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Why choose Schumacher College?
A unique learning approach at Schumacher College
Schumacher College offers all participants a unique learning process which has been developed and refined over the 15 years the College has been operating. People from all over the world, working and living in a wide range of spheres and professions, have been informed and inspired by our courses. We place great emphasis on developing an interactive and participatory learning experience within the group. To support this experience we issue a course outline for teaching sessions which is informative but allows a flexible approach for participants and teachers, based on interest and need. All short courses have a dedicated facilitator who ensures the sessions and timetable are as productive as possible.
The College attracts exceptional and diverse participant groups. Our experience has shown that there is also much knowledge within the course participant group, which means that a great deal of learning takes place outside of the actual teaching sessions. In addition to the teaching sessions in the mornings, there is time for discussion and presentations in the afternoons and evenings, when issues of particular interest can be explored further. There is usually also the opportunity for people to talk individually to teachers about areas of concern which are not covered in group sessions. Engagement within the group and with the staff, volunteers and other students at the College is encouraged through organised work groups each morning, field trips and open events.
The range of courses on offer at the College reflects the vast range of approaches to education and global issues that exist today. Subject matter is transdisciplinary and all participants are encouraged to think out of the box, to develop ideas and solutions which serve the short and long term wellbeing of the planet, its people and its ecology.
The volume of education continues to increase, yet so do pollution, exhaustion of resources, and the dangers of ecological catastrophe. If still more education is to save us, it would have to be education of a different kind: an education that takes us into the depth of things.
E.F. Schumacher
A history of transformative learning
Schumacher College is an integral part of The Dartington Hall Trust. Founded in 1925 by Dorothy and Leonard Elmhirst, Dartington was inspired by the work of the Indian poet, educationalist and social reformer Rabindranath Tagore. During the last sixty years many outstanding scholars and artists have been attracted to work at Dartington. Whether it is in terms of intellectual and emotional stimulation, spiritual refreshment, multi-cultural vitality or the peace and repose of a great rural estate, Dartington continues to offer an exceptional setting for radical experiment.
Schumacher College, set-up in 1991 by The Dartington Hall Trust – who continue to fund the College, aims to help participants experience what Dartington’s founder Leonard Elmhirst called “the abundant life” during their stay here. The communal life of the College takes place in and around a welcoming medieval house and students live in simply appointed single rooms in adjacent modern residential blocks which have shared bathroom facilities. The College supports participants to learn on all levels – with each other, the teachers, independently and through a range of academic and practical tasks.
The College was named after E.F. Schumacher who is perhaps best know for his book Small is Beautiful, which has become one of the most well respected texts on economics and sustainability. He sought to develop modest initiatives based on the human scale, joining a subjective and practical view of industry and society. Through its residential courses, the College seeks to promote the human values which Schumacher so powerfully expounded.
Schumacher College is part of the Dartington Hall Trust, a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and as a charity (company no. 1485560, charity no. 279756). Registered office: The Elmhirst Centre, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EL, UK.