Parliament Process
Back in 2020 when our Acton school was just beginning we were gifted a gorgeous rainbow owl painting by a founding parent. It was this magical painting and the idea of the “O” alliteration of Oshkosh Owls that inspired our owl school mascot that we proudly love today. Our choice was simple. Little did we realize that owls symbolize wisdom, intuition, knowledge, protection, and mystery. Owls guide people to see beyond the obvious. This is the role of our young learners, they are our guides that inspire growth. What is a group of owls called? A parliament. Truly, we lucked out with our mascot. There couldn’t be a better word to honor our Acton process of learners being trusted to govern their learning and build their community nest.
Like most governments, the process of parliament isn’t easy. It is full of disagreements, challenges, debates, and misunderstandings. It is this difficulty that makes the governance process rich with value. This is why every first session of the year our school and Acton schools all around the world invest in a full day Quest to Build the Nest. What does it mean to build the nest? Here is our parliament process…
Although it may seem logical to start with school rules and jump into Core Skills of Math, Reading, and Writing, at Acton we believe that community comes first and therefore we start with PLAY! Play is the key to the other 3 P’s: Purpose, Productivity, Peace. In the words of hero Dr. Maria Montessori “Play is the work of the child.” We believe that before a learner can love to learn they must learn to exist and operate their environment with trust, friendship, and joy. Playing is a core skill. Once a child learns to live in the studio and learns to love their peers they can then respect the process of learning, they can honor the specialness of learning to learn, learning to do, and learning to be. If you were surprised by your child having fun at school and they shared stories of games this is purposeful, this is the way learners build their nest. Why?
Play invites learners to work as a team, navigate problems, explore choices to regulate their body, follow or assume leadership, and understand boundaries. It is in the heat and fun of play that we learn what matters to our fellow travelers and play binds learners in a memorable experience. This is why learners sing and dance as they creatively work on their studio’s Lip Dub project, or why they play the Contract Game, or why learners play chess, ice breakers, free dance, and more. If your learner came home and shared stories of challenge and fell victim to the Monster of Victim Mentality, although this may spike your Monster of Fear this rub of difficulty is perhaps the greatest gift of all. Often it is the crossing of boundaries and the heated debates that learners define their studio’s promises. Play practices conflict resolution in a safely defined framework of a game.
At Acton we trust learners to not “know” how to govern. Instead we trust them to try, to question, and to practice the power of voting, to share their feelings and their opinions. We trust them to engage in the parliament process with their peers. When learners disagree our Guides curiously listen and like a large eyed owl, Guides wonder “how is this going to go?” Guides set up games and then watch and wait. They may step in but first they trust, watch, wait, and often the work of parliament is wondrous. When it’s too hard, that’s where the power of a socratic question can define a studio’s values; one question can help parliament define their nest.
As a parent of a wise owl I invite you to engage in powerful play at home. Grab the board game, create a cleaning game with a timer, have a dance party, and explore the wisdom playing can offer your family. Next, keep your owl ears open for the promises that emerge. Our wise owls are guides ready to show us the way and ready to take flight!