What does it mean to stay with yourself?

“There’s no wiki-how to this. There is no formula.” – Maleka Diggs, Founder of Eclectic Learning Network and Co-Founder and Core Member of Philly Children’s Movement

In this episode we discuss deschooling, a few ways to navigate when triggers show up (Maleka’s focus falls on what we do with those triggers, and the why behind them), along with some of the common myths behind this type of work. We also talk about what Maleka is hearing from parents transitioning to home-based education, whether forced or not, and how this type of learning is nothing new.

When we are in a space to face ourselves. Sometimes that work creates friction outside of yourself.” – Maleka Diggs

This episode’s guest Maleka Diggs is a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) centered, Unschooling/SDE (Self-Directed Education), Youth advocate, Racial Equity and Inclusion Trainer, Presenter, Workshop Development and Facilitator.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Eclectic Learning Network:

https://www.eclecticlearningnetwork.com

Deschooling: Issa Thing Meetup

1:1 Chat Sessions

Racial Equity Training for Schools

Developing A Disruptor's Ear Workbook

Supporting Parents Webinar Series

I.O.T.A. (It's Okay To Ask)

Philly Children’s Movement http://phillychildrensmarch.org

Support ELN's work through Eclectic Learning Network’s Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/Eclecticlearningnetwork

Book quoted in Outro:

Mural artist: @DawnJaiye on Twitter + Instagram (photo taken by Amy C.S. 10/23/20 #plazawalls)

A complete transcript can be found at: bit.ly/deschoolingtranscript

Recorded October 14, 2020.

How will the world look 20 years from now? Our collective trauma and individual trauma have merged. COVID-19 and the uprising for liberation have collided. We must find ways to utilize technology to liberate ourselves and each other.

"Samanvay" is a Hindi word with a translation into English: "to come together as a group to work for a common purpose."

This episode features perspectives from Megha from Ajmeer, Rajasthan (a state in India), and the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. In this episode, Megha and Amy discuss access to education, self-directed education, and Megha’s journey as an industrial design student at the Srishti Institute of Art Design and Technology.

The word "craft" to Megha is a practice where a group of people share a similar process to create something useful and necessary. Crafts originated from a person within a community contributing to the needs of the community with something they are able to create through their material of choice. This is how the exchange of handcrafts was done in healthier times.

Her main motivating factors for her work are what affects people's livelihood, happiness and identity. Looking at all the factors that impact an artisan, Megha feels that anyone can be an artisan, as long as they are informed by the importance of the “Why."

Megha’s passions are rooted in sustainability and functionality. She aims to be involved with creating systems that serve the highest agenda: symbiotic relational-systems rooted in values of serving each other,  appreciating different products and techniques as art forms, and doing all that through the lens that the practice of using any resource must be sustainable.

If you want to collaborate on projects that reduce inequality, e-mail [email protected]

Question in the outtro from Octavia Butler's "Parable of the Sower (Earthseed #1)" Reader's Guide

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52397.Parable_of_the_Sower

https://octaviabutler.org

Intro music by Binho Manenti

https://soundcloud.com/binho-manenti

Background Tabla music from a musician in Ramana’s Garden, Rishikesh India (recorded February, 2019)

Outro music by /jazzyrobot/ (Ana Gomulka and Taylor Greenshields)

https://soundcloud.com/user-722540724

Produced by Taylor Greenshields of Fundamental Sound Co.

https://www.fundamentalsoundco.com