Category: Blogs

While mechanistic thinking tend towards analytic/reductionism, ecological thinking is much more wholistic in nature. So, as someone with a tendency to analyze, I am an odd ecological thinker and educator. Fortunately for me (and I think, for all of our… Read More

Every teacher and parent knows that every child is unique: some are loud, others are quiet, some are tall, some are short, some leap and sprint and others are more careful and persistent. Children also come in different colors, from… Read More

Human relationships can be characterized along many dimensions. One of these dimensions concerns the distribution of power between participants. Absolute authoritarian relationships anchor one end of this continuum. In this kind of relationship power is asymmetrically distributed with one or… Read More

As mentioned in our our description of our approach, at Hilltop Education Connections, we practice a form of education based on wholism with a specific focus on supporting all participants forming deep connections in general, and with ourselves, others, and… Read More

Our philososphy of learning begins with three key ideas: We are individualsEach of us is born one of a kind, with unique gifts and special needs, and each of us follows our own path through life. These differences make us interesting to… Read More

Millers and forest gardeners are both in the business of working with natural resources. Millers transform forests into lumber. Forest gardeners transform forests into gardens. But the general goals and methods of the two differ greatly. The goal of the… Read More

Most modern human social, cultural, political and economic institutions including schools are based on a fundamental belief about the nature of reality. Philosopher Charles Eisenstein calls this belief the story of separation and in his wonderful book, The More Beautiful World… Read More

At Hilltop Education Connections our goal to put our differences together includes two sub-goals: the first is focused on each student as a wonderfully unique individual—our “me” goal; the second is focused on all of us as a community—our “we”… Read More

As human beings, we are social animals and as such are simultaneously semi-autonomous individuals capable of functioning on our own, and members of communities somewhat interdependent on each other for survival. Communities are systems. And as systems they are “greater… Read More

There is no reason to believe that the natural world is divided up into separate pieces. As far as we can tell, everything and every non-thing in the universe is interconnected (why else would we call it the one-verse). It… Read More