Week 15 in Review 2025-2026

As we returned together this past week, eager to reconnect, to share stories and gifts from break, and to plunge ahead on our projects together (like equipping the Digital Studio, making forts, playing myriad board games, and asking something called The Mystic Pickle very important questions…), we also returned to the question always at the root of this work we do: How do we want to be together? This week in particular we looked at that question through the lens of inviting new young people into our community, and trying to get as clear as we are able about how we share our community with newcomers, how we invite them in, and what they’ll experience when they get here. We’re always reminded at these times of the truth of the Agile Learning maxim that “we learn more from the culture of which we are a part than any content we are taught.” And this is why we spend a great deal of time and attention co-creating culture. 

We returned to these questions together throughout the week, culminating in a discussion Thursday afternoon around what seems to our group to be most important for new young people to know. The young folk here answered that speaking clearly and concisely to power - specifically how we empower ourselves and one another: "I really want them to know the difference between permission and consent" offered one young person to rounds of nods and murmurs of agreement. We asked what that difference is to them, and the group agreed that "Permission is, like, a thing that comes from an authority. Something that someone who holds power over us grants us. And that's a structure we're trying not to have here." We spend a great deal of time supporting one another in disentangling ourselves from the idea that we have to ask one another permission to do things. And we see how the framework of permission and top-down authority to which we are all so very accustomed and practiced troubles our capacity for consent. 

Relative to permission, the young people offered that consent means moving without a "singular power holder." It means we're considering a lot of things before making a decision, rather than looking for one authority's go-ahead. We each have the power to decide what we're going to do or not do - but, because we're in community, that means thinking about how our decisions are going to affect one another. And yes, sometimes that means asking, not for one authority's permission, but for the consent of everyone affected. Sometimes it means changing a plan to accommodate everyone's needs. Sometimes it means missing an important consideration, and then needing to make repair. And, it means that everyone always has power, and no one can hoard it. We are empowered to have agency, with consideration for the group.

What do you feel when you imagine the shift from thinking, "Who do I go to for permission? What rules do I need to keep in mind before acting?" to "I know I don't need to ask permission. I'm empowered to make my own choices - and, I am not the only one here and my decisions impact other people. So what are the considerations I might take into account as I navigate my decision?" 

Do you feel your power?

Let’s use it and build something new. We don’t need permission. 

With gratitude, care, and hope for the future,

Emily, Sarah, and Zoey