“Don’t tell anyone, but this is the most restorative school I’ve ever seen.” -Restorative justice trainer about Pathfinder In our school justice system, we use Restorative Justice. A wider umbrella of Restorative Practices make the foundation for daily interactions that are inclusive and community building. Read more here: https://www.sociocracyforall.org/5-ways-youre-already-using-restorative-practices ..read more

In our governance system, conflict can be seen as one kind of “tension” to help us figure out what is needed, and what can change in the way we run things. Read more: https://www.sociocracyforall.org/conflict-as-a-tension-to-steer-by ..read more

How do we make meetings with children work? Read on for tips and tricks to help meetings with children, and also with other people like adults: https://www.sociocracyforall.org/sociocracy-with-children-and-other-people ..read more

When I first heard of democratic schools, I was captivated by the utopian vision of children learning democracy from the ground up. The fact that schools exist where children are free to take charge of their lives and have a voice in governing the school sounded too good to be true. I found Sociocracy and wanted to absorb any information I could find in English about using consent-based governance practices in schools, as I had seen firsthand the deficiencies in majority-rules voting in other democratic institutions where the tyranny of the majority often left nearly half of people unsatisfied ..read more

By Pathfinder founder Hope Wilder At Pathfinder, a lot of time it seems like nothing in particular is happening. In reality, a complex social network is being woven minute by minute with in-person interactions. The magic happens slowly over time as trends bubble up, relationships form, and real life learning unfolds.  So when the coronavirus epidemic led to our program being closed for the spring, we wondered how to transition our program online.  Even though we tried videoconference offerings, we found that kids prefer to play, and it was hard to re-create the in-person experience ..read more

By Hope Wilder Adapted from a chapter in an upcoming anthology edited by Dr. Gina Riley about Self-Directed Education. Candy Store At Pathfinder, play is serious business, and sometimes self-directed play can lead to an actual profit-making. An 8-year old girl who we’ll call Laura would bring in bags of candy and share them with her friends. The game evolved from using a “cash register” to take toy money for candy, to giving high fives. Laura would spend ten or fifteen minutes with “candy store workers” arranging the candy by size, shape, color, or kind, and then “customers” would line up to b ..read more

By Hope Wilder and Dr. Kevin Currie-Knight Reading! That’s educational, right? I want to tell you a secret. When we look at which photos of our program to select for PR purposes, I always comb through for the most visible examples of what we secretly and jokingly call “learny” things: kids reading books, or playing chess, perhaps doing a math problem as they play “school.” When I see these things happening at Pathfinder, I eagerly pull out my camera to capture these moments, because most of the time in our program, to most observers, it doesn’t look like these children are learning anything ..read more

Pointing at the nest inside the fluffy garden equip Baby bird close-up It's the time of year that Carolina Wrens are nesting outside my office window.  I can see the mama wren carrying worms and caterpillars to the nest, which Pathfinder kids are observing closely. Last year they were in the laundry chute, this year they nested in our shelf where we keep outdoor toys and gardening supplies. The nest is right at kid-head-height, and we've tracked them from egg to fledgling. "Look, aren't they cute?" one member said. "But we are scaring the mom every time we open the door to CubbyLan ..read more

“I’m scared!”, Sam says. His tone of voice is tremulous as he plays with his friend Becca on the tire swing. He looks terrified. “Let’s make it go ALL the way up!” Becca says,  wanting to wind the swing all the way, until it can’t be wound any further. Sam child reluctantly agrees and Becca helps Sam wind the swing “ALL the way up.” As the swing unwinds, there are squeals of exhilaration mixed with just the right amount of terror. Over and over again they wind it up and let it unwind, screaming. Sam and Becca laugh, and Sam no longer seems scared, but proud. At Pathfinder Community Schoo ..read more

Meet Our First Graduate, Uli By Hope Wilder, Pathfinder founder and Executive Director Uli (front) helps people out in the computer room at Pathfinder. The first time I met Uli, he was trying to hack into the library computers at a public meeting we were holding to form the founding group of Pathfinder. A pre-teen kid with a ponytail, he had a sneaky smile and said something like, “Looks like someone needs to work on their computer security.” My husband Jesse, a software engineer, was excited to talk to a young person with a kindred spirit. They spoke in languages I don’t understand, and Uli ..read more