to meet young people where they are and help them grow. For example, young people up to about 8 years old are included in discussions about how a group project is progressing. Youth ages 8-12 years old might be assigned limited leadership roles in the project, such as helping to lead family volunteers who are planting trees. Older youth (about 13 years old and older) may be invited to develop and choose leadership roles and even lead entire projects.
Free Learning includes real play, which is the “work” of learning for young people. The play cycle is woven throughout the daily and weekly rhythms of students across ages.
Holistic learning is fundamental to Volo’s mission, meaning that we nurture the whole human being – mind, body, and spirit. The holistic paradigm assumes that there are no deficits in early learning, just differences. It strives to achieve equity by providing the best learning atmosphere and resources appropriate for each young person to thrive.
Volo subscribes to the idea that we need to create different educational structures to create better-than-normal educational outcomes. Our pedagogy, program pacing, and rhythm are designed to nurture a well-adjusted worldview and healthy development of the young person.
All supervisors who have any interaction with young people - staff, mentors, and volunteers - will pass a federal background and personal reference check. All supervisors will also complete a youth safety certification such as that provided by the Girl Scouts of USA. Training in wilderness first-aid is expected and will be arranged for staff as needed.
At Volo, we call the faculty adults who work closely with young people “facilitators.” These people teach, but we want to emphasize that the role of a facilitator involves so much more than just conveying information. Facilitators help young people accomplish their personalized learning plans in power-with the learners, rather than power-over them.
For the Primary School beta year, we will ask the Founding Member families to help provide basic school supplies, such as colored pencils and watercolor paint sets. We will have an 11-passenger van. However, depending on the size of the group and the desires of families, carpooling may also be needed.
Homework will be kept to a minimum if at all. We value family time and the activities that happen outside of the school day. In some cases, extra practice may be necessary at home. In other cases, students may want to continue exploring passionate areas of study on their own time.
Formative assessments are integrated into the daily program. Summative assessments will primarily take the form of portfolio reviews and evaluations by facilitators. Competency-based assessments will include both quantitative and qualitative growth assessments for progress on learning goals. Facilitators will consider cognitive, physical, and social development.
There will be no standardized testing as a general practice. However, for parents and young people who desire standardized testing, we can coordinate testing by the Utah State Board of Education (some tests require additional fees).
Emergence is the natural process of elements combining so that patterns and relationships become evident.
Volo creates conditions for emergent learning experiences, meaning that we seek out and create environments that lead to questions and discovery and open possibilities for further learning. Then we adapt the curriculum to meet the interesting opportunities that emerge.
Young people at Volo learn content that is foundational and advanced through interactive experiences. Learners are immersed in the natural world as they move through different activities and group constellations throughout the day. Distinct subjects are drawn out of the students’ direct experience as they explore nature, work in the garden, plan, build, craft, and play.
The curriculum is informed each day by the seasons, the environment, and the pace of the learner. This is a living curriculum!
