COMMUNITIES AS CLASSROOMS

NOLA Code:

CLSS 0000 H1

Number of Episodes/Length:

1 / 30

Genre:

Documentary

Rights End:

5/31/2026

Producer

Robert V. Gliner

Presenter

Northern California Public Media (KRCB)

TV-G

CC

Stereo

Year Produced:

2015

Version:

Base

Communities as Classrooms, follows producer Bob Gliner (Schools That Change Communities, Lessons From the Real World, Barefoot College) as he introduces a profound education initiative at four schools in El Salvador. While schools in El Salvador largely resemble those in the United States, with test driven classes, fragmented curriculum and traditional lecture style teaching techniques, largely divorced from real world problems, Bob has K-12 students build an interdisciplinary curriculum around solving problems in their surrounding communities – motivated by the students themselves deciding what those problems are. Communities as Classrooms traces the process week to week over a two month period as students evolve from disinterested bystanders in their classroom experiences, to active members of a newly thriving democracy. From passive recipients of education mandates, the newly invigorated curriculum leads not only to a vibrant student driven educational experience, and the solving of real world problems, but transforms the way teachers, administrators, parents, and other community members look at the role students play in the larger society. As El Salvador makes efforts to build on this education success story, by potentially training all of its teachers to do community based education, Americans might want to consider this option as well as we look for more effective and creative ways to educate students and revitalize our democracy. .