About The Learning Instinct
Self-Directed Education
We believe that, if given the opportunity, people of all ages, especially young people, will use their natural instinct to learn and discover remarkable things - from reading and math to innovations we've yet to dream of.
We are part of The Alliance for Self-Directed Education, a wonderful resource with detailed explanations and links to relevant literature around the effectiveness of self-directed education, that we invite you to visit for a greater understanding of our commitment to self-directed education.
See our Projects page for our current endeavors to promote and advance self-directed education in our community.
Help make self-directed education accessible to all sectors of our community by supporting
The Learning Instinct.
We are part of The Alliance for Self-Directed Education, a wonderful resource with detailed explanations and links to relevant literature around the effectiveness of self-directed education, that we invite you to visit for a greater understanding of our commitment to self-directed education.
See our Projects page for our current endeavors to promote and advance self-directed education in our community.
Help make self-directed education accessible to all sectors of our community by supporting
The Learning Instinct.
Our Board of Directors
The Learning Instinct Board of Directors benefits from a wealth of skills and knowledge, and a shared commitment to education, health, and social justice.
Carlos Gonzalez, Chair.
Carlos is a yoga and writing teacher
who focuses on helping others discover their
voice, passion, and heart. His primary work over
the past two decades has been to invite
disruptive spaces within the unlikely environment
of institutional education to allow the heart, mind,
and soul to emerge for brief periods of time in a
dance of learning. Teaching for him is a
performance art that acknowledges that
performer and audience are equal participants in
the artistic process of meaning making.
Currently, besides his teaching at Miami Dade
College, he is experimenting with creating
learning possibilities in small neighborhood
settings through teaching yoga, life coaching,
and wellness classes and retreats.
Laura Pascal, Vice Chair.
Laura began her teaching career at the age of 16 in her mother’s tutoring company and has been a classroom teacher since 2008 after having received her bachelor’s in History from the University of Miami and her master’s in library science from Florida State University. With a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother as teachers, she was destined to follow the path. After working in the private, charter, and public school system teaching humanities in all grade levels, she strongly feels a need for the type of education only a Sudbury Model can offer: truly student-centered. Reading Weapons of Mass Instruction the summer of 2017 opened her eyes to how incorporating project-based learning, inquiry design, and interactive activities were just not enough. In her research for alternative models of education, she found the democratic school. We need to offer our students true democracy in their education in order to create the citizens we need in a democracy: interpersonal, confident, creative, and adaptable.
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Erika Caputo, Secretary.
Erika is a children’s librarian who earned her Master of Library and Information Science degree at San Jose State University after receiving a BA in psychology with a focus on language acquisition for English language learners. Her six years experience as a media specialist in the District of Columbia Public School System drove her belief that all children should have more agency over their educational choices and futures. Erika is an advocate for social justice and believes the promotion of self-directed learning is the key to ensuring an enlightened future for all. She is thrilled and honored to be a part of Miami’s first Sudbury School and looks forward to sharing this important work with the larger community. Erika works part-time as Registrar for The Miami Sudbury School.
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Other Learning Instinct Team Members
Christen Parker-Yarnal, Executive Director of The Learning Instinct, Inc. With Masters-level work in Secondary Education and an MA in Spanish from St. Louis University, Christen has taught at the high school, university, and elementary levels. She has worked as Executive Director of the nonprofit MPM Haiti that has supported education in Haiti since 2005. As an educator, she was captivated by the Sudbury model, first reading about the graduates and the philosophy in Free to Learn by Peter Gray. Christen is on Staff at The Miami Sudbury School.
