Minimum Standards
When Is It Colearning?
Colearning is not a rigid franchise. It may be colorful and look different everywhere, adapted to local conditions. But so that the term doesn't become an empty label, we orient ourselves by five minimum standards. Only when these are met do we speak of Colearning:
- Genuine Age-Mixing (instead of segregation): At least two generations work and learn actively in the same space. Different professions, cultures, and abilities meet. Adults are not supervisors or knowledge transmitters, but pursue their own work and immerse themselves in learning. Children and teenagers learn through their own projects and through observing and pitching in.
- Real Responsibility (instead of simulation): There are projects (“Hunt”) that have consequences in the real world – real money, real customers, real benefit. We replace learning in advance ("Just-in-Case") with learning on demand ("Just-in-Time").
- Sharing Bounty and Learning Treasures (instead of hoarding): Learning is documented and made visible (“Campfire”). We make Bounty (success, yield, benefit) and Learning Treasures (insights from success and failure) available to the community as a common good.
- Autonomy (instead of coercion): The glue of the community is not attendance requirement, but free choice. We respect people of all ages as sovereign actors. The principle of non-interference applies: We don't manipulate, we invite.
- Reflective Community (instead of mere presence): Colearning requires active reflection on one's own path (Digital Garden, mentoring) and sociocratic participation in the organization. It is a "Community of Practice" where one doesn't just exist side by side, but grows together through exchange and visibility.