Open Positions at The Hub

Current Openings (full descriptions below):

Senior Online Facilitator for Micro-Academy, Ages 12-15
Junior Online Facilitator for Micro-Academy, Ages 9-12

Senior Online Facilitator for Micro-Academy, Ages 12-15 (Tuesdays and Thursdays)

Overview

“Working with The Hub has been hands down one of the most fulfilling and pleasant experiences in my professional (and personal) life.” — A former micro-academy facilitator

The Hub’s micro-academy for ages 12 to 15 is an innovative, part-time online program that’s designed for younger teens (and those on the cusp of teenagerhood) who enjoy being part of a vibrant and interdisciplinary co-learning community that is jointly created by the facilitators and the younger participants. We have an opening for a seasoned senior facilitator to come on board in September 2023, to assume the lead role on the micro-academy’s two-person facilitation team. The program will be entering its fourth year and will be slightly refined this fall, to be a little longer, and to place a greater emphasis on intellectual challenge (while still maintaining a healthy, supportive and enjoyable group culture that is heavily informed by participants’ interests). The new facilitator will have a unique opportunity to help shape and steer the evolved program.

Program Description

The facilitated portion of this micro-academy runs from 9:30a.m. to 2:00p.m. U.S. Eastern Time on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from mid-September through late May (with winter and spring breaks). It is an intentionally small-scale program that offers elements missing from most online education programs: facilitators getting to know participants more deeply as individuals; community building; developing interpersonal and other higher-order skills; interdisciplinary group and individual projects that are shaped by participants’ interests; and going deeper over time with a consistent cohort. Because it does not follow a set curriculum and is instead co-created by the facilitators and younger participants, who grow and develop over time, no two terms are entirely alike. More details about the micro-academy program can be found here. Previous facilitators also discuss the program in considerable depth in the information session recordings posted here.

The two facilitators are given considerable autonomy to shape day-to-day program details, and can divide up the facilitation responsibilities as best suits the strengths of each person. (The open position is suitable for someone who can assume a more senior/experienced leadership role on the two-person facilitation team, while still maintaining a very collaborative team dynamic rather than a rigid hierarchy.) The cohort size will never exceed 16 participants, and typically will be capped at fewer than that; facilitators decide when a cohort has reached capacity, based on its unique group dynamics.

Facilitators can be located anywhere. They are independent contractors, and the work (including planning time) is expected to take an average of about 11-12 hours per week, including occasional open houses, team meetings, and parent/participant one-on-one meetings (meetings are scheduled on days/times when facilitators have availability). The compensation level is competitive.

Position Responsibilities

The facilitator’s role is like a blend between a composer, a conductor and a musician, with the goal of co-creating a beautiful piece of music. As a composer, they bring ideas to the table and offer intellectual and creative challenges. As a conductor, they aim to be attuned to what’s happening with everyone within the group, and to help strike a healthy balance between meeting individual needs for self-expression and creating a cohesive whole. As a musician, they are active participants themselves, modeling intellectual curiosity, how to learn, and respectful ways to engage and resolve any disagreements. The facilitators are also like "guides by the side" for individual participants, getting to know each individual and what makes them tick, and using that understanding to help each youth develop their unique set of strengths and interests, while also helping them manage or overcome weaknesses that are standing in the way of them reaching their goals, within the parameters of the program.

This is an interdisciplinary program, but the facilitators are not expected to be experts in all subjects. Instead, they are expected to have a reasonably broad bank of foundational knowledge from which they can draw, and to supplement that in real time by modeling curiosity, an open mind and willingness to learn new things, and how to find the necessary resources. The facilitators must be able to “hold space” and start and engage in respectful, intellectually challenging conversations whose goal is often to explore a range of ideas from different angles, rather than to reach consensus.

Application Process

We are looking for applicants who possess most/all of the following qualities:

Experience with or knowledge of inquiry-based (interest-led) learning
Solid community-building and/or group facilitation skills
Intellectual curiosity, an open mind (including an appreciation of the fact that no single person has all the answers), and an ability to think on their feet and respectfully challenge others to go deeper on intellectual matters, without steering them toward a predetermined outcome
Mature and well-grounded perspective on life, with rich life experiences that include relating to and working closely with tweens and teens in some capacity
Creativity and a sense of humor
Good team player
Good communication skills
Comfortable with being part of an agile program whose methods and tools evolve as participants grow and/or group dynamics/needs change over time
A knack for modeling healthy relationships and culture (relating in a healthy way to oneself, to others within a group, and to the wider community and world)
Relate respectfully to young people as individuals, at their level, and really enjoy working with this age group
Willing to work in partnership with parents and youths (seeing oneself as a partner in the young person’s educational journey, within the sphere of the program)

Pluses:

Experience with online education and knowledge of live online-education best practices
Experience with or knowledge of self-directed learning principles

If this sounds like a role you were born to play, please send an email to info@thehub.community (with "Micro-academy facilitator, ages 12-15" in the subject line) and convince us in whatever way you see fit.

Junior Online Facilitator for Micro-Academy, Ages 9-12 (Tuesdays and Thursdays)

Overview

“Working with The Hub has been hands down one of the most fulfilling and pleasant experiences in my professional (and personal) life.” — A former micro-academy facilitator

The Hub’s micro-academy for ages 9 to 12 is an innovative, part-time online program that’s designed for tweens who enjoy being part of a vibrant and interdisciplinary co-learning community that is jointly created by the facilitators and the younger participants. We have an opening for a junior facilitator to come on board in September 2023, to work with a senior facilitator on the micro-academy’s two-person facilitation team.

Program Description

This will be the inaugural year for this particular cohort. (The micro-academy program as a whole launched in 2020, catering to ages 9 to 12, so the program for this age range is well established. We increased that first cohort’s age range each year as the participants grew, therefore that cohort is now primarily for teens, and it’s time for us to launch another tween cohort. The teen cohort will meet on the same days and times as the tween cohort, leaving the door open for some interactions among the cohorts.)

The micro-academy for ages 9 to 12 will run from 9:30a.m. to 1:30 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from mid-September through late May (with winter and spring breaks). It is an intentionally small-scale program that offers elements missing from most online education programs: facilitators getting to know participants more deeply as individuals; community building; developing interpersonal and other higher-order skills; interdisciplinary group and individual projects that are shaped by participants’ interests; and going deeper over time with a consistent cohort. Because it does not follow a set curriculum and is instead co-created by the facilitators and younger participants, who grow and develop over time, no two terms are entirely alike. More details about the micro-academy program can be found here. Previous facilitators also discuss the program in considerable depth in the information session recordings posted here.

The two facilitators are given considerable autonomy to shape day-to-day program details, and can divide up the facilitation responsibilities as best suits the strengths of each person. The cohort size will never exceed 16 participants, and typically will be capped at fewer than that; facilitators decide when a cohort has reached capacity, based on its unique group dynamics.

Facilitators can be located anywhere. They are independent contractors, and the work (including planning time) is expected to take an average of about 10-11 hours per week, including occasional open houses, team meetings, and parent/participant one-on-one meetings (meetings are scheduled on days/times when facilitators have availability). The compensation level is competitive.

Position Responsibilities

Application Process

We are looking for applicants who possess most/all of the following qualities:

Community-building and/or group facilitation skills
Intellectual curiosity, an open mind (including an appreciation of the fact that no single person has all the answers), and an ability to think on their feet
Knowledge of modern youth culture, ability to relate to tweens at their level, and enjoy working with this age group
Creativity and a sense of humor
Team player
Good communication skills
Tech savvy (should at least be comfortable using a variety of digital platforms and tools, and have the ability to get up to speed on new ones relatively quickly)
Ability to model healthy relationships and culture (relating in a healthy way to oneself, to others within a group, and to the wider community and world)

Pluses:

Experience with Zoom
Experience with or knowledge of interest-based, self-directed learning principles

If this sounds like a role you were born to play, please send an email to info@thehub.community (with "Micro-academy facilitator, ages 9-12" in the subject line) and convince us in whatever way you see fit.

General/Ongoing Openings:

Do you have a creative offering to propose as a future à-la-carte option? Let us know what you're proposing, and why you'd be the right person to lead it. If there appears to be sufficient community interest, we can discuss putting it on the menu.