The Public School is not accredited, it does not give out degrees, and it has no affiliation with the public school system.

It is, instead, a provocative model for extra-institutional education. Especially for those who have finished formal schooling, are between schools or could care less about accredited degrees, this is a venture which democratizes the pedagogical process by creating a community around learning/teaching. The subject matter runs the gamut from heavy intellectual pursuits to casual interests and practical skill-based courses. Courses are free or affordable and small enough to encourage engagement over simple reception.

The way it works: users propose classes online, discussion ensues, classes are nominated by a committee and then instructors are sourced and the class scheduled for a one time session or repeated meetings. fees are determined by a formula “Hourly Teachers Fee X (Classroom Hours + Preparation Hours)) + Materials + (Administration + Overhead” and those who can’t pay are afforded scholarship by a system where teachers can opt to forgo their payment.

The public school is hosted in the basement of TELIC ARTS EXCHANGE in China Town (Los Angeles), and echos some similarities of its neighbor, the Mountain School.

From the Telic website

TELIC’s program emphasizes social exchange, interactivity and public participation to produce a critical engagement with new media and culture.

And from an email dispatch

Questions The Public School should pose, concepts it should address, realities it should engage with, and ethics it should encourage.

* Challenge goal-oriented pedagogical models that promote economic value to learning.
* Arts education as a space for for open-ended inquiry and speculation.
* Continuous mobility between positions of teacher, student, and school administrator.
* Build a sustainable economy that doesn’t rely on volunteerism.
* Enact a model that can be adopted in other locations.
* Encourage multiple competing approaches to the same subject.
* Interdisciplinarianism (or: adisciplinarianism?)
* Engagement with the community (via events / exhibitions / calls for participation)

What kinds of classes/ subjects should The Public School promote?

* The expert and the amateur.
* Reading small amounts, slowly and carefully.
* Mutation of the arts following technological advances.
* Practical courses for practicing artists.
* Collaborative projects.
* The role of theory and criticism now and then.
* Obsolescence.
* Very specific, ideologically loaded software classes
* Games and play.
* Multiple political -isms (conservatism, neo-conservatism, liberalism, neo-liberalism, etc.)
* Structures of production in the arts.
* War and police.
* Peace and protesters.
* Screenings.
* Exhibitions.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008 at 12:47 am and is filed under art, education.