num_pages: 298
description: A true story of vision and shared power, INVENTING A SCHOOL; EXPANDING THE BOUNDARIES OF LEARNING offers a message of hope at a time of disenchantment with decades of reforms in an educational system that has become obsolete in today's society. Set in the Gulf Coast town of Naples, Florida, Seacrest School is launched with a dream of creating the best possible learning environment for children. The message Jane Kern puts forth represents the power of small grassroots efforts in meeting the challenge of change, self-growth, and renewal for the twenty-first century. Embarking on an open ended journey, Inventing a School weaves a compelling story of courage and perseverance, refreshing in its absence of educational jargon. Moving straight to the heart of successful learning, Inventing a School looks beyond trends, quick-fix remedies, and test scores for answers, focusing instead on the people within the workplace. Drawing on the distinctive differences of a diverse mix of teachers, parents, and leaders, a collective wellspring of talents, expertise, and ideas propels the school's mission into action. The boundaries of learning are expanded to combine the best of tradition with futuristic thinking and common sense. The tools of technology connect learners to multiple cultures around the world. The surrounding community, the Gulf of Mexico, the Florida Everglades, and the fields of migrant farm workers are used as a laboratory and marketplace, teeming with unlimited resources to be explored, researched, analyzed, and practiced. With refreshing openness, Jane Kern uses her own mistakes and vulnerability with no apology as examples of her conviction that real learning and growth do not happen until one is willing to step into unfamiliar territory. In an age inundated with innovative schemes for educational structures, Kern brings the complexities of learning, teaching, and leading into simplicity and wholeness. Using Seacrest School as the vehicle, Jane Kern pays tribute to the truly masterful teacher -- the one who has an inherent ability to inspire the hearts and minds of those they teach, regardless of external circumstances and whose gifts to humankind remain unrecognized and undervalued.
language: English
title: Inventing a School: Expanding the Boundaries of Learning
titlecomplete: Inventing a School: Expanding the Boundaries of Learning
ratings_count: 1
publisher: Jane Kern Neapolitan Books