FREE SKOOL STRUCTURE

I think that a free skool fills the role of a grassroots effort in the city that is not run by any one person or group, but through volunteer organizers that provide a structure for its existence through regular consensus style meetings in order to: put out a printed calender, coordinate classes and teachers to plan teaching dates, organize strategies to intentionally reach out to communities, and regularly re-assess how to be more effective in meeting the groups goals.

My goals for free skool mission statement and design:
- Free skool to run through consensus style meetings
- Free skool to maintain non-hierarchacal structure
- Free skool to provide classes that allow community members to share skills, knowledge, political organizational ideas, and a space for organizing DIY living ethic
- Free skool to provide a space for a way of life that enables people to share knowledge, socialize, and share skills through sharing and exchanging time – eliminating the need to depend on corporations or capitalism to learn and socialize
- To engage diverse pittsburgh-ers and welcome all participants to learn and engage in free skool through putting out a printed calender in pittsburgh neighborhoods
- To seek out free spaces, community spaces, outdoor spaces, and homes to hold events and encourage the utilization of free spaces
- To provide a non- heiarchical class structure, blurring the line between teacher and student, to encourage all to participate and learn and share their knowledge
- To share points of unity with other free skools around the US as a way of supporting one another’s efforts

I’m with you! – Danielle

You know, I was about to comment on this, and give an idea or two, but that about covers anything I would’ve or could’ve thought up.

Thanks for the posts. I share about half the free skool goals. Here are the ones I do share:

- To regularly put out a printed calender, coordinate classes and teachers to plan teaching dates, organize strategies to intentionally reach out to communities, and regularly re-assess how to be more effective in meeting the groups goals.
- To engage diverse Pittsburghers and welcome all participants to learn and engage in free skool through putting out a printed calender in Pittsburgh neighborhoods
- To provide a non- heiarchical class structure, blurring the line between teacher and student, to encourage all to participate and learn and share their knowledge

Here’s a modification:
- (Instead of “provide classes”) To help community members easily create classes in which they share skills, knowledge, political organizational ideas, and DIY living ethic

Here’s an additional one:
- To make Pittsburgh into a vibrant learning community where as many Pittsburghers as possible are freely sharing skills with one another on a daily basis

The ones I very respectfully don’t share concern the organizational structure of free skool. Instead, my two cents are that I would like to implement whatever structure has been shown to be the most effective, efficient, and sustainable method of helping community members organize classes.

- Organizational structure should be effective – it works- i.e., we draw from what works with successful organizations like Free Skool Santa Cruz and try to avoid whatever didn’t work for unsuccessful organizations like Free Skool Rochester

- Organizational structure should be efficient – instead of reinventing the wheel, we team with organizations that already have large presence (physical and online) in helping people teach and learn for free in Pittsburgh.

- Organizational structure should be sustainable- I believe this requires a self-organizing online presence. That is, a website where, even if committee members have had a busy stressful few weeks at work and have not done much in the way of organizing, community members can still set up classes independently.

Just my two cents. Looking forward to seeing others’ thoughts.