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VISION
Cultivating life-long learning
by
Enabling exceptional education in a changing world
We envisage a future where...
~ the Ojochal Community organically grows as a Learning and Development Hub.
~ people are able to launch their personal passion projects with full support of the community, but also with the knowledge that they have complete sovereignty over their projects.
~ each project strengthens those that came before it. Where the success of one is inseparable from the success of others. Where community members may have roles and investments in multiple projects.
~ although Ojochal may be only a small village, it welcomes people from all walks of life and nurtures in its children a global mindset. A mindset that is expansive, which can reflect internally and also extrapolate out, to see our connection not only with the self and immediate community, but with the world.
We believe in a vision where Ojochal becomes an irresistible magnet for self-development and life long learning.
The Jungle Academy model has 3 important characteristics
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Non-Profit Model, Consensus Model
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Ojochal Jungle Academy (OJA) is a non-profit organization, owned collectively and equally by a community of investors, the Founders Circle. This Circle or group will be dissolved every fours years. (See Investor page)
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The non-profit nature of the model allows for many exciting opportunities for the community to contribute to and receive transparent and equitable rewards from, OJA, whether it be as an Academy Educator, Guardian, Administrator or Event Organizer. With fixed percentage parameters and an agreed consensus for each course, this ensures everyone is operating on a level playing field while allowing the contributor to easily budget, both earnings and expenditure.
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The maximum class size is 12 though educators determine the ideal number that suits their class. The model scales up or down seamlessly catering equally to a boutique class of 4 students or a large seminar of 50, with rewards distributed to each contributor being proportionate to actual enrolment numbers. In this way, Educators can also receive direct feedback on which courses are in demand versus those that are not, and so ensure learning is relevant for the children.
The model also ensures that monies are reserved from every enrolment for community initiatives; meaning reinvesting in the community is not just a 'nice to have' or an afterthought. Raising funds for charitable initiatives is fundamentally built into the model at each and every step.
A Decentralized, Open Program
The model essentially operates under the principles of open source. Any person or teacher is free to create classes, unimpeded by a central authorisation process. It has been widely proven that open source projects out-compete closed models and are the way of the future.
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Benefits of a decentralized, open source models are:
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Greater community involvement
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Serving a wider cross-section of viewpoints
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More adaptable to change
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Ignites creativity
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Ability to start small and expand or contract easily to serve market needs
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Cost effectiveness
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Attracts a greater variety of talent
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Focuses resources where they're needed most
In true open-source spirit, anyone can copy
add-on or plug into this model. It is deliberately not proprietary
as the goal is to enable exceptional education to everyone and
encourage life-long learning.
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In the future, our children's future will be more decentralized
than we ever experienced:
Decentralized Learning
Decentralized Living
Decentralized Jobs
Decentralized Communication
Decentralized Money
Decentralized Government
Decentralized Thinking
The model will literally propel our children into the future, and give them the skills they need to find happiness in an ever changing world.
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More specifically to Costa Rica, it is not uncommon to hear parents conceding that their Costa Rican Adventures are coming to an end due to a lack of peer-to-peer interactions for their tweens and teens. Almost without fail, tweens and teens express their frustration at not having a wide variety of friends. Parents express their concern with how prepared their children are for an adult life outside of Costa Rica. These are challenging situations requiring difficult decisions.
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Adopting a flexible, decentralized model will act as a super connecter for young adults to broaden their friendship circles within the community. We foresee it revolutionizing learning experiences for children specifically of this age in Costa Rica and possibly beyond.
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Project Symbiosis
The area is experiencing a significant influx of life-travelers, either on a permanent or temporary basis, looking for alternate, creative ways to raise their children. We are fortunate enough to have a variety of quality independent educational choices available across all ages, including Life Project Education, Escuela Verde, United Christian School, etc others. Each of these mirror the multitude of educational choices available in Costa Rica from Waldorf and Montessori, to Reggio Emilio, Pestalozzi, International Baccalaureate and MEP.
OJA is designed both to expand the variety of classes available for children over 11 years old, erstwhile working in symbiosis with established educational projects. Instead of competing this model can work in tandem with other preferred offerings. Parents can fully participate in the OJA , or choose other educational options and interact with OJA offerings on an ad-hoc basis.
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Students may
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attend core subjects in the morning daily and fill the rest of the day with extra, elective classes
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choose only classes needing additional support, eg there is a gap in their online home country curriculum
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be enrolled full time at another school and sign-up for exciting novel classes only in the afternoon and Fridays
Ultimately, OJA is set up specifically to meet the flexible growth needs of the community as it fluctuates throughout the year.
