Journey Towards the Caring Classroom, 2nd Ed

Journey Toward the Caring Classroom 2nd Edition: Using Adventure to Create Community in the Classroom

“Collaborative group members must approach a task as equals, willing to take risks that will cause all to sink or swim together. This collective stake in an outcome implies a group that thrives on respect, trust, and common goals.”

Journey Toward the Caring Classroom, 2nd Edition, deftly bridges the gap between conventional and experiential education, empowering educators/facilitators to use their minds, intuition, and knowledge along with a growing body of evidence to create an environment that supports learning, community building, and social-emotional development. Educational theory, concrete in-class strategies, and engaging activities encourage educators to transform their classroom into a caring place where every learner can grow.

Journey Toward the Caring Classroom describes a learning environment that begins with the idea of classroom as community, filled with students sharing common interests and joint participation. The necessity of beginning with an environment that values each member is emphasized, and creating a safe place where students can be free to learn from mistakes and disagree without being torn apart is a priority. In this scenario, the teacher whose role changes from information provider to facilitator, is an equal member of the community.

A foundational perspective of adventure and experiential education is basic to this curriculum that offers accessible activities, reflection opportunities, life skills, and academic applications for a variety of age levels.

Groups develop and, working through a developmental sequence, help create a map for community building.

Frank presents the issues, skills, and activities pertinent to any given phase in the process, and includes suggestions and ideas about how to facilitate the process.

Learn how to start a program of your own that can act as a springboard for developing an action plan to use in your individual situation.