At Aligned Paths, we value providing services that not only meet people where they are at, but strive to re-imagine what is possible. We believe that education is not only a means to get a diploma, degree, or skill, but a means to a better world, for everybody.
1. Accessibility
We actively reduce barriers to education by offering services at more accessible rates, providing specialized support, and flexible approaches, to meet people where they are. Additionally, we do not believe "one size fits all,” in education, and we aim to adapt to the unique needs of each person we serve.
2. Equity & Justice
We commit to dismantling systemic inequities in education, by centering marginalized voices, and working towards practicing anti-oppressive educational services. Our services aim to break down barriers to education and learning, and - in turn - reduce social inequity.
3. Identity-Affirming Practice
We affirm the full spectrum of gender, ability, sexual orientation, culture, and neurodiversity — making space for all identities to be honored in the learning process. We work to find service providers who reflect the diversity of the clients we serve.
4. Intersectionality
We understand that people hold layered identities and complex experiences. Our services aim reflect the truth that education must address the whole person, not just one part.
5. Collaboration Over Competition
We build strong networks of aligned providers and professionals, who value mutual respect, shared learning, and collaborative education.
6. Accountability
We listen, reflect, and take action when we miss the mark — because real care, and learning, includes humility and growth.
7. Student & Learner Empowerment
We believe people are the experts in themselves, and on their minds; instead of being directive with our learners, we take a collaborative approach, that centers the learner’s knowledge of themselves, and their goals. While many of our service providers have expert knowledge, we use this knowledge to support - rather than direct - the educational experience. We are not here to "tell” anybody what to do, but instead to help the build a map from where they are, to where they desire what to do; then, rather than to tell you how to get there, we aim to walk with you on your journey, and provide guidance and support as needed, for as long as you require it. After all, it is all about you.
8. Cultural Safety
We create brave spaces where people feel safe to bring their stories, traditions, and truth into the educational process.
9. Innovation in Education
We strive to push the boundaries of traditional service models, and we aim to go to the "edge” of what traditional education offers. We strive to find creative solutions, to complicated problems, and rapidly adapt our knowledge, understanding, and service delivery, when presented with new information. As we learn, we adapt, and avoid attaching ego to old ideas; instead, to provide the best services possible, we attach value to changing, as our knowledge evolves, and discard old learnings in favour of integrating new information.
10. Creativity
We believe in examining what we already "know” about educational theory, what we have learned from personal experience, and what we learn about those we serve, to come up with new ideas, to both individual and systematic problems.
11. Social Justice, and Equity, through Education
We aim to assist brilliant minds in getting free, from structures that were never built to serve them, and to help find new ways to teach those - who struggle to learn in traditional systems - ways to move around blocks; when people are able to reach their fullest potential, the entirety of society benefits. We believe that appropriate education is not just a diploma, degree, or a means to master a new skill, but an important instrument of social change. We question and explore existing ways of working, in demand of a better world.
12. Education, Focused on you
We always ask, "how could I best serve this person?”
We understand that everybody is different, and we aim to work in the best of our capacity, understanding, knowledge, and experiences to serve, in the best way we know how.
