The Human Restoration Project

Short Intro:
The Human Restoration Project is a small group of teachers aimed at transforming education, led by public school educators Chris McNutt and Nick Covington.

We host a podcast, create free resources, and share our thoughts in a variety of mediums. If you haven't already, check out our website to see what we're doing - we think you'll like it!

Your patronage allows us to continue to host all this - and with enough support, will allow us to focus even more of our time towards enacting best practice in every classroom. We are committed to sharing all of our resources for free. Everything is filed under the Creative Commons Share Alike license and free to share/modify. Our incentive for Patrons is our electronic magazine - Restore Humanity - which simply compiles our shared thoughts in an easy-to-read way, as well as recordings of our "Discovery Web Series" - our summer online professional development (of which the materials are released for free.)

As of August, 2019, HRP has published:

• Simple professional development guidies on curation, mindfulness, and restorative justice.
• Research-backed family notifications for eliminating homework and gradeless learning.
• Research infographics on motivation and grading, purpose-building, and achievement testing pressure.
• A free PD course via Belouga, which aligns with our Primer to progressive ed.
• A 20-page guidebook on alternatives to traditional letter grades.
• A 37-page student discussion/reading guide on misconceptions of learning/school.
• A 30-page collection of practices in progressive education with relevant readings.
• A 30-page PBL/experiential learning overview.
• A setup for incorporating "genius hour" (and expanding it later on.)
• A 42-page purpose-building activity for students.
• A 16-page ungrading "handbook" for reflection and incorporation of gradeless learning.
• A 22-page collection of activities to introduce progressive ed./critical pedagogy to students.
• A database of 200+ research studies and readings supporting progressive education.
• Over 50 podcasts featuring great minds in education, from everyday teachers to famous critics.
• Built an online chat system as a place to further discussion.
• Hosted 2 (more coming) video discussions.
• 5 issues of "Restore Humanity" - our collection of writings for Patreon supporters.

Hello, and welcome to the Human Restoration Project! Nick and I (Chris) are public school educators at the high school level. We find ourselves stifled by the standardized public model of education. While each year we push to remind students, peers, and administration that we are all human beings, this has mostly remained in our own buildings.

We develop and maintain HRP in our free time. Because we are fully aware that there are many complaints regarding the standardized public education model, we wanted to be sure our project focused on solutions. It is one thing to find solace in others, but it is something else to find this companionship filled with potential solutions. Our children have slowly been dehumanized in this system, and it is our goal to prepare students, teachers, parents, administrators for restoration.

As we're public educators ourselves, we're not enemies of the public school system nor do we mean to demonize any educator. Instead, we want to reinvigorate educators with the passion and purpose that called them to the profession: enabling students to be lifelong learners. We believe the pedagogy of progressive education - rooted in hundreds of years of history and research studies - holds this key to success.

Yet, HRP is is not simply a place to find researched materials or thoughtful podcasts; it is a movement. We want HRP to spread like wildfire. For that to happen we want to be sure we are keeping all those who subscribe and involved to be prepared.

• If you want topical and engaging dialogues for your car rides, we have podcasts featuring "big names" and the everyday, yet most important, educator. 
• If you want proof that what we are suggesting is best practice, we’ve done the heavy lifting and filled the site with copious research links to up to date, peer reviewed work and literature. 
• If you want tools to reform, we offer resources loaded with original content ranging from student/teacher/admin materials, guides, readings, and more to help you proceed on your journey with a sense of camaraderie.

We're committed to sharing all of our materials without cost and without copyright. Providing a quality education shouldn't be behind a paywall. We want educators to learn and use this stuff. Feel free to take our stuff, modify it for your school, and share it with your community. We're in this together. 

We are here to reform education and restore our students (and our own) humanity! Now, let’s get started!