Youth Rights and Reimagining Education with Richard Fransham | Voices of Re-imagining Education
Channel: Ecoversities
Date: 2021-09-10

Richard Fransham became an advocate for fundamental change in public schools almost from the start of his long career in education. His dissatisfaction with teaching caused him to quit more than once, and his strong advocacy for change resulted in him being reprimanded for not respecting the chain of command. Another time he was suspended indefinitely for refusing to “cease and desist” his advocacy. By an unusual alignment of circumstance, he had the opportunity to create the CHIP Program. It is essentially a school-within-a-school that provides a starting point for a fundamental transformation of education to a model based on self-direction. Having lived through CHIP and witnessed how students blossom when they feel respected and that their voices matter, he is now dedicated to helping youth achieve the equality that is the ideal for all citizens of a democracy.

Currently Richard is promoting the Youth Rights Day, which is celebrated on November 20th, the day the United Nations has established as World Children’s Day. Social Justice and self-determination are core ingredients of mental health and their importance is highlighted on this special day. The goal is to have the masses reach the point that they cannot unsee how youth need to be equal partners in decisions that affect them.

“The trouble is that once you see it, you can't unsee it. And once you've seen it, keeping quiet, saying nothing, becomes as political an act as speaking out. There's no innocence. Either way, you're accountable.”
― Arundhati Roy
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Co-founder of:
The Ottawa Public Education Remake Initiative (OPERI): http://www.operi.ca
Uniting for Children and Youth (UCY): http://www.ucyottawa.com

Link to the CHIP Program: http://operi.ca/?page_id=137

Writings
An article I wrote for The Holistic Educator: Making Alternative Education More Than An Alternative - http://www.holisticedinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/NewsLSpring2017Final.pdf
Blog items I’ve written that you might find useful:
https://www.ucyottawa.com/2019/03/16/something-significant-is-happening/ (see photo below)
https://www.ucyottawa.com/2020/04/05/self-directed-learning-is-for-everyone/
https://www.ucyottawa.com/2021/04/04/easter-message-carpe-diem/
https://www.ucyottawa.com/2020/06/07/my-brothers-story-a-tale-of-two-police-mentalities/
https://www.ucyottawa.com/2020/02/25/systemic-injustice-dissecting-the-formal-school-schedule/