Save the Date: Learning in Place — How Community Shapes School

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What can the world learn from a small community school on the coast of Brazil?

On October 3, Educating for The World We Want will open its second season of Global Saturday Salons with a visit to the Maraú Peninsula in southern Bahia, Brazil, and a conversation with the community of Maramar School.

Maramar is a nonprofit, Waldorf-inspired community school serving children from early childhood through sixth grade, primarily from low-income families. The school itself grew from a request made by students participating in an adult literacy course: they wanted a school for their children.

That origin continues to shape Maramar today. Its approach to education is deeply connected to the people, culture, arts, traditions, and natural environment of the place it serves. Its work is grounded in respect, responsibility, solidarity, friendship, trust, coherence, and harmony—and in the belief that children and adults should share meaningful responsibility for the life of their school.

During this Salon, we will ask what happens when education grows from the needs and knowledge of a community. How can a school create the conditions for children and teachers to take ownership of learning? How might democratic participation, care for place, and responsibility for one another become part of the everyday life of a school?

Maramar offers a compelling place from which to explore these questions—and to consider what it truly means to humanize education.

Our guests from the Maramar community will be announced soon.

Save the date: Saturday, October 3, 2026, at 8:30 AM EDT.

Register now at Zeffy. Participation is donation-based and offered on a pay-what-you-can basis. Your contribution helps sustain this project, keep the Salons accessible, and make future global conversations possible.

If you’re unable to participate, please consider making a donation. Your support helps sustain this project, keep the Salons accessible, and make future global conversations possible.