The Langtons Dissenters Academy

Our action as residents together during 2016 in the Leicestershire village of Church Langton secured a future for our pub which we supported. In the face of a decsion for inaction by our parish council, and fearful of losing our village pub for development, we demonstrated that ‘ordinary’ people can exercise some control over their lives through acting and learning together.

Our action was in the tradition of the long-forgotten 17th century Dissenters’ Academy in Kibworth which educated religious non-conformists. In a world of less religion but ever-more commerce, with rapidly increasing gaps between the ‘have-lots’ and ‘have-nots’, we all need to take care of each other beyond the confines of the market, and without relying upon fast reducing local officaldom. We need to build our strong, local civil society. People benefit from learning and acting together. Families and groups can ‘learn’ as well as individuals. Our world requires dissenting voices, and enterprising communities.

A cursory glance at what is now expected of our ten-year old children in the national curriculum illustrates that today education is instrumental, conformist, and pre-determined. Curiosity is the essence of being human, but the joys of curiosity and discovery are not encouraged. The pleasures of learning and teaching for their own sakes are lost. Pessimism about our capacity to affect our lives for the better is rife. Yet together, as the saga of our pub shows, together we can engage actively with the world and forge new possibilities. We can challenge each other and if needs be authority, the better to understand and act. We can tell stories together and imagine different and better futures for our selves, families and communities. We can make and create, discover and learn, and tackle problems together. ‘Have-lots’, ‘have-littles’ and ‘have-nots’ can support each other to develop everyone’s talents, the better to develop their lives and the communities in which we live.

People thrive in fulfilled lives when resourceful and resilient, with a sense of ‘agency’ in their lives born of experience and achievement fostered by determined optimism and strong relationships as well as knowledge and skills. ETaling effective action together, and learning well education fosters self-respect, self-confidence and self-esteem. It tips the balance of power a little more in our favour. Learning and acting successfully together does not require prior categories such as ‘old ’ or ‘young ’, ‘parent’ or ‘child’, ‘villager’ or ‘commuter’, ‘professional’ or ‘employee’, ‘rich’ or ‘poor’, ‘tenant’ or ‘homeowner’, ‘unemployed ’ or ‘retired’, ‘pensioner’ or ‘on benefits’. Nor does it require ‘professional’ educators — just determined and purposeful people, helped along by skilful facilitation, generous relationships and good leadership.

With library cuts and diminishing state-sponsored adult education. but no end to the individual and collective challenges before us, in our villages we could choose build upon the self-styled ‘Langtons Community Enterprise Group’ which we broght to life in the summer of 2015. We could create a Langtons Dissenters’ Academy, eschewing government prescribed curricula, and the fatalism of disengagement to secure and improve our lives. and strengthen our village community. We could together with energy and enjoyment:

• Be optimistic.
• Be curious.
• Tell stories.
• Laugh.
• Learn from each other.
• Be generous.
• Be caring.
• Value Assent
• Value Dissent.
• Respect difference.
• Explore and understand (the better to)
• Imagine futures.
• Make, create & act.
• Tip some power towards the have-nots, have-littles & those left behind.

Anyone up for that?