Hedge School is a virtual home school rooted in Ireland that invites people around the world on a collective learning experience to find our shared humanity and resource our possibility as global citizens.
We curate learning programmes in alignment with the ancient Wheel of the Year. We also host immersive journeys into Irish cultural heritage at our bilingual Scoil Scairte series.
We develop cultural learning experiences and partnerships across multiple sectors.
We would like to acknowledge our friends Sonya and Nina Montenegro of The Far Woods, whose beautiful ‘Against Forgetting’ print shares a similar motif to our logo at The Hedge School.
As Seen In
We are a global learning community where people come together and ask big questions that inspire us to nudge our human capacity forward. This is a place where we can share new practices, skills, tools and technologies to help us make sense of the world we live in. While we are rooted in Ireland people attend the Hedge School from across the globe. We gather together to learn, unlearn and relearn. This is a meeting place for all lineages and everyone is welcome.
Bí in éineacht linn - join us
what people are saying about hedge school
Hedge School is for you if you are:
Looking for guidance and skills to help you make meaning of the times we are navigating
Drawn to understanding the rhythms and cycles of the natural world and the seasons of life
Looking for a sense of belonging in your life and your place in our world
Longing for the support of a like-hearted community of global citizens
Searching for new ways of knowing, sensing, seeing and being in our world
Seeking to gather practices, tools and technologies that will resource you to share your gifts
Feeling called to step in to greater response-ability as a committed ancestor-in-training
Ready to explore who you are and remember why you are here
“Back in the 1700s Irish education was outlawed under Penal Laws and the process of learning took to the land. Hedge Schools gathered wherever people could find shelter. Situated along hedgerows, in fields, by rivers and under the stars, the non-conformists of the day gathered to gain knowledge. At these edges, the culture was kept alive, the language was preserved and indigenous stories, traditions, customs and wisdom passed from generation to generation. We feel called to evolve the Hedge School movement to help us find shelter and navigate our shared future in these extraordinary times. We are kin and kindred ‘fite fuaite’ in a more than human world, we are the ones we have been waiting for.”
what people are saying about hedge school
Hedge School Faculty
In 2020 we decided to develop a new learning model which includes interpersonal connection, experiential practices and sense making processes guided by Kathy Scott (Ireland, Founder) in collaboration with faculty members Maria Scordialos (Greece) and Vanessa Reid (Canada) co-founders of The Living Wholeness Institute and AoHAthina. We invite ongoing guest faculty members to collaborate with us at the Hedge School and Scoil Scairte. Find out more here.
What do we learn?
Our curricula explores the human spectrum of inner and outer development, from being to becoming. While the programmes are structured and sequenced for optimal learning, there is plenty of room for exploration, discovery and expansion within the container of each learning spiral.
We are interested in finding new ways of living and working as individuals, as families, as nations and as citizens of the world right now. We create emergent spaces of learning drawing from a deep well of knowledge that include the interdisciplinary fields of the arts & humanities, anthropology, ecology, epigenetics, neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, spirituality and the wisdom of our native traditions. We explore a range of universal themes that weave us deeper into the tapestry of our togetherness from exile and belonging to separation and connection. Our work at the Hedge School is trauma informed and our explorations include individual, collective, cultural and trans generational trauma restoration and healing practices.
Hedge School has a participatory ethos at heart. You are welcome to sit back and witness and there is an invitation to get involved, share and connect with others. We know there are many ways of knowing so we explore many pathways, principles and practices. We are curious about new ways of understanding that not only evolve what we see, but how we see it. Hedge School is an immersive experience where you can develop your innate potentiality, increase your capacity for wellbeing and explore living from the inside out. You can view our previous curricula here.
What’s involved?
Hedge School is made up of spirals of learning that respond to the times we live in. Every Hedge School spiral is an enriching experience with a host of guides who offer a range of transformational tools and techniques including Learning Journeys, Reflection Tools, Embodiment Practices, Transparent Communication Skills, Capacity Building, Perspective Holding and Sense Making Participatory Processes.
Who are the guides?
At every Hedge School spiral we invite a host of torchbearers to share their experience, insights and medicine with us. This is an opportunity to connect with a wide range of trailblazers who have illuminated new pathways across diverse fields, disciplines and walks of life.
We gather for a series of online campfire sessions that feature moments of inspiration, creative imagination, encouragement and resilience to help shape our shared future. Meet all of our previous Hedge School guides here.
Guides include…
HS | Guides
Investment
We believe that sliding scales are a tool of economic justice. We ask that people who have the means to pay at the top of the scale do so, supporting others, for whom cost may be a barrier, to have the opportunity to participate in Hedge School. Our work at Hedge School is made with care, Many people have contributed their time, energy and resources to keeping this movement alive.
Scholarships
We believe that Hedge School should be available to people from all walks of life especially in our current global situation so we regularly create opportunities to access Hedge School for people who need support through full and partial scholarships. If you, a friend or someone you know could benefit from a place in Hedge School through the scholarship program we welcome you to apply to join a spiral. Join our Mailing List to learn about current and future scholarship opportunities.
donations
If you would like to further support our work, consider donating via the button below. Donations all us to continue offering scholarship and sliding scale options to welcome Hedge School participants from all walks of life.
If you would like any further information about the scholarship program please do not hesitate to contact us at hello@thetrailblazery.com
what people are saying about hedge school
About The Trailblazery
The Trailblazery was launched in 2011 at a time of crisis as a response to a need for deeper human connection and belonging in our society. We set out to creatively animate and amplify the spirit of the times we live in through live events, immersive learning experiences, creative mentorship programmes and cross-disciplinary research projects that tackle wicked problem solving.
Led by Creative Director Kathy Scott, The Trailblazery champions people who blaze trails and nudge humanity forward. We have initiated many creative projects including The Freedom Project, We Need to Talk about Ireland, Rites of Passage and the ireland : iceland project. In 2016 we designed Census of the Heart, an alternative census that captured the emotional state of the nation 100 years after the Rebellion. In 2018 in response to #MeToo and #Repeal we founded Moon Medicine, a circle that invites women to rise and lift each other up along the way. We also facilitate an online training programme that empowers women all over the world to to blaze trails at our Global Academy. In 2019 in the light of the Climate Crisis and Extinction Rebellion we curated two sold out immersive Solstice Learning Experiences in the heart of the Dublin Mountains. In the crucible moment of lockdown in 2020 we launched HedgeSchool - a virtual home school rooted in Ireland that invites people around the world on a collective learning experience to find our shared humanity and resource our collective possibility as global citizens.