Education shapes the way we interact with ourselves and with the world around us. Yet, in a moment where working towards the future is critical, the frameworks of traditional education often fail to address present-day concerns such as climatic change, inclusivity, and censorship.
Through alternative classrooms, online revolutions, and the preservation of languages, the links below explore the possibilities and the future of education.
Drowning in Student Loans and Rising Tides
How is student loan debt holding us back from tackling climate change? In this article, Atmos connects the dots between an increasingly privatized education system and the possibility of climate justice. Illustration by Nico Krijno.
Écoletopie
Link
About
Within the exhibition “The art of learning. A school of creators”, the Center Pompidou-Metz invited the design studio smarin to create an alternative classroom. With inclusivity, sensitivity, and collective learning in mind, they came up with the extraordinary “Écoletopie”.
Flourish in Diversity
Link
About
Through workshops, collaborations and lectures, the training program Flourish in Diversity is fighting for representation and social consciousness in the fashion industry. In this interview, its three founders speak about the future of fashion, and how they used frustration as their fuel for change.
Art Classes Are Helping Transform Medical Education
Link
About
Artist and educator Anne Willieme is fighting traditional education. In this article, she speaks about blending art with medicine, bridging disciplines, education’s future, and more.
Afrocuration
Link
About
“In a world where African music, art, fashion and creativity shape and define much of the global cultural landscape, how can we leverage the smarts of African youth to tell our own story on our own terms?” In this article, we learn about WikiAfrica, an educational platform using creativity as a tool to re-center the African narrative. Illustration by PR$DNT HONEY.
TikTokers Are Revolutionizing Sex Education Online
Students are faced with a lack of sex education in high school, let alone queer sex education. In this article, we learn how 19-year-old Maxx Fenning decided to take matters into his own hands while Them Magazine walks us through the revolution of sex education.
Teaching to Transgress Toolbox
Link
About
Inspired by bell hooks’ book Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom, this study programme on critical pedagogy in the arts shows us the possibilities of inclusive education: From acknowledging emotions in the classroom to questioning the neutrality of institutions.
Lucille Tenazas Knows What’s Missing in Design Education
Link
About
“Educators should anticipate the cultural, political, and social landscape that they are preparing their students to enter”, says designer and educator Lucille Tenazas. In this interview, she speaks about the value of process, creating new ways of thinking, and how critical it is to teach future generations a holistic approach to design.
Language Keepers
Link
About
In the last decades, most indigenous languages have disappeared because of forced assimilation, relocation, and other factors involving Native people. As part of the series Language Keepers, Emergence Magazine spoke with the late Marie Wilcox, the last fluent speaker of the Wukchumni language and the creator of the only Wukchumni dictionary. Here, she speaks on the importance of remembering and teaching as a form to preserve her community and culture. Image from the documentary Marie’s Dictionary by Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee.
This collection of articles speaks to the need for more inclusive and open education. The main image featured on this piece is the beautiful cover from Emergence Magazine’s latest print edition: Living with the Unknown.
If you want to know more about alternative education, check out our story on how Deniz Ova is challenging design education, and our previous Link Lists.
Text: Maria Paris
