Radical Learning

“I’m so grateful for the beautiful human connections and opportunities to evolve as a result of my experience at The Shift. It's challenging to find the words to describe the deschooling experience The Shift immersed us in, but if I can summarize it in one word, I would say evolutionary. This experience not only pushes you to re-examine hard wired beliefs and social conditioning around schooling and being in relationship with young people, but the facilitators create a space that naturally allows you to show up as your full self without fearing judgement for exploring parts of you that intuitively feel right but could not be supported or even allowed to be revealed in schoolish settings. THIS experience is exactly what they want you and your learners to feel in your self-directed learning communities. It's also an experience I have NEVER felt in any educational conference, training, or workshop I've participated in over the last 20 years (except for Beyond Diversity 101). Our learning journey didn't start with the introduction of titles, degrees, and long winded stories about our "expertise". It started with a clear understanding that our imperfections and mistakes along the learning process will be equally valued and celebrated with the gifts and wisdom each of us bring to our learning community. We didn't sit and receive a lecture or were PowerPointed to death on deschooling & unschooling. We lived & practiced it in action in all of its messiness for an entire week together. This is the magic of The Shift!”

Chemay Morales-James

“The Shift is a week full of gentle invitations to look deeply (or not) into our beliefs, where they come from and how are they serving us in our lives and interactions through open conversations, sharing, games and reflections. In case we find they don't serve us, we have the opportunity to learn, explore and practice tools that enable us to change our typical responses bases on those beliefs and any time we don't quite get it, we have the opportunity to speak up and celebrate joyfully together. I used to struggle with how to transmit to my male partner the value, connection and growth we could achieve within ourselves and our tribe. The Shift has more than helped me, it has supported me in experiencing how building community based on trust, consent, listening, non-judgement and love is possible among diverse, unique beings. I feel I have blossomed into a less reactive, frustrated, stressed and annoyed human to a more connected, authentic, joyful, energetic, patient and open being after this experience. This process of transformation has allowed me to engage with others in a compassionate way and listen - really listen through the use of the tools acquired. The most important thing I take from this experience (which is difficult for me to pinpoint because there are so, so many useful skills I developed during this week!) is the ability to observe and understand power-over systems within me and pause in the moment to apply one of the liberation and connection tools and know that if/when I f*ck up, I get to celebrate myself and try again!”

Leila Minú

“The Shift is an opportunity to be in community with people who share the same fears and concerns. Fear of being without community, fear of fucking up my child, and fear of not being able to live our lives in ways that feel authentic. Before The Shift I struggled with how I could, as a single mama who works full time, possibly unschool and find ways to make self-directed learning work for me and my child. I struggled to listen to and communicate with my child in ways that felt authentic and meaningful. The Shift has quite literally shifted the way I think about my life, my child’s life, and the infinite possibilities that are open to us. I’m beginning to trust myself and the path we are on. Accepting that many things will shift slowly, and that’s okay. One step at a time, trusting the process, and taking the next right step will pave a liberated path forward that may look unconventional to most, AND it will lead to a connection between us and our chosen community that will be exactly what we need. My biggest transformation has been how I’m learning to listen to my intuition and the signs around me. This looks like meaningfully listen not only to my inner being, but also to my child and her gifts, observations, emotions, needs, and desires. I’m using the tools I learned in The Shift to listen and communicate with my 6 year old in ways that feel more positive for both of us. I can already sense a shift in our relationship. I’m also extremely grateful for the opportunity to spend time with this community analyzing and examining the ways in which colonization and white supremacy have carefully crafted and dictated the ways we have experienced school and life. If you can name it, you can heal it. This exploration of decolonizing education has supported me in developing the confidence I was lacking in choosing this path for us. Sending my daughter to school never felt like the right choice and I could never clearly articulate why. Thanks to The Shift, now I can clearly speak to why we are choosing this path. The most important things I’m taking away from The Shift are tools for consent and communication and a deeper sense of acceptance, trust, and community. We are also taking away an abundance of resources that were shared and those are helping to guide our continued learning as we’ve returned back from The Shift. Our lives are forever changed and I will always be eternally grateful for Becka and Sari and the work that they are doing.”

Brianna Stronk

“The Shift is an intensive experience of awakening to whatever inside of you is ready to shift in your personal growth journey. It is an opportunity to learn new tools that alter how you navigate life while expanding your capacity for empathy in uncomfortable situations with others. We learned about power structures and systems of oppression in ways that feel empowering to change your default beliefs. Information was shared every day that invited us to look deeper into ourselves to understand how these systems affect our beliefs. It was also an extremely connective experience where I learned what it felt like to be in an inclusive, liberated, consent-based community with open, honest, authentic folks who valued and supported each others needs and feelings while celebrating fuck ups along the way. The Shift gave me many opportunities to lean on the community and trust the process. I experienced many moments of intense fear but because I was surrounded by such self-aware, compassionate, present and loving people I was able to push through the fear and experience bravery in ways I’ve never known before. I was able to look at my child-self and see her unmet needs and how they translated into deeply rooted fear-based beliefs. I now see how some of those needs and beliefs can be transmuted today and I have begun the healing. I was hired as a facilitator at a brand new unschool that just wrapped up our first year. I have been asked to take over the program going forward and I’ve been excited, knowing this is my calling, but scared because I knew something was wrong and didn’t know what or how to fix it. The Shift gave me a roadmap of tools and a new understanding, propelling me into the role of a confident leader. Now I’m aware I can create a consent-based community that truly values each other's needs, authenticity, openness, acceptance and curiosity. I see my role as someone who supports young people to discover and own their needs and desires which will help them to become confident self-directed learners who trust their own instincts. The Shift was one of the most powerful and life changing experiences in my life. I have read so many books and spoken to so many people about self growth and improvement but this brought my awareness to a whole new level. Since being home, I have shared these tools of connection with my family and I’m watching the effects ripple out. We have new words to express ourselves and we’re starting to create consent based egalitarian relationships out of the old co-dependent paradigm. I’m finding myself less annoyed with those around me, more compassionate instead of triggered, and able to express myself in the form of sharing needs and feelings rather than storming away or shutting people out. My only complaint is that I miss all the beautiful spirits I was in community with because their gifts and knowledge were so inspiring and comforting. Big thanks to Sari and Becka for creating something so immensely powerful and modeling for me what being “a facilitator” really means. What a gift.”

Jessica Seevers

“The Shift, to me, is an opportunity to delve into and shift our internal landscapes, and the culture of our homes, communities, and the world overall. There were so many things that The Shift opened up for me, but the biggest was through one of the partner activities we did to enhance our listening. It showed my the necessity of softness in my life. This is still, 5 months later, opening up for me and being integrated. I also saw my habit of not honoring the wisdom of a child, which stemmed from the dishonor of my own wisdom when I was a child. These pivotal realizations, along with the community, resources, tools, systems, etc. that I learned during The Shift' are allowing me to truly face and address difficult truths within myself, in my home, and in community with love. As I work as a youth mentor, I've also been more confident to hold space for youth to self-direct. I'd read just a little bit about The Shift before I knew I needed to be there. The scholarship made it accessible to me! I work as a teacher, and youth mentor for mostly BIPOC youth who have experienced significant trauma, and may experience it daily. I am also a doula, sound healer, and ceremonialist in training. The Shift honored the fact the work we do in community must first be done within. It integrated this knowing into the culture, and systems we learned and utilized during our days in Borike. The Shift allowed me to open up to spaces of my own healing that I hadn't before - giving me greater compassion and softness for myself, and allowing me to show up more fully and effectively for the youth I work with. The connections, practices, tools, etc. I learned at The Shift are still being integrated into my interactions with myself and the youth. I definitely am more able to hold space for healing, joy, and confidence in these youth as they traverse the challenges they meet daily. ”

Shima