This document outlines Kurt Love's vision for reclaiming and revitalizing empowered, community-based education. It argues that the current education system serves the interests of the wealthy in creating docile workers, rather than empowering students. Love proposes shifting to a new paradigm focused on sustainability, diversity, interconnection, wellness and peace. As an example, he describes the Sustainable Farm School, an independent school using creative arts and sciences to help students develop sustainable knowledge and lifestyles. The school's programs aim to create "solutionaries" and involve university faculty, community visionaries and farmers in teacher preparation.

1. K U R T L O V E , P H . D . | C E N T R A L C O N N E C T I C U T S TA T E U N I V E R S I T Y
AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL STUDIES ASSOCIATION | OCT 30-NOV 3
R E C L A I M I N G & R E V I TA L I Z I N G
E M P O W E R E D , C O M M U N I T Y- B A S E D
E D U C AT I O N

2. C A P TA I N S O F I N D U S T R Y
WANT DOCILE WORKERS
PURPOSE OF SCHOOLING
UNDER THE CONTROL OF
T H E S U P E R W E A LT H Y,
P R O - C A P I TA L I S T W I T H
POLITICAL AND
S C H O L A R LY S U P P O R T
THOMAS JEFFERSON
“COLLEGE-READY”
21ST
CENTURY
LEARNERS
HORACE MANN
JOHN DEWEY
COMMON CORE
B . F. S K I N N E R
“With American students
fully prepared for the
future, our communities
will be best positioned to
compete successfully in
the global economy.”
WOODROW WILSON
ANDREW CARENEGIE
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER
B I L L G AT E S

3. C A P TA I N S O F I N D U S T R Y
WANT DOCILE WORKERS
NEOLIBERAL AGENDA
S U P E R W E A LT H Y
WANT MINIMUM
AND MEDIUM
WAGE WORKERS
TO DO THE
WORK OF THEIR
BUSINESSES
BIG BUSINESS
CEO WITH
H O U R LY W A G E
AT $ 2 0 , 0 0 0
M E D I A N H O U R LY
W A G E AT
P R I V AT E J O B S AT
$24.05 ($41,000)
TOP 1% OWNS
40% OF THE US
ASSETS
MINIMUM
H O U R LY W A G E
AT $ 7 . 2 5
M E D I A N H O U R LY
W A G E AT $ 1 6 . 7 1

4. C A P TA I N S O F I N D U S T R Y
WANT DOCILE WORKERS
NEOLIBERAL AGENDA
BIG BUSINESS
CEO WITH
H O U R LY W A G E
AT $ 2 0 , 0 0 0
S U P E R W E A LT H Y
WANT MINIMUM
AND MEDIUM
WAGE WORKERS
TO DO THE
WORK OF THEIR
BUSINESSES
M E D I A N H O U R LY
W A G E AT
P R I V AT E J O B S AT
$24.05 ($41,000)
CONTROL SCHOOLS
WITH THE
COMMON CORE
SP
M RIN
ER K
IT LE
O
C WI
RA T
C H
Y

5. AN HISTORICAL, NEOLIBERAL FRAMEWORK
LED US HERE & IT IS CRUMBLING
• Schools exist for creating workers (not leaders)
• The super wealthy continue to control the discourse of
schooling
• Teachers are ineffective, irrelevant, and hyper-
intensified
• Call it what it is… hegemonically mystified social
control and confused by altruism

6. E N D I N G T H I S PA R A D I G M
• No longer aimed at creating workers, supply-side
economics with endless consumption and waste…we
simply cannot afford to do this
• No longer driven by fear-based rhetoric, either.
• Accountability
• GDP
• Global competition

7. S H I F T I N G T O A N E W PA R A D I G M
• “Love and Rage” become our primary actions
• Driven by responsibility-oriented thinking
• Sustainability
• Diversity & Community-strengthening
• Interconnection
• Holism & Balance
• Wellness
• Peace & Conflict Mediation

8. S U S TA I N A B L E F A R M S C H O O L
MISSION: TO USE THE
C R E AT I V E A N D H E A L I N G
ARTS AND SCIENCES TO
HELP STUDENTS DEVELOP
S U S TA I N A B L E K N O W L E D G E S
AND LIFESTYLES AND HELP
C R E AT E A P E A C E F U L W O R L D
AN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL
FOR CHILDREN AGES 3-18
L O C AT E D O N F A R M S , AT
HOMES AND COMMUNITY
SITES THROUGHOUT CENTRAL
CONNECTICUT

9. S U S TA I N A B L E F A R M S C H O O L
PROGRAMS FOCUS ON
C R E AT I N G S T U D E N T S A S
C R E AT I V E , I N T E R C O N N E C T E D
“SOLUTIONARIES”

10. S U S TA I N A B L E F A R M S C H O O L
Sustainable Farm Economics
Geometry of the Natural World
Activism and Writing
Trickster Myths and Other-World Fantasies
Norse Mythology
Greek Mythology
Permaculture
Herbology
Science, Nature, and Sustainability
Lifefoods Food Prep

11. S U S TA I N A B L E F A R M S C H O O L
Holistic Nutrition
Early Connecticut and American History
Civics
Permaculture
Critical Thinking and Moral Reasoning
Social Justice and Contemporary Oppression
Walking in Joy
Watercolor Painting
Art in Time

12. S U S TA I N A B L E F A R M S C H O O L
After school program in
downtown New Britain, CT
!
T
aught urban gardening, food
security issues, sustainably
grown food, organic food, and
genetically modified foods.

13. S U S TA I N A B L E F A R M S C H O O L
Teacher preparation at CCSU:
It is the goal of SFS to provide a space to
help public school teachers to explore
pedagogies of peace and sustainability.
Several pre-service teachers have
designed and implemented their own
courses at SFS in alignment with the
framework of SFS.

14. S U S TA I N A B L E F A R M S C H O O L
Teacher preparation at CCSU:
Selected CCSU students are able to
develop deep relationships with SFS
students and get to know them in more
holistic contexts of learning.

15. A MODEL FOR CHANGE
• University faculty - community visionary - organic farmer triad
• University faculty teaching courses at SFS
• Field experience that is deeply rooted in both community and issues
of diversity and sustainability (as opposed to perpetuation of a
neoliberal education)
• Potential for changing education at the levels of teacher education
and PK-12 as these teachers enter the field licensed and certified
• Potential for change at the community level by advocating and
showing how to take local control and operationalize communitybased education

16. REFERENCES
•
Real Hourly Wages and Hours Worked: Still off Their Interim Highs
http://advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/Employment-Wages-and-Hours.php
•
Love, K. A. (2012). 'Love and rage' in the classroom: Planting the seeds of community empowerment.
Educational Studies, 48(1), 52-75.
!
•
Love, K. (2012). Authenticity and cooperation as pathways to school success. In D. Mulcahy (Ed.),
Transforming schools: Alternative perspectives on school reform (pp. 121-134). New York, NY:
Information Age.
•
Love, K. A., Gill, K., King, A., & Love, K. L. (2013). A framework of Waldorf philosophy and EcoJustice
pedagogy at the Sustainable Farm School. In M. Mueller & D. Tippens (Eds.), EcoJustice, citizen
science, and youth activism: Situated tensions for science education. New York, NY: Springer.
•
Photography: Kimberly Gill & Kurt Love