In terms of my temperament, I am an intuitive thinker, which means that one of my strengths is in thinking out larger systems. As I was developing the big ideas and my model for global peace education ~ over the span of more than twenty years, I was also thinking out and developing a curriculum and organizational system that could be expanded and adapted to every world region and culture. I wanted a curriculum that not only included every subject and discipline, but that also included all students. As first pointed out by one of my university professors, curriculums for the 21st Century were not yet in place, so I designed mine to dovetail with the new technologies. From my own perspective, it also had to be the right fit for students, teachers, and an increasingly global world. Using my comprehensive curriculum, a global teaching corps and school system can begin to be put in place.
A core curriculum will allow for centralized teacher preparation and support, so every school can be decentralized and operated by its dedicated, professional staff–while also having oversight and being accountable to its “umbrella” institute and system. Early care and education would also become part of this same global school system. Non-educators tend to set up desperately needed schools in poorer communities first, then choose a curriculum and find or train the teachers needed to staff the schools. In my paradigm, the curriculum and the materials to support a school would come first, followed by additional training for experienced teachers, before each community opens its early childhood households and any schools that are still needed–but not already in place.
As an American educator, I am aware of the underlying malaise in the U.S.A. schools, when taken as a whole. Root causes for its problems: racism, sexism, classism, and especially inequality, are all addressed in my program, model, and curriculum. I began to share my ideas with other educators in a series of workshops I taught for my own Children’s House and Early Primary School. I also taught some of my workshops for the Christian Preschool Association and for a conference of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, which is the premier organization in the field of early childhood education. My program and my materials are both trademarked and copyrighted to insure and maintain their quality and integrity. Allowing other people to exploit my ideas is not good for them ~ or for my work. If most of education is truly non-profit, more resources can be then put into the classrooms.
Because I was unable to renew the lease beyond 2009 on the spacious residence that housed my school for twenty years, its entire learning environment is now in storage until a suitable facility can be found in my new location. Meanwhile, I have begun to focus more attention on completing the text for the two books that I have been writing, one of which is for parents, teachers, and all persons who might be inspired to work together in creating a culture of peace for all children.
You can contact me at P.O. Box 173, Liberty, MO 64069.
Sarah RisingSun-Lee 