frithyard
a home ground for educational leaders doing things differentlyIn your education community, you may be holding the vision. Holding the relationships. Holding the operational load, the interpersonal complexity, the daily weight of trying to do something genuinely different in education. Holding the space for everyone else to do their best work. But who's holding you?That's what frithyard is for.
WHO THIS IS FOR
You are a leader of a school or learning community that doesn't fit the standard model...perhaps as a principal, director/co-director or lead teacher. Maybe you're sharing power within your team. Maybe you're building a space where learners direct their own education. Maybe you're navigating the tension between vision and sustainability, between what you know is possible and what the world around you is ready for.Whatever form it takes, you know what it's like to carry it largely alone. To look for peers and find that most people don't quite understand the terrain. To be the person in the room everyone turns to with nowhere to turn yourself. Frithyard is for leaders like you. We plan to run two small cohorts with eight people each to keep it intimate, honest, and worth showing up for.Most leadership development in education focuses on ideas, frameworks, and inspiration. That's valuable. But the leaders we're building this for already know what they're trying to do. The gap isn't understanding... it's the operational and relational reality of actually doing it. The hard conversations, the governance challenges, the isolation of being the person holding it all together without a peer who truly gets it.Furthermore, small and innovative schools are fragile in ways larger institutions aren't. When leaders are overwhelmed, unsupported, or burning out, the whole community feels it. Sometimes schools close. That's the reality of this work. Frithyard exists because leaders in these roles deserve real support, not just inspiration.This is the landscape Frithyard is moving into.
WHY FRITHYARD
Frith is an Old English concept...not simply peace, but the social bonds that make peace possible. The conditions for belonging. Mutual protection, shared responsibility, the deep knowing that you are not alone in what you carry.A frithyard was a place of sanctuary. A protected space where people could put things down.That's what we're aiming to build.
WHAT FRITHYARD IS
September through April, with a break in December. Two sessions per month for everyone, with the option to go deeper.Tier 1:
Wise Crowds Peer Coaching Sessions
Structured small group coaching and peer support using a deepened form of the Wise Crowds method. Rotating hot seats - each session, leaders bring a real challenge and receive focused, facilitated support and feedback from the entire group. These sessions will be targeted, honest, and grounded in collective experience - two hours per session.Sensemaking Salons
Wider group discussions facilitated around the needs and interests of the community. Topics emerge from what's present and alive for members... not a curriculum, but conversations emergent from our lived realities and educational contexts - two hours per session.A Signal/Whatsapp group for questions, thinking, and connection between calls.Tier 2:
Opt-up Option - Individual Coaching + Forum Theatre
For leaders who want direct, targeted support alongside the group experience. Monthly 1:1 coaching with Will and/or Katrin, plus monthly Forum Theatre group sessions: you bring a real scenario, we build a practice session around it so you can rehearse the moment before you're in the room.DATES
We may adapt schedules depending on the groupCohort A -- Tuesdays 8am PT / 11am ET / 5pm CET
Onboarding in September
Oct 7, 21 / Nov 4, 18 / Jan 6, 20 / Feb 3, 17 / Mar 3, 17 / Apr 6, 20Cohort B -- Thursdays 8am PT / 11AM ET / 5pm CET
Onboarding in September
Oct 2, 16 / Nov 6, 20 / Jan 8, 22 / Feb 5, 19 / Mar 5, 19 / Apr 8, 22
WHO IS HOLDING THE SPACE
Hi there. Will and Katrin here :) And we are so happy you found us.We are building frithyard because we know what it's like to be in this role. Between us we've led schools, held source in communities built around shared power, coached leaders, and facilitated Wise Crowds across contexts internationally. We've been through the fire. We know how isolating this work can be and how transformative it is to find genuine peers.We're not building frithyard as an outside service. We're building it as people who needed it and couldn't find it...and now as people who wish to build a peer support network in service to the bold, innovative, heart-centered individuals leading learning communities in new directions.
Will Gowen -- Will is a facilitator, uncle, brother, collaborative governance guide, and former school leader who has spent over a decade working inside schools trying to make them more democratic, more humane, and more honest about power. He has been the director of two very different schools: a long-standing teacher-run democratic school he was the first director of, and a small charter school he stewarded through closure. He was also a founding teacher of the first US public school to implement sociocracy. He has experienced what it means to hold source and vision when leading, how to navigate real failure, and how to implement democratic practices under pressure. Through Be More Collaborative he now works internationally with schools and learning communities on the conditions for shared power to actually take root and is deeply motivated to build support networks for the many islands of sanity emerging in the world of democratic and alternative education.
Katrin Brait -- Katrin is a mother, pedagogue, facilitator, former school leader and travel companion in the terrain of democratic education. She is someone who has walked this path for over twenty-five years, not just as a practitioner, but as a parent who lived the doubts, fears, and breakthroughs from the inside out. Some call her annoyingly flexible… a shape-shifter and explorer of possibilities. At the same time she holds space for what’s alive in the moment - and the silence in between. She finds grounding in her bond with nature, especially horses, her love for dialogues with children and her sense of wonder at the beauty of life.
She comes to this experience with a deep appreciation for the emotional courage that pioneering education asks of us, and with genuine curiosity about what becomes possible when the people doing it find each other and slow down together.
Testimonials: Our Wise Crowds
Participating in Wise Crowds reminded me how powerful it is when people come together with openness and curiosity. Every person has something valuable to offer — regardless of background or status — and this method truly gives space for all voices. Through the diversity of perspectives, clarity emerges, and solutions become richer and more grounded. I also love how it brings different people into meaningful exchange. For me, it feels like a small contribution to a more connected and compassionate society, where we learn with and from one another.
-Rika, Aspiring School Leader in GermanyThe Wise Crowd helped me with a challenge related to my school, thanks to the kind and generous sharing of the participants and the warm yet professional facilitation by Will. It was an emotional experience, and the energy stayed with me for weeks afterwards. I even had the chance to put some of the solutions we discussed into practice. It’s a tool I would gladly use again, even as a participant because the wisdom truly benefits everyone in the room!
- Olivia G, Lead Teacher at Democratic School in France
PRICING
Founding Cohort Discount!
Tier 1 base: $2,000 $2,500
Payment plans available at $200 per month
Includes Wise Crowds and Sensemaking Salons
Tier 2 base: $3,000 $3,500
Payment plans available at $300 per month
Includes Wise Crowds, Sensemaking Salons, 1:1 coaching and Forum Theatre Sessions
Tier 2 supporter: $4,000 $4,500
Encouraged if you are receiving funding from your school/learning community and will help support our scholarship slots. Payment plans available.
Includes Wise Crowds, Sensemaking Salons, 1:1 coaching and Forum Theatre SessionsScholarship: reach out directly to [email protected]. We have a limited number of scholarship slots available. Startup schools, underrepresented contexts, and leaders doing important work without the backing to match are all encouraged to inquire.Organizational or network discounts available for groups of 3 or more. Reach out directly.
JOIN THE FOUNDING COHORTS
We're starting small, intentional, and offering a discounted rate this school year. The founding cohorts will be capped to keep the space intimate.Here's how it works: fill out the form below, we'll reach out to schedule a brief call to make sure it's a good fit, and then we'll get you set up.
Contact:
Will - will[at]bemorecollaborative.com
Katrin - katrin.brait[at]gmail.com