The Symbolism of SEA Homeschoolers New Logo

When SEA Homeschoolers founder Blair Lee first saw a radial bar chart, she immediately recognized it as a symbolic representation of many of the philosophical tenets of a learner-centered, journey-focused, handcrafted education. When she shared it with the SEA team, they saw it too! At that point, Blair knew this radial bar chart was the perfect new logo for Secular, Eclectic, Academic Homeschoolers. You might see the symbolism. If you don’t, you will be surprised by everything that Blair saw at just one glance.

The New Logo Promotes a Learner-Centered Path

• • The nesting from longest bar to shortest symbolizes the scaffolding and building on existing knowledge and skills that occurs in a learner-center education that honors and meets students where they are.
    
  • The radial shape of the new SEA Homeschoolers logo symbolizes cognitive flexibility, which is the ability to think about multiple concepts simultaneously for higher-level thinking. Cognitive flexibility is promoted in an eclectic academic homeschool environment where students are given the freedom to explore their interests and the time to investigate them. The nested radial bars that shape and support are a visual representation of ideas and concepts relating across a spectrum. The different colors of the bars show how higher-level thinking can be achieved by bringing abstract and seemingly unrelated ideas into learning situations.
  • Our SEA Homeschoolers community has a child-centered focus. The colors chosen for the logo represent the crayons, paints, and colored pencils children use as they draw and create to articulate their thoughts in words and pictures. 

The New Logo Symbolizes a Journey-Focused Approach

• • The use of radial bars is symbolic of learning that is journey-focused with way leading on to way in a natural progression. The staggered start points indicate that learning does not start at a single level or from a single point. When journeying, you can twirl and pivot to change direction or stay on the path you are on. The multi-colored lines at the bottom running from one end of the page to the other represent the infinite possibilities, destinations, and outcomes for a journey through learning.
  • A learner-centered journey recognizes that learning is a skill set with academic learning nested, as symbolized by the radial bars, as part of metacognitive and executive functioning skills using different modalities.
  • As we learn, we make upward progress building on knowledge. At the same time, we come to understand and master previously acquired foundational knowledge and skills. The shape of the radial bar graph with no end or start points demonstrates learning happening in both directions as it circles around itself.

The New Logo Is a Visual Representation of the Unique Way Each Person Learns 

• • Cognitive science studies have shown that individual students need different amounts of time and scaffolding while using different primary modalities as they learn new skills and concepts. The radial bars that have no obvious hierarchy symbolize that, as Blair likes to shorten this by saying, “There is no timeline for learning.” It doesn’t matter the time it takes someone to learn or how much scaffolding they need. What matters is that each learner is given the time, space, and support necessary.
  • Non-linear learning recognizes the importance of providing learners with a variety of options, allowing different learners to follow different paths. Just like most bar charts, learning is generally treated as linear. At SEA Homeschoolers, we recognize that learning is non-linear, and our new logo reflects that!
  • The multiple bars in the logo are symbolic of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences proposed by Howard Gardner, although we use five bars and Gardner recognized historically eight (now nine) different intelligences. According to his theory, “the traditional notion of intelligence, based on I.Q. testing, is far too limited. Instead, Dr. Gardner proposes eight [sic] different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults. ¹” Gardner believes, and Blair agrees with him, that the differentiation of human intelligence should not be defined as a single, general ability. Instead, we should teach and promote learning focused on the spectrum of learning abilities. In addition, we should help students recognize their own unique learning abilities and strengths.
  • The nested radial bars are a visual representation that subjects, skills, and knowledge nest together to enhance understanding.

Are you surprised that this shape represented all this? That is what made it a great logo. It spoke to so many of the essential components that define how learning happens. It is not linear. It is not with a timeline. And it feels personal in a way that honors who the learner really is and how their unique brain works.

¹https://www.institute4learning.com/resources/articles/multiple-intelligences/