More about Klavdija Hočevar Kastelic
Klavdija lives a life full of rich and diverse engagements, marked by numerous events, each with its own unique colour. Currently, she enjoys reading up-to-date news in accounting, finance, and politics, closely linked to legal topics. Due to her active lifestyle, she is also involved in various areas such as gardening, alternative schooling and self-directed learning, health, and other important matters related to these themes. Her days are filled with playing the guitar, mentoring young firefighters, and leading members in various activities. Through volunteering with children in different organisations, she has gained years of valuable experience.
Her journey of interests led her to study economics, specifically accounting and auditing, where she deepened her knowledge by carefully reading various sources. As a child, she loved reading countless stories and dreamed of a world where life was not so complicated by external forces and economic influences. The stories conveyed to her that there are circumstances in the world where people still suffer greatly. Almost twenty years later, it seems little has changed. During her studies, she gained an unforgettable experience at one of the most famous natural landmarks in the United States, the Grand Canyon,where she first felt the intercultural differences and injustices of the world. There, she experienced a bodily sense of peace alone with herself for the first time, and since then, she seeks daily opportunities to recapture that feeling she managed to imprint in her memory.
She completed her studies successfully in conventional education, including a six-month exchange at ZŠEM in Zagreb, finished her master’s degree at the Faculty of Economics in Ljubljana, and now, a few years later, is completing the ACCAqualification, which she started out of interest in foreign English terminology. During the middle of this course, she still believed the education system worked well and that pupils simply needed to be smart in their choices and work hard to succeed.
Medtem sta se ji rodila sin in hči, kar je prineslo nove prioritete v njenem življenju in razširilo raziskovalni duh na področjih kot so manjpleničenje, aktivno tandemsko dojenje; tako rekoč ni bilo vsebine, ki ji ne bi posvetila vsaj nekaj pozornosti s področja predprimarnega izobraževanja otroka.
Otrok je suveren gospodar svojega časa. Vse ostalo je le vabilo k raziskovanju.
A key factor za odprtje zavoda Lada Center je bila osebna izkušnja zagotavljanja popolne svobode lastnima otrokoma v predprimarnem obdobju. Ta izkušnja je bila tako transformativna, da je Klavdija želela vzpostaviti dejansko okolje – prostor svobode – kjer je vsak posameznik prost v svojih odločitvah, dokler te ne posegajo v pravice drugih ali ne kršijo meja skupnosti.
Trdno verjame, da je učenje naravna posledica otrokove radovednosti, ne pa rezultat zunanjega kurikula ali sistemske prisile. Njena želja je, da Lada Center postane trdno zasidran zgled za druge institucije. Meni namreč, da je trenutna kultura odraslega sveta v Sloveniji do otrok pogosto ponižujoča in da se je stroka izgubila v nepoznavanju otrokove prave narave.
V demokratični šoli Lada Center so vse lekcije, delavnice in dejavnosti prostovoljne. Otrok je suveren gospodar svojega časa. Obiskovanje pouka je izbirno, vsa pravila in skupne dejavnosti pa se oblikujejo na demokratičen način z glasovanjem. Klavdija poudarja, da so otroci željni prevzemati odgovornost za svoja dejanja, vendar morajo za to obstajati dejanske okoliščine. Pri tem je nujna izjemna občutljivost, previdnost in globoko razumevanje otrokove integritete. Lada Center je zato predvsem zgled demokratične in alternativne edukacije. Samoupravljanje (self-governance) je ključno vodilo ustanoviteljice, ki želi ponuditi priložnost vsem otrokom, pripravljenim na takšno pot. To šolo prinaša otrokom, ker je prepričana, da si otroci tudi v našem okolju zaslužijo drugačne, pristne priložnosti za razvoj svoje suverenosti.
