Mennonite Central Committee News Service
(4)
November 10, 1972
ATLANTA VOLUNTEER FINDS "SCHOOL WITHOUT
WALLS"
Akron, PA--Don Burkhead, Armstrong,
IA, spent most of his first few weeks in Atlanta, GA, checking
out various job options. "Many opportunities existed but
the choice was not difficult to make after visiting the Atlanta
Public School's Downtown Learning Center," said Don. 'I
began working there full-time on Oct. 2."
Don, one of 12 Mennonite Central
Committee (MCC) voluntary service unit members in Atlanta teaches
math in a "school without walls." The goal of the Downtown
Learning Center is to expose its students to experiences which
may help them begin to tap their potential. The center was begun
as an alternative environment for students who were at odds with
traditional public education--students who could not read or
who found the public school so rigid that they dropped out. There
are no classes, bells, hall passes or detentions at the Learning
Center. Such measures were never part of the program and have
not proved necessary.
"Much of the students' work
is independent study so there are only a few classes in the normal
sense. The teachers seem to recognize the necessity of working
with the total person, not just his mind. We try to help the
students learn how to learn. Content is secondary," explained
Don.
In order to meet individual needs
each student with the Counsel of an instructor will decide how
he will reach his specific educational goals. He makes a contract
with that instructor and, when he completes the contract, receives
credit for the corresponding course in the Atlanta Public Schools
curriculum.
"The students are racially and
economically a heterogeneous group," Don emphasized, "including
students from high schools all over the Atlanta system. Their
only significant common trait is their inability to cope with
the traditional school.
"As a volunteer teacher I have
the same responsibilities as a salaried teacher. I work in what
is called the math lab but my experiences are in no way limited
to this subject field."
Each teacher helps about 15 students
plan their study programs, and meets with them as a group once
a week. On "Wonderful Wednesday," special activities
are planned to help create a feeling of community at the Learning
Center.
"I have presented a rosy picture
so far," continued Don. "However we do have our problems.
I am not saying that we have all or even several answers for
education. In the first place we have only 160 students. Obviously
there are more students than this who are unable to cope with
the traditional school. Perhaps only 160 students can! As an
experimental school we can only hope to discover a few possible,
answers. We then have to find an effective way to communicate
to the public schools what we have learned.
"We have some problems with illegal
drugs, but I believe it is a symptom of larger problems. I have
also been discouraged to find a lack of student inter- action
outside of cliques. Many of the students have not been able to
realize that freedom does not come without responsibility. This
is partially a result of the transition between their former
school and the Learning Center. The conflict be- tween freedom
and responsibility is prevalent in larger society also.
"I don't always find it easy to
discern whether or not the bright points in the alternative educational
system outweigh the problems," concluded Don. "But
at least we are trying to discover solutions to the educational
crisis today. I feel extremely fortunate to have this opportunity
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gk10novemeber, 1972