HOUSTON: Staff Wanted at The Real School

The Real School AKA Dragon Valley is a non-hierarchical learning environment, free of coercion and control and rooted in consensus decision making. It aims to build a community of trust and liberation through education. We are currently searching for staff members who are passionate, playful, empathetic, patient, committed, responsible and honest. They must care about and deeply respect children, take initiative, love to learn, be willing to admit when they make a mistake, and have diverse interests. They should have skills and knowledge (or be willing to acquire them) in conflict resolution, alternative education, clear communication, unschooling, active listening, free schools, organization, consensus, modeling healthy and safe decisions, and anger management.

Staff members carry out many tasks at the school. Some of these many
roles include: teaching classes; listening; helping kids resolve
conflict; cleaning; attending meetings; communicating with parents;
dealing with school finances; sending emails; outreach; fundraising;
sharing skills; laughing; comforting hurt kids; playing; sharing
interests; interacting with prospective families; making phone calls;
serving on committees; making copies; running errands; marketing; and
various other administrative and clerical duties.
The kids at the school say they would like prospective staff members to
like and care about kids, be understanding, engaging, fun,
level-headed, have a good sense of humor, enjoy playing video games,
and like to have a good time.

The school is seeking staff members
who are willing to examine hierarchy and challenge unnatural authority.
The Real School makes decisions collectively and does not rely on a
leader to make the decisions for everyone. A prospective staff person
is also critical and conscious. Having a critical analysis of our
actions and behaviors helps in understanding our intersections of
oppression (race, gender, class, immigration status, etc.). As a staff
person in the larger community, being conscious of “why we do what we
do” and “why we think what we think” is important in maintaining a
healthy dialog between parents, kids, and staff. The school should be
seen as a place to learn for everyone involved.

Staff members should be prepared to commit to working at the school for
at least a year and should understand that they will be expected to
devote significant time and energy to their work. An ideal candidate
would understand that the school should not just be their job but also
their passion. The preceding job description should be taken as a
guideline. Staff members should expect to fulfill tasks far beyond the
description. Staff members are expected to take responsibility for
themselves and should feel comfortable with working without excess
direction while still remaining accountable to the community.
As with most new projects that are doing something radically
different, the school is currently cash poor and can not offer a large
salary. However, if you value the opportunity to be a part of something
completely different from any other school in the country and believe
that you can be of great value to this amazing project, we encourage
you to apply. Please send a resume with a written statement detailing
your background, ideas on education, interests, and hopes for your
involvement with The Real School AKA Dragon Valley to
therealschoolhouston@yahoo.com or 5020 Dickson, Houston, TX 77007. You
can also visit www.therealschoolhouston.org to find out more about us.
Please forward this on to anyone who you think might be interested.

Contributed by:
Sonic Visions


-------------------
La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org