Espaço Voa
City: Carrancas
State: Minas Gerais
Postal Code: 37245000
Country: Brazil
Description
Carrancas is a town of 4 thousand inhabitants, of great cultural importance and full of natural riches. And it is in this small town in the South of Minas Gerais, a collective dream was born: the Espaço Voa – a place for self-directed learning and human development.
The Espaço Voa is a living environment where families, educators, collaborators, and children are given tools to move between self-knowledge, transformation, and connection. We aspire to develop the creative potential inside each one, promoting integral, autonomous, respectful, and meaningful learning.
We believe that when we follow what moves us, what makes sense to us, our commitment and dedication to learning are potentiated.
Counting on a self-directed learning after-school program, this place welcomes the diverse learning needs of the community’s children. Everyone involved in Espaço Voa is encouraged to be free to believe in themselves and their dreams. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t believe in ours: building an inclusive learning space that promotes human connections and motivation for learning.
Our purpose is to promote a self-directed and inclusive learning space. Each family that can financially support our activities matches a family in the community receiving a social grant.
SDE Optimizing Conditions
- Responsibility – We are a learning community, an educational cooperative, which is based on horizontal management, self-direction, and self-responsibility. Therefore, the whole community participates in the planning process, including the children.
- Youth Autonomy – We are a free learning space. We believe that children can make their own learning choices as long as they have a diverse and safe environment. The children develop based on their motivation and are connected to their own essence.
- Access to Tools and Technology – The children have free access to the environments and educational materials. They collaborate in preparing meals, organizing the space, and games and activities.
- Adult Allies – We use the facilitators observation as our primary tool for analyzing individual development. We build semi-annual reports on each child's progress, discoveries, and curiosities. We also enable the children to self-evaluate and self-reflect.
- Free Age Mixing – Our space is designed and organized to meet the needs of children of all ages. Most of our proposals also cater to all children. Still, we also provide spaces and activities for cycles of different age groups.
- Community – The decisions of Espaço Voa are made by consensus among the members of the educational cooperative. We offer workshops for the whole team and families about non-violent communication, positive discipline and learning and child development.
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