Here’s a handy list for when you are bored: fifty “Essential Experiences” to consider. This list, compiled by Chris Balme, is targeted at middle schoolers, though I think it would work for people of all ages. I can see retirees going down this list, and middle-aged folks such as myself for that matter! Some of these activities might be done by families or friends together. Some are one-off actions, and others might take months. At any rate, Chris proposes this list of “Essential Experiences” as the foundation for a middle-school curriculum, and I appreciate his vision in challenging the standard school paradigm.
Chris has just published a new book, Finding the Magic in Middle School: Tapping into the Power of the Middle School Years. He is a founder of The Millenium School in San Francisco, and now he is starting a new alternative school in Japan, https://www.hakuba-is.jp/.
I met Chris in July at a small retreat for people involved in self-directed learning (thank you Blake Boles and Cath Fraise!) Chris and I have chosen different paths: he is re-imagining middle schools; I am re-imagining life without middle schools. The world needs both of these visions and more, and I very much enjoy meeting people whose life experiences have led them down similar but distinct paths.
This summer I’ve spent a considerable amount of my work time at various conferences and consulting for Liberated Learners, and I’ve found the conversations invigorating. In addition to this retreat where I met Chris, I’ve met Josh Pickel in Canton, IL (Canton Learning Collaborative) and I’m delighted to welcome Amy Damant and her program in Brisbane, Australia (Celebrate Learning) into our network. I will have more to share in a future blog post.
Back to Chris Balme: he has an online program called Argonauts, for any teen interested in pursuing the Essential Experiences activities in a group format. Here is a link to Chris’ blog post with a bit more background about this project.
Just curious: how many of the 50 Essential Experiences can you check off? Depending on the depth one needs for each item, I’m can check off more than 40. That leaves me a few to consider.
50 Essential Experiences
Independence
1. Keep a Journal
2. Serve a Good Meal
3. Travel independently
4. Care for an infant
5. Work in a paid service job
6. Open a bank account
7. Perform or present to a large audience 8. Go solo in nature
9. Become an apprentice
10. Teach a complex skill
Connection
11. Belong to a team
12. Express your gratitude
13. Receive mentoring
14. Become an Active Listener
15. Create a work of art that moves others
16. Build a close relationship with someone over 75
17. Set a boundary with someone
18. Work with someone who does not speak your native language
19. Mediate a peer conflict 20. Lead a group
Healthy Body & Mind
21. Create a health habit
22. Earn certification for a physical skill
23. Develop an athletic skill with challenging training
24. Discover your culture’s story about how your body should be 25. Discover your culture’s story about gender
26. Practice mindfulness daily for a month
27. Learn how to calm yourself in challenging situations
28. Find a reason to celebrate a personal failure
29. Challenge a limiting belief about yourself
Waking Up
30. Find awe in nature
31. Spend time in a group where you stick out
32. Visit a place of worship for an unfamiliar religion 33. Connect with your lineage
34. Deconstruct an advertisement
35. Debunk a source you used to trust
36. Discover bias in your thinking
37. Discover your privilege
38. Spend time with someone who is dying
39. Make your own ritual
40. Ask an unanswerable Big Question
Making the World Better
41. Do random acts of kindness daily for a week 42. Give service
43. Forgive Someone
44. Write a personal Credo
45. Be authentically weird 46. Stand up for someone
47. Participate in the democratic process 48. Give feedback to authority
49. Be a mentor or tutor
50. Address an injustice in your community