Levelling the
learning curve

>> The Montreal Free School teaches
from the grassroots up

STUDENTS OF ALL AGES, UNITE:
Trixie Dumont (L) and Naomi Lasry

by DAVID RAVENSBERGEN

If your academic interests happen to include both knitting and historical writing, chances are you’re still looking for the school that’s right for you.

The higher you ascend up the educational ladder, the more pressure there is to specialize, making it difficult to explore diverse interests. And skills like knitting are rarely offered in school, so unless you know someone willing to teach you, learning can be a lonesome process of fumbling with needles.

According to Trixie Dumont, the problem lies in an outdated definition of education. Rather than an activity that takes place within the four walls of a certified institution, Dumont sees education as an organic process that unfolds between people with a desire to learn. “I see the world as this big library, with a lot of outdoor space,” she says.

Dumont is an organizer at the Montreal Free School, a collective of home-schooling advocates, un-schoolers and free thinkers working to provide learning opportunities without red tape. Gone are tuition fees, grades and standardized curriculum. Instead, classes are organized around the idea that knowledge should be shared, preferably without the interference of large institutions. The Free School functions as a forum for connecting people eager to learn with those who have something to teach. Anyone with a particular skill, ability or realm of expertise is eligible to teach their own class, and students can enroll without worrying about prerequisites.

From Barcelona to Facebook

The Free School tradition stretches back to the early 20th century, when Spanish anarchist Francisco Ferrer created the “Modern School” in Barcelona. Dismayed by the Catholic church’s control over the education system, Ferrer established the Modern School to promote critical thinking about subjects long dominated by official dogma. The idea stuck, and the Free School model has since been implemented throughout North America and the U.K. Although they share a common desire to improve upon the methods of mainstream education, each school has its own unique approach. Some resemble traditional schools with formal enrolment, while others function as a loose network of like-minded people interested in sharing skills. “That’s the best thing about the Free School,” explains Dumont. “Whatever people put into it is what they’ll get out of it.”

According to organizer Naomi Lasry, the original impetus for the Montreal Free School came from a half-serious conversation in Nova Scotia. “Last summer I went to the Nova Scotia Tatamagouche free school and met Jacob [Larsen] there,” she says. “I joked around with him saying we should start a Montreal Free School. We talked about it a little bit more in Montreal, then he started the Facebook group, he called for the first meeting and things just started getting rolling.”

Along with Josie Baker of local non-profit group Montreal Urban Community Sustainment (MUCS), Larsen facilitated an initial exploratory meeting last Dec. 13. Since then, the project has quickly taken shape, with the Facebook group reaching 372 members and new class proposals steadily rolling in. Less than three months after the idea was conceived, classes for the inaugural semester of the Montreal Free School began with a workshop titled “How to Facilitate

Popular Education” last Monday, February 25.

All ages, all subjects

The list of classes offered for the spring semester is long and diverse, bringing together traditional subjects and more esoteric disciplines. So far the course catalogue ranges from historical writing to grassroots childcare to feng shui, and new classes will be added over the coming months. Unlike other Free Schools, which are primarily geared towards children, classes will be open to students of all ages.

“There are some workshops that will be more naturally geared towards adults,” says Dumont. “Higher math, there might not be a lot of eight year-olds who want to take it. But if somebody wanted to sit in on the class and they had the ability to participate in a respectful way, then they would be welcome.”

It was not only for the sake of younger Free Schoolers that the age restrictions were lifted, but for the adults as well. “Some people thought we should have separate classes, but then some adults said, ‘Well, there’s stuff that kids do traditionally that I want to do too. I want to be in the kids’ classes!”

To propose a class, join an organizing committee or see the latest schedule of workshops and meetings, check out the Web site at www.montrealfreeschool.org, or call (514) 357-2090. All classes are currently held at MUCS, 2000 Northcliffe in NDG.