Welcome to Living schools!

Dr. Catherine O’Brien & Dr. Patrick Howard

Living Schools are coalescing the best recommendations for education transformation. They demonstrate what is possible when we repurpose education to reflect a vision that contributes to well-being for all – individually, collectively, and for the ‘other than human’ life on our planet. They are schools where students and staff are thriving, contributing to real world solutions, and embracing what it means to bring life to education and education to life. In Living Schools we recognize that learning is deeply influenced by what is learned, how it is learned, where and when it is learned, and ultimately why it is learned. 

Catherine O’Brien and Patrick Howard developed the concept of Living Schools, inspired by Dawson College’s (Montreal) Living Campus that strives to reconnect people, communities and nature, utilizing the entire campus as a learning environment. When parents hear about Living Schools they respond by saying “that’s the kind of school I wish my child was going to!”. Educators who first hear about Living Schools recognize the hallmarks of true innovation and remark that they would love to teach at a Living School too! 

Click below to download a copy of the Living Schools Attributes and Practices framework

Where to get started

Living Schools: Transforming Education

A collection of essays on Living Schools. You can read it for free now!

Introduction to Living Schools

This one page document is a great overview of living schools. Feel free to print and share it!

Living Classroom Planner

This planner is a great resource for integrating Living School attributes into your classroom