Our
programs are guided by the following values and principles:
- Transformation
as a dyad.
Any meaningful transformation process requires both individual
development and systemic change.
- Self-determination.
Individuals and their families have the right to lead, shape
and determine their own lives.
- Collective
wisdom.
We believe our community’s quality of life is based on its ability
to creatively use its collective wisdom.
Therefore, systemic change and development is contingent upon
a community-driven process.
- Appreciation
for diversity.
Our community encompasses people of all ethnic, cultural, socio-economic,
religious and linguistic backgrounds, sexual orientation and other diverse
characteristics.
We strive to build a community of inclusion and a culture of
respect.
- Popular
education.
The work of Paulo Freire and other liberation pedagogues established
that education can, and has recurrently been used as a domination strategy.
Therefore, we intentionally develop our curriculum and instructional
strategies to emphasize the lived experiences of students and develop
‘conscientization,’
a process by which the learner advances towards critical consciousness
and the transformation of his/her world.
1798 Bay Road, East Palo Alto, CA 94303 | tel: (650) 330-7437 | fax: (650) 321-4532