FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 21st, 2023

$360K Grant Funds Creation of the Folk Education Network

Fielding Graduate University and Folk Education Association of America Looks at Cooperative Action of Folk Educators

Folk Education Network - Strengthening a distributed network through participatory approaches

Olympia, WA: Fielding Graduate University, in partnership with the Folk Education Association of America (FEAA), has received a three-year, $360,000 federal research grant through AmeriCorps Office of Research and Evaluation.

The Folk Education Network partners are:

Fielding Graduate University

Folk Education Association of America

Smithsonian African American Craft Initiative

John C Campbell Folk School

Center for Belonging Folk School

Life School House

This study will work with a distributed national network of Folk Schools and Folk Educators, examining how participatory research approaches may support social cohesion and collaboration between these independent local organizations. This research seeks to strengthen what is, at present, a somewhat decentralized Folk Education Network comprising over 90 organizations that support the craft economy and community participation across the US.

“Folk schools have a long history of inspiring social change by awakening, enlivening, and sustaining the communities in which they are located,” Dawn Murphy, VP of FEAA said. “For folk educators, to be a human being is to accept and take pride in one’s community connection and cultural identity. Individual identity cannot be separated from community, and the wholeness of the individual happens in the connection with community. Folk education means placing our human identity at the core of education.”

MEDIA CONTACT: Mariana Sanborn | mari@folkeducation.org | www.folkschoolalliance.org

About FEAA: The mission of the Folk Education Association of America is to identify, support, and facilitate community-based, learner-led education as a strategic tool for community organizing.

This material is based upon work funded by the Office of Research and Evaluation at AmeriCorps under Grant No. 22REACA001 through the National Service and Civic Engagement research grant competition. Opinions or points of view expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of, or a position that is endorsed by, AmeriCorps.