Our principles are based on the premise that education is best done through providing opportunities for experience in an autonomous setting. A school should allow students to explore a wide variety of subjects. A child is born with a natural curiosity of the world. Our job as educators is to provide a learning environment in which children feel safe to explore and experiment with ideas.
The educators do not fulfill the traditional role of teachers, rather they provide two essential roles. Firstly, they are in charge of a set of students, often of multiple ages, ensuring they are maintaining a healthy balance that suits them and their parents. Educators create experiences that reflect their individual passions, and support a group of students in exploring.
Here is how Mira Education handles learning
Tried and tested programs for Mathematics, coupled with real world application.
Some disciplines need a certain amount of practice to master, and follow a logical process from the fundamentals up to the most complicated forms. Maths is a prime example of this. There already exist excellent programs to learn Maths in a logical and step by step format independently and at your own pace. These include Sumdog, Matheletics, and Khan Academy. Students would enroll in these programs, and follow through these at a pace they determine with guidance from parents and their learning counselor.
Maths also needs to be applied to be real though, and in this Maths principles can be addressed in two fashions. It is integrated into Passion Projects where different applications of the student's knowledge is reinforced through real world practiced.
Having a strong proficiency in communication is fundamental to much of education. While communication is integrated into our everyday lives, learning to read and write is something that comes with practice. In reading abundantly, students pick up core constructs and expand their vocabulary. In writing regularly, students learn to process their ideas. In discussion, they hone their communication and critical thinking skills.
Discussion groups are an important aspect throughout all learning experiences, whether it be a novel study, passion project, or maths. The intention behind these groups are to foster the critical skills, and can be student led, educator facilitated, or even driven by a member of our extended community such as a parent or local expert.
Reading opens windows to new worlds and perspectives, and through regular reading one's mind entertains increasingly complex and challenging ideas. For these reasons, students in Mira schools explore a variety of novels, and discuss these within groups of students working of the same book. Our recommended readings cover many signature pieces of literature.
A special part of the “Mira mix” is our lab time. Students are encouraged to sign up for multiple labs each week, looking for set experiments that meet their interests and experience level. These are arranged in boxes that are self contained kits to perform the experiment the students select. They may also select experiments that are beyond their aptitude, to experience a real challenge. Failure is encouraged, and channels are present to allow students to reflect on their failure and what they learned from it.
Science also enters the passion projects frequently. Whenever applicable concepts from Science are integrated into the real world projects, and a more holistic understanding is saught out. Here, our flexible scheduling affords us time to visit sites when studying ecology, agriculture, and other topics.
A connection to nature is critical to becoming a well rounded individual, although an understanding of technology is equally important to a citizen of the 21st century. With independent labs that range from simple design project to complex programming of controllers, technology is addressed in an exclusively hands on fashion.
While learning about history and geography are important for background, having interactions with authentic characters within our community are formative. A huge part of how humanities manifests itself is through the community outreach projects students are engaged in, either as a once off or a continual commitment.
Like Science, humanities cover passions brought in by the educators and students. These can focus on an epoch, or trace concepts throughout history analyzing them for change. These passion projects often emphasize a multimedia output, an artifact to share what has been collectively uncovered.
Why stick to mundane dates and names in history when so many fascinating questions can be explored. To really get to the meat and bones of humanities, big questions need to be addressed. Mira is not alone on feeling this is the way to address these subjects, as you can see through the Big History Project.
Mira goes beyond by fostering friendships and mentorships throughout our school’s population. An integral part of teh school day is that young students learn from their seniors, and the older students learn the value of providing a helping hand.
Mira also provides a framework for experiential learning excursions to challenge our students physiscally and build social-emotional skills while introducing them to self sufficiency in the wilderness. Mira fosters the transition to young adults through activities such as a rite of passage.
Aside from the fundamentals, the projects student experience are largely based on the interests of their teachers and themselves. A key part of our education mix is to have all parties unconditionally interested in what they are doing.
Not everybody is a 9 to 5 type character, and our flexibe schedule allows for exactly this. Surfing or sleeping in might encompass a morning for one student, while another may be done before lunch.
Our system hire people which allow us to teach a wide diversity of subjects, and students can readly select what they are interested in, or be exposed to new ideas.
With regular mentorship from other students and systematic checkups from their teachers, students stay on track and learn at a pace that suits them.
Curiosity is the engine of achievement.
KEN ROBINSON
Learn about the oceans and littoral zone near you, discover the interactions between animals and plants, and more.
Compare and contrast some of the brilliant thinkers in history, and explore what impact they had on the world.
Turn urban empty space, street margins, and even walls into spaces in which food can grow. A cross betwen permaculture and tagging.
Learn photography techniques, organize your shots, and present a photo exhibition of a subject you care about.
Combine sustainable materials ,well thought out fundamentals in architecture and bazinga! You have a 21st century house.
Visit towns around the world and across time to see how communities are built, and apply those lessons to your own community.
Create gardens that heal, learning about common ailments, pharmacology, and ethnobotany.
Use numbers to tell a story in this course, where a subject of the student's choice will be covered through the creation of an inforgraphic
Create or criticise a graphic novel that explores something of meaning to you, the student.
A child educated only at school is an uneducated child.
GEORGE SANTAYANA
Program Designer
Learning Support Specialist
Program Designer
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