Students and teachers are human beings. Schools must bring this to light.
The Human Restoration Project (HRP) is a non-profit organization aimed at transforming school systems, restoring students as human beings rather than a vessel for standards. Led by educators Chris McNutt and Nick Covington, HRP contains reformative school resources, free conferences, podcasts, writings, and various materials geared toward changing mindsets in education.
The Human Restoration Project focuses on three elements of progressive education.
Purpose
What do you care about more than anything else? What defines your life and overall purpose? Sadly, the majority of students, or even adults, struggle in answering these questions.
Sometime between kindergarten and high school, a person's passion has dissipated. Forced learning of irrelevant subject matter and a lack of human-centered development means that the average student is never exposed to their unyielding life goal.
Passions must be explored. Because our society is increasingly apathetic and consumerist, we must be the advocates for our students and teachers to realize their purpose.
Creativity
All innovations are a result of creativity. Creatives are the game changers of society to move our world forward. However, schools do not function to embrace, or even encourage, creativity.
Schools are primarily designed with one thing in mind: data-driven instruction. Our entire system rests on test data, which is meant to exemplify "learning." However, these subjective tests will always have one only one correct answer.
Schools must express a system that reaches to the heart of a student's imagination and tap into their spirit, reminding them that there are always multiple answers to given problems.
Systems, Not Strategies
Our educational standards are rooted in a neoliberal system that does little to engage a student’s path to purpose.
According to data from Northeastern University, only one in five people use mathematics beyond an elementary level. Our country is one of the least democratically engaged, but drills students in US Government every year. The same core books are assigned in English classes, but reading rates are declining rapidly.
There needs to be a movement that reforms our current system of schooling and embraces local, specialty education that serves every student's capabilities and desires. Education won’t be drastically improved by simplistic teaching strategies. We need to change the system itself to promote student learning.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Human Restoration Project?
The Human Restoration Project aims to discuss and provide resources that illuminate, foster, and challenge traditional and progressive educational practices. It is of utmost importance that, when looking deeply into dense topics, we provide places for people to start (especially those who are not accustomed to a progressive view of education). Furthermore, it is paramount that we view progressive education not as a series of buzzwords or acronyms, but instead the bringing to light what we’ve all seem to forgotten: our students, our educators - they are human beings. We intend to restore that lost humanity - having administrators, educators, and students remind themselves of, and engage with, their passions and dreams.
Who are you?
In short, we are a group of progressive educators seeking to change, the best we can, the schooling system via spreading our message, providing resources, and enabling teachers with our vision. Overtime, we have gathered multiple contributors who share, bolster, and instill new thinking of progressive ideas.
What are you selling?
The Human Restoration Project is dedicated to releasing all of our materials for free. There’s no hidden ploy in our work. We stay afloat due to Patreon supporters, who receive our only exclusive resource, Restore Humanity - an electronic magazine with our organized free works. In the summer, we offer accessible professional development, with all resources used released for free.
What is “progressive education”? What does it mean to "restore humanity"?
Progressive education is a system developed over hundreds of years to encompass critical pedagogy, experiential learning, equity-centered assessment, gradeless learning, and more. Essentially, it means to be radically pro-student by changing systems within education, rather than masquerade the legacy system through teacher-centric means.
Who is your audience - who should listen?
Our work is primarily aimed at K-12 educators, including homeschoolers. We want to persuade traditional educators to our line of thought, and recognize, discuss with, and validate progressive thinkers. Of course, students and other professionals are welcome to engage as well.
Can anyone embrace "progressive education"?
No matter what your circumstance, anyone can embrace progressive education even at the most traditional of schools. This comes with a caveat; you must be willing to take risks in the name of your students. If we know what's best, it's time to fight for it.