Regenerative Education
“What kind of manure is best––cow, chicken, or worm?”
This was the question that learners and I discussed while in the garden, turning compost and preparing beds for planting. The soil in front of us was a blend of chicken manure from our coop, thriving worms doing their quiet underground work, decomposed food scraps from our kitchen, and yes a few bags of cow manure to give everything an added boost.
There was a quick wrinkle of noses with an “ewww!” Then came a pause and the words,“That’s actually kind of cool.” Because it is! What looks like waste is rarely wasted in a regenerative system.
This week, seeds and seedlings were planted in our studio gardens. Out in the acreage, 8,000 baby trees and shrubs were carefully placed into the soil of what will become our forest farm. What once was a corn and soy monoculture is now the beginning of biodiversity. It does not look like a forest yet.
Forests begin quietly, in unseen work, in soil being prepared long before branches appear. Compost has stages. It heats up before it cools, breaks down before it binds together, and for a while it looks worse than when it began. Slowly, almost invisibly, the compost pile becomes what our learners proudly call golden dirt––dark, crumbly soil full of life. Golden dirt is made from what once looked like scraps.
Standing there in the garden talking about manure, it struck me how closely this mirrors what we practice at Acton. Regenerative education works the same way! A mistake is not discarded, it becomes feedback. A conflict is not buried, it becomes a practice in communication. A hard subject is not labeled, it becomes an opportunity for resilience. Resistance is not a signal to stop, is is often a sign of growth.
In extractive systems you take and move on. In regenerative systems you return, revise, and rebuild. Out in the acreage what we planted is not just trees, it is a system. There are canopy trees that will one day stretch high and create shade. There are fruit trees that will produce season after season. There are mulberries that will feed both wildlife and children. There are shrubs that will protect young saplings from wind, and there are varieties that replenish nutrients in the soil so others can thrive.
No single plant stands alone. Each has a role, each grows differently, each requires slightly different conditions, and together they create resilience. Regenerative systems depend on diversity and so do schools.
In our Acton studios not every learner grows the same way. Some shoot up quickly, some root deeply before rising, some provide leadership, some offer steadiness, some need more structure, some need more space, some are ready to mentor, while some are ready to observe. The goal is not uniform growth; the goal is a thriving ecosystem.
In a regenerative system, nothing thrives unattended. And so, in our studio gardens, learners have committed to tending what they planted. They committed to watering, weeding, checking the leaves, noticing spacing and sunlight, and promising to return day after day to see what has changed. They are learning that growth is not a one-time act, it is ongoing attention.
As always, this year I shared the secret for a thriving garden…..joy! You must sing, dance, and talk to plants. Beautifully, six-year olds and twelve-year olds alike broke into song and dance in the garden. There were jigs, operas, and giant smiles. I am confident the Acton garden will grow abundantly and so will our studios.
How will the garden and forest inspire your family’s journey?
Where are you seeing diversity of strengths in your child or in your family ecosystem? What are you tending patiently, even if you cannot yet see the canopy? How might you choose to return and revise rather than discard?
In regenerative systems, gardens or schools, nothing is wasted. Given time, care, and steady tending, even scraps become golden soil. Soil, when nurtured well, grows forests.