Calling all educators! Detroit Future Schools is now accepting applications for the Rida Institute, a three day training and curriculum planning retreat taking place August 19-21 in Detroit. The Institute will introduce teachers to the “Rida Framework” one of Detroit Future School’s central tools for humanizing schooling.
Apply here for the 2015 Rida Institute.
The Rida Framework is the primary planning and evaluation tool that DFS uses to humanize schooling, inspired by the educational theories of Paolo Freire, Jeff Duncan-Andrade, and James and Grace Lee Boggs.
Freire, a Brazillian educator and theorist, believed that cycles of critical reflection and action were key to any transformative learning process. From this approach, users of the Rida Framework articulate practices (action) that will result in desired/outlined outcomes within their classrooms, which they will document and evaluate via pre-determined metrics (reflection).
Learn more about the Rida Framework here.
At the Rida Institute participants will:
+ Unpack the Rida Framework through small group workshops, activities, role playing games, writing exercises, hands-on training and more. + Develop a clear purpose and principles of education within the specific contexts of their communities. + Plan skills and curriculum they need to actualize that purpose in their classrooms. + Establish the metrics they will use to measure learning and growth. + Explore DFS best practices for nurturing student agency and leadership within the classroom. + Receive an updated edition of the “DFS Guide to Transformative Education,” with step-by-step exercises for planning a humanizing curriculum.
Beyond the three day institute, participants will also have the opportunity to build community with their peers through ongoing lesson planning workshops, study groups, an annual DFS network gathering, and additional facilitated meetups throughout the year.
The deadline to apply for the 2015 Rida Institute is August 12th. Apply here.
The cost to attend as an individual is $150. The cost to attend as a representative of an institution is $500. Lunch and dinner is provided throughout the three days of the Institute. Scholarships are available - please indicate your need for a scholarship in the application form.
Participant Reflections from the 2014 Rida Institute
"This is the best, most honest and reflective professional development I've ever attended. We were all deeply engaged in the work, because the leaders made this content so engaging. I became a teacher 20 years ago and so wish I had this kind of opportunity in my first years of teaching like other participants. Regardless, it has transformed how and what I will do with the remainder of my career. – Marcia Russell K-12 Educator/Consultant
"I had to dig deep and stretched out of my comfort zone (and continue to) in order to define my purpose and principles, something we take for granted, but is a definite missing piece to the profession of teaching. I will definitely take this tool and encourage my cohorts and colleagues to examine for themselves." – Susan Matous, teacher and administrator (Blanche Kelso Bruce Academy)
Read a recap from the first Rida Institute held in 2014 here. Apply before the deadline of August 12th! Please email nate@alliedmedia.org with any questions.