Evolution of The Bellows Institute
(Fremont rock art of 900 AD found on canyon wall along Calf Creek, near Boulder, Utah)
The ethos of the founders of The Bellows Institute (“Bellows“) is that the institutions of education of any society, in the best cases, are the inner compass of society; the repository of its ideals, its core beliefs that provide vital direction, and its sense of solidarity to sustain itself under the most adverse of conditions. Without educational institutions to play this critical role, societies and their next generations will be absent an inner compass which serves to illuminate their origins; articulate their ideals; provide them with a common vision for the future; preserve and develop sound rules of conduct and intercultural maturity; and help them internalize a cohesive sense of global social intelligence.We believe that American society and American education in the early 21st century are adrift, disoriented and are in a state of ominous degeneration.However, American education is capable of becoming an inner compass for our society when—at the high school and college levels—it connects its separate and distinct academic disciplines to research-guided, integrative, practicum-based learning that is carried out in real-world settings, where theory and application meet; where knowledge is deepened; where student perspective is broadened; and ultimately, where American education interconnects with our times.
This natural evolutionary advance in the interconnectivity of American education to our times will make it possible to prepare American society and our next generations for creative, productive and responsible participation in our emerging global society.The term interconnectivity is fitting because for American education—at the high school and college levels–to become the inner compass of American society it must leave its cloistered existence and come out into the world. It must become an integral and knowledgeable participant of our times. Conversely, key representatives of our times must come into American education to understand its capabilities and to provide the vital insights to help education become that inner compass. When each side informs the other with equal intensity and urgency, a vital interconnectivity will develop.
An Initial “Listening” Was the Catalyst of This Ethos
The examination of fundamental student learning outcomes gathered momentum when Steve Boyle and Pat Dolan, founders of The Bellows Foundation attended an extraordinary student presentation at a gathering of six colleges in Olympia, Washington in October 2004. A composite group of thirteen students, with several days of preparation, were responding to a question posed by faculty members, namely:
“Is there anything missing from your academic education?”
First, the students presented six vital student learning goals that they believe are not effectively addressed in their undergraduate education, as follows:
1. Construct field studies that connect with students’ academic concentrations to deepen meaning and to make classroom-acquired knowledge relevant to the real world of the 21st century.
2. Reconnect with the natural world and indigenous cultures in order to internalize the urgency for safeguarding a sustainable future and have an undisturbed time to carry on the vital process of self-reflection to consider one’s personal worldview and one’s identity in this context.
3. Discover and expand one’s unique creative spirit and range of creative expression.
4. Broaden one’s perspective about real world interactivity, maintain a sense of responsibility to others and participate in the achievement of a just society.
5. Consider a variety of realistic life-pursuits that can make a difference in the world by immersion in real world work environments and by interfacing with men and women who bring intuitive understanding and good judgment from their long experience in non-profit, for-profit and governmental agency domains.
6. Develop a frame of mind and coping ability that allows one to address the realities of life with equanimity and good judgment, rather than succumb to uncertainty, anxiety and depression.
This student perspective was insightful, and also troubling, because the learning goals enumerated above, which the students believe are gaps in their education, in fact, constitute the crucially important learning that prepares students for creative, productive and responsible participation in our global society.
Pat and Steve sat spellbound as the presenting students patiently described their vision of how to close these gaps. They spoke of a creatively collaborative immersion, off campus, in real world learning environments for a sixteen-week semester that could profoundly deepen the meaning of their academic education. They expressed their belief that integrative practicums in real world learning environments would have the realistic potential to: (i) remove students from the enormously distracting barrage of the media, entertainment and advertising worlds, as well as the competing narratives of popular sub-cultures; (ii) create a sense of authentic community and belonging; (iii) lay the groundwork for a learning environment of creative collaboration; (iv) move toward inter-cultural maturity; (v) develop a sense of responsibility to others; (vi) allow space for undeveloped creative expression to surface; (vii) immerse students in situations to develop good judgment and responsible action; (viii) practice living simply and self-sufficiently; and (ix) create the space for self-reflection about one’s personal world view and one’s identity in that context.
Hoping to recapture the powerful impact of their presentation, Steve and Pat invited these students to repeat their innovative thoughts at a five-day Bellows-sponsored Colloquium at the Circle Z Ranch in Patagonia, Arizona in January of 2005.
A total of forty-three students, faculty, administrators, and others were in attendance, representing Alverno College, Daemen College, Deep Springs College, Evergreen State College, Fairhaven College, Hampshire College, New College of Florida, Pitzer College, Ursuline College, Columbia University’s Teachers College, University of Arizona, Texas Christian University and University of Wisconsin.
Also in attendance were Dara Molloy, a Celtic priest and founder of a learning community in the Aran Islands of Ireland; Josiah Bunting III, President of the H.F. Guggenheim Foundation; L. Jackson Newell, former President of Deep Springs College; Dr. Meredith Aronson, the former mayor of Patagonia; and Carol Soth, a highly respected Patagonia educator. Absent, but with us in spirit, were Dr. Lee Knefelkamp of Columbia University’s Teachers College (Steve’s dissertation advisor) and Dr. Gregory Prince, former president of Hampshire College, key advisors.
Over five days of spirited collaboration, the participants of the Colloquium breathed life into a comprehensive vision of how to achieve the vital student learning goals that the students believe are on the periphery of their academic education. We came away from the Colloquium with a sense of optimism because while we know of the gridlock that thwarts educational reform from within, the students showed us an avenue of advance and the internal workings of a sixteen-week student immersion that can take place in real world learning environments beyond today’s high school, college and university settings.
(One group of participants at The Bellows Foundation Colloquium)
In the pursuit of these research questions, Bellows also sponsored “listenings” in Patagonia that included: (i) a ten-day visit in 2005 from twenty-three students, faculty members and administrators from Hampshire College of Amherst, Massachusetts; and (ii) a five-day visit in 2006 from thirteen students and faculty of Earlham College of Richmond, Indiana (see postings in this website for details).
Moreover, an effort has made the past several years to identifying and conceptualizing five real world learning environments (“Learning Centers”)—with surrounding practicum sites in Patagonia, Arizona; Boulder, Utah; Petersburg, Alaska; Idyllwild-Pine Cove, California; and Mimbres, New Mexico. A sixth learning environment in Rwanda is in the planning stage (click on “The Bellows Institute Organization” for details).