📘 Teacher/Mentor Training Manual (full model)
📗 Learner Handbook (full model)

📘 TEACHER / MENTOR TRAINING MANUAL

For the Micro-Utopia Education Framework

1. Purpose of This Manual

This manual prepares mentors, facilitators, and educators to deliver learning experiences within Solon Papageorgiou’s Micro-Utopia framework. It replaces the industrial teaching model with relational, project-based, community-embedded learning.

It is not a traditional pedagogy guide. It is a practice guide rooted in:

• Decentralized learning

• Peer-led knowledge creation

• Holistic development (cognitive, emotional, moral, cooperative)

• Low hierarchy, high autonomy

• Place-based, real-world tasks

• Intergenerational mentorship

2. Core Principles of Micro-Utopia Education

2.1 Learning Is Life-Integrated

Classrooms are replaced with:

• Learning circles

• Workshops and studios

• Community farms and labs

• Apprenticeship hubs

• Digital collaboration spaces

Education is embedded in daily communal life, not separated from it.

2.2 Mentors Are Guides, Not Authorities

Educators:

• Facilitate rather than dictate

• Pose questions rather than provide conclusions

• Empower learners to design their own learning paths

• Help resolve disputes constructively

• Model emotional regulation and cooperation

2.3 Self-Paced Mastery

There are no grades, standardized tests, or fixed age groups.
Learners advance when they achieve competence, not when the calendar turns.

2.4 Project-Based, Portfolio-Driven

Every learner builds a living portfolio of:

• Projects

• Experiments

• Community contributions

• Reflections

• Skills demonstrated

• Mentorship notes

The portfolio is the transcript.

3. Roles and Expectations of Mentors

3.1 Primary Responsibilities

• Guide project-based learning.

• Offer personalized coaching.

• Provide emotional support and positive modeling.

• Facilitate conflict resolution among learners.

• Coordinate learning pathways with parents and community task forces.

• Maintain transparent, non-coercive communication.

3.2 Weekly Practices

• Run learning circles.

• Meet learners 1-on-1 for progress check-ins.

• Host skill workshops (3–8 hours/week).

• Document learner growth.

• Adjust individualized learning plans.

3.3 Non-Responsibilities

Mentors do not:

• Grade students

• Punish, shame, or coerce

• Enforce standardized curricula

• Teach to tests

• Prioritize memorization over applied learning

4. Methodologies

4.1 The Five Modes of Learning

1. Exploration – curiosity-led discovery

2. Apprenticeship – hands-on skill building with an expert

3. Cooperative Projects – team-based challenges

4. Reflection – journaling, dialogue, self-assessment

5. Community Contribution – using skills to improve the micro-utopia

4.2 Weekly Learning Flow

• Mondays: Vision-setting, project planning

• Tuesdays–Thursdays: Workshops, apprenticeships, field work

• Fridays: Presentations, feedback circles, reflection

• Weekends: Optional deep-dive labs, community festivals, art gatherings

5. Assessment and Growth Tracking

5.1 Portfolio System

Each learner maintains a digital and/or physical portfolio including:

• Projects

• Skills achieved

• Peer feedback

• Mentor reflections

• Self-evaluations

5.2 Rubrics Based on Competence

Assessment categories:

• Creativity

• Collaboration

• Technical skill

• Initiative

• Problem-solving

• Social-emotional growth

No numerical grades—just descriptors and pathways forward.

6. Mentor Self-Development

Mentors engage in:

• Weekly peer supervision

• Monthly inter-mentor learning exchanges

• Annual retreats

• Reflective journaling practices

• Emotional competence training

• Facilitator skill-building

7. Conflict Resolution in Learning Settings

Mentors use:

1. Nonviolent communication

2. Restorative dialogues

3. Mediation circles

4. Solution-finding workshops

5. Community accountability agreements

Punishment is replaced with collaborative repair.

8. Mentorship Ethics

• Radical respect for learner autonomy

• Zero coercion

• Transparency in all decisions

• Non-hierarchical interactions

• Protection from emotional or social harm

• Strict boundary ethics for mentors

9. Appendix: Teaching Tools

• Project design templates

• Portfolio rubrics

• Conflict resolution scripts

• Workshop formats

• Learning circle prompts

📗 LEARNER HANDBOOK

For Students in Micro-Utopias

1. Welcome

This handbook helps learners navigate the Micro-Utopia education system—a flexible, creative, non-competitive, project-driven approach to learning.

You will:

• Build real skills

• Work on projects that matter

• Contribute to your local micro-utopia

• Learn at your own pace

• Learn with peers of all ages

• Be supported—not graded or judged

2. What Education Looks Like Here

2.1 No Classrooms

Instead of classrooms, you’ll learn in:

• Workshops

• Gardens and forests

• Digital studios

• Community labs

• Maker spaces

• Skill hubs

• Mentor houses

2.2 No Grades

You won’t receive:

• Grades

• Exams

• Rankings

• Age-based levels

You will receive:

• Mentor feedback

• Peer insights

• Growth reflections

• Skills mastery badges

2.3 Choose Your Learning Path

Every learner designs a personal Learning Pathway:

• Themes you want to study

• Skills you want to master

• Projects you want to create

• Mentors you want to work with

3. Daily Life as a Learner

A Typical Day

• Morning: planning circle

• Late morning: apprenticeship or workshop

• Afternoon: project time

• Evening: reflection journals, community activities

Weekly Rhythm

• Monday: orientation & planning

• Friday: presentations & celebrations

4. How to Choose Projects

Good projects are:

• Useful to the community

• Interesting to you

• Achievable in a few weeks or months

• Connected to real problems or passions

Examples:

• Build a solar dehydrator

• Create a community art mural

• Design an app for local coordination

• Research local plant medicines

• Run a robotics workshop for younger peers

5. Your Portfolio

Your portfolio is your learning record.

It contains:

• Projects

• Photos and videos

• Sketches and notes

• Feedback from peers

• Reflections

• Skills you’ve earned

You can take your portfolio anywhere—it is your educational identity.

6. Conflict & Cooperation

Conflicts happen.
Here’s how they’re handled:

1. Calm yourself

2. Explain how you feel

3. Listen to the other person

4. Work together on a solution

5. If needed, ask a mentor for support

No punishments, no shame—just problem-solving.

7. Your Rights as a Learner

You have the right to:

• Respect

• Emotional safety

• A learning pace that fits you

• Access to mentorship

• Projects aligned with your passions

• A voice in community decisions

8. Your Responsibilities

You are responsible for:

• Helping your team succeed

• Respecting others’ boundaries

• Caring for shared resources

• Honoring community agreements

• Keeping your portfolio organized

• Participating in learning circles

9. Final Note

You are here to grow—not to compete.
To create—not to memorize.
To collaborate—not to climb hierarchies.
To become your most capable and authentic self.