Learning formats

In this exciting envi­ronment, we learn in a variety of settings:

Each morning, all learning guides and stu­dents meet for Open Learning. We will start with ajoint meeting, after which you will work in your current project group with a few other stu­dents on your current project. When one project is fin­ished and a new one begins, you can choose with whom and on which topic you want to work next. If you go to the junior high school, we will give you a certain framework, in the high school you can decide freely.

If you ever don’t (yet) know what you’re in the mood for next, you can opt for an ori­en­tation phase instead of a new project. Then you have enough time to find out what really interests you.

In Open Learning there are neither classes nor school sub­jects and the learning processes are deter­mined and designed as far as pos­sible by you, the stu­dents. We learning guides are here to support you. From time to time, we also invite experts from outside to give you further input on your projects.

There is enough space in the learning center for open learning. There are dif­ferent areas and sta­tions and you can also cus­tomize the rooms yourself to suit your needs.

It doesn’t always work out that you learn every­thing that is nec­essary in the projects. That is why there are addi­tional input lessons. Here you will learn effec­tively and in a small group exactly what you need to make good progress with your project.

If you are going to junior high, the input lessons are also designed to make sure you learn every­thing you need to graduate from that grade level, so these units may be mandatory for you. And if you’re going into high school, they’re a great oppor­tunity to pick up basics quickly or prepare specif­i­cally for an exam.

At lila.school you will also find a wide range of dif­ferent courses in which you can par­tic­ipate vol­un­tarily. Courses can be designed very dif­fer­ently. You can pursue your interests, support local people in com­munity work, take tutoring or form study groups with other stu­dents. But also, for example, cooking, making music, exer­cising or med­i­tating together can be well orga­nized in courses. Here you will find a list of ideas for content.

Courses are coor­di­nated via our digital learning platform. So they can be easily created, orga­nized and even led by anyone, including stu­dents. They can also take place outside the learning center and be acces­sible even to people outside the learning com­munity, both as par­tic­i­pants and leaders. This way, they form a network that con­nects our lila.school with the world.

Because our course system is designed to be so open, we have to take special care to ensure that the quality of the offerings fits. To ensure this, you can provide detailed feedback on the learning platform after each course you attend. Feedback is pro­vided according to spe­cific eval­u­ation cri­teria that fit our values. They can then help other stu­dents find the course that is right for them, and the course tutors to develop them­selves and their courses.

Con­necting to “real life” is important to us, which is why we not only con­stantly work with people and busi­nesses outside of school, but also con­sider intern­ships to be an essential part of your learning expe­rience. Due to the flexible and indi­vidual coor­di­nation, these intern­ships are not planned in advance, but take place indi­vid­ually and are orga­nized as far as pos­sible by the stu­dents them­selves — whereby we are of course happy to support you.

This means that you have the oppor­tunity to choose for yourself whether, with whom and where you want to do intern­ships. We have some ideas for this, but are also open to your suggestions.

Your per­sonal guidance is really close to our hearts. That’s why you can choose one of our learning guides as your per­sonal mentor. You meet with her/​him every other week for half an hourto talk together about how you are doing and how you are pro­gressing in your studies. You will also set your next learning goals together. Twice per school year, your mentor will also meet with you and your parents.

If you want, you can learn to run a small business together with other stu­dents. You decide what you want to do and we support you. For example, you could run a cooking studio, a FoodCoop, a per­ma­culture, a repair café, a store, a pub, or a sports venue, trade products you produce yourself, or host an event series. Espe­cially if you are with us from the beginning, you will cer­tainly have many oppor­tu­nities to help shape things here.

We see this entre­pre­neurship area as a long-term project that also con­tributes to the identity of lila.school and is con­nected to the other learning formats. You can do projects on it in Open Learning, use self-study time to do some­thing for it, or even take spe­cific classes related to the topic.

If you like, you can par­tic­ipate in a daily med­i­tation session in the morning. So you start the day with inner peace and balance.

Our med­i­ta­tions are intended pri­marily as a practice of mind­fulness. So it’s not about guided relax­ation exer­cises or eso­terics. You learn to per­ceive more clearly how you feel right now and what is hap­pening inside and around you. Through this awareness comes self-con­fi­dence and also empathy in dealing with others and the world. If you want to develop your full potential, this inward con­nection will be a great help to you.

On Fridays in the morning the plenary session takes place. When projects are com­pleted, you can present your results to each other here and get feedback from each other and us. In addition, the plenary reflects on the week together and goes through the planning for the next week. And if there is tension or a need to talk about issues that affect us all, there is room for that here, too. Here you will learn not only to say how you feel and what bothers you, but also what ways there are to resolve such con­flicts and use them to grow.

During this time you can decide for yourself what you want to do. You can con­tinue to work with your project group as you would in Open Learning, work on your own things, or simply relax or spend time with other stu­dents. During the self-study time, only one of us learning guides is present at any given time. In addition, courses or input lessons can take place at the same time, therefore not all stu­dents are there at the same time.

Super­vised time is almost the same as self-study time. The dif­ference: In the self-study time your atten­dance is com­pulsory, in the super­vised time it is voluntary.

We find that in addition to learning, regular joint activ­ities (fes­tivals, excur­sions, trips, etc.) are essential for cohesion, exchange among each other and also the con­nection to the outside world. We are happy if you stu­dents organize such actions as inde­pen­dently as pos­sible, but we are also happy to help you.

Very special are the monthly cel­e­bra­tions, to which everyone involved with lila.school is invited. Here we cook, eat, make music and cel­e­brate together. You stu­dents will also have the oppor­tunity to present your current projects to the com­munity and show what you have discovered.