"Following the rules won't change the world."

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Wish you knew how to actually do something about climate change and social injustice ?

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Online courses and Community for people who want to change the old, broken ways of doing things. Join the School of Rule Breaking, and you’ll gain the knowledge, skills and support you need.

"The class really helped me to feel motivated again to not give up changing the world!"

Julia Bauer - Student

4 things you’ll find inside School of Rule Breaking :

On-demand Classes

To give you practical skills, like: how overcome the fear of speaking up against injustice, how to convince .

online community

Full of experienced and aspiring rulebreakers. So you can bounce ideas around, see what others are doing and never feel alone.

Weekly spark

Weekly video pep talks to keep you inspired, motivated and full of ideas. Even when you’re short of time.

online Live sessions

where you get to meet other rule-breakers. Including social drinks, masterclasses and inspiring interviews.

Download the app

inspiration at you fingertips

Learn to change the world while waiting on the bus with our free mobile app.
Write your awesome label here.

What's the cost ?

Access to the Mobile App, Community, Weekly Spark & Online Live Sessions is Free.

On-demand classes are free for 14 days. Then just €10 a month. Cancel anytime.

"The class helped me downsize my abstract dream to a specific first step. Which immediately resulted in high energy and motivation. One thing led to another and now I'm surrounding myself with people who want to help me with the next step."

Dieuwertje Roukema - Student

You don't need to be a die-hard rebel to make a change.

Are you anxious about climate change, angry about prejudice and social injustice, or frustrated with the boring monday morning meeting at you workplace?

You don't have to be an angry rebel to change things. You can make a difference. All you need is the right skills and a bit of support. 

Some examples of the skills you learn here:
  • Talk politics with your parents without destroying the relationship you have with them.
  • Conquer the fear to tell your boss that he should change the way he manages his team.
  • Come up with creative hands-on ideas to help people from different backgrounds in your area to actually start talking to each other.
  • Fire up the people around you to put a stop to a newly planned highway crossing your city.
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No more waiting for someone else to step up.
It’s your turn now !

Just pause for a moment, and imagine how life would step up. If you would choose not to be a victim of circumstances, but to actively create your own future.

How would you feel if you would bring to life your crazy 'balcony-vegetable-garden-idea' to life. If you would have the courage to speak up against your uncle's racist jokes. If you would rally your colleagues to get rid of the boring monday-morning-meeting. 

"The greatest crimes in the world are not committed by people breaking the rules but by people following the rules."

Banksy

"I learned a lot about rules and how to break them, but to me the exercises were the most important, because they help to 'force' myself to become more specific in my goals and actually take a first step. I feel inspired to take more steps and come into action."

anonymous student

Frequently Asked Questions :

Why a School of Rule Breaking?

Let’s face it, we’re not doing very well as humankind: Global warming, raging wars, rising inequality, chronic stress… Pick your favourite crisis. What’s more: those in power seem unable (or unwilling) to tackle them. So far the bad news. The good news is that you can do something about it. Big or small. You have a choice: Do you stand by and wait for everything to magically sort itself out? Or will you make a stand? If you choose the latter, you’ve come to the right place. The School of Rule Breaking is there to help you.

Is it something for me?

The School of Rule Breaking is for everyone who is feeling frustrated, angry or anxious with the way the world is going. And who wants to turn this frustration into action for the better. There is no need for any prior knowledge. 
So, if you feel like that description fits you, you are more than welcome here.

What will I learn at the School of Rule Breaking?

All skills you learn at the School of Rule Breaking will help you to turn your frustration, anger or anxiety into concrete action towards a better future, big or small. What that means exactly depends on your situation and the issue you want to fight for.

To make it a little more concrete, here are some examples of what you can choose to learn:

  • How to organize a succesfull protest to raise awareness
  • How to talk politics with e.g. your parents without destroying the relationship you have with them
  • How to start a social enterprise with the potential to disrupt the status quo
  • How to connect and collaborate with others to solve issues within your community.


As we said, you can learn to take actions, big and small. We will help you to determine which action will fit you best.

How much does it cost?

Access to live sessions, the community and the Weekly Spark are completely free!

Classes are paid. You can pay for a single class, or get a Student Subscription, and gain unlimited access to all online classes.

If you cannot afford that fee for whatever reason: no worries. Just send an email to hello@schoolofrulebreaking.com, and we’ll sort something out. We are open to anyone who wants to challenge the status quo.

Where does the money go to?

Building and maintaining an online course platform, creating engaging courses and organising live sessions costs money. Your monthly fee will be used to cover these costs, and to invest in creating better experiences for you as students. By raising money from its user base, we make sure we remain completely independent, and don;t have to follow the agenda of some wealthy investor or government funding. 

Besides, I (Coen Bavinck) also need to make a living. Your monthly fee enables me to invest my time and energy into improving this platform and helping you to turn your frustration into positive action. 

Who is behind the School of Rule Breaking?

The School of Rule Breaking is an initiative by me, Coen Bavinck. I am an innovation psychologist, professional trainer, prototyper, facilitator, traveller, drummer… yeah, that should give you an indication.

Last year my daughter was born, which was a massive wake up call to me. Because I want her to grow up in a world that’s not completely ruined by us. And I was frustrated with myself that I didn’t really do anything about it. Even though putting intentions into action is literally what I do for a living.

In my work as a professional trainer I help people in different organisations to put their intentions and ambitions into actual, lasting behaviour change. But how is that helping to change the world for the better? 

The School of Rule Breaking is the place to put my skills to a better use. To help aspiring rule breakers to make an actual positive impact. I am not an expert rule breaker myself (although I do my best to be a better one every day). So, for the development of this platform I am cooperating with a bunch of experienced rule breakers to deliver great, engaging and practical classes.

Want to know more about me?
Click here for my LinkedIn profile.

Are classes online or in real life?

All classes will be completely online. So you can access them wherever you are, whenever you want. 

In addition, we will organise regular online live sessions for you to interact with your fellow class-mates or teachers.

Where is the school located?

Our school is built in an old, abandoned factory in the middle of the jungle. Lucky for you, it's a virtual factory, so you can access the school wherever you are, whenever you want. As long as you have some working internet.

What about data security and privacy?

We take your privacy seriously. The School of Rule Breaking is running on the platform LearnWorlds, which is fully GDPR-compliant. The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is EU-regulation that gives you control over your own data. You can decide which cookies you accept, and can choose to erase all your user history if you delete your account. Besides, we won't ever share personal data with any other party.

That said, your data will be hosted on Google Cloud servers within the USA. Which means that, by US law, government agencies like the NSA will be able to access your data. Hopefully, in future we will be able to use servers based in Europe, to solve this issue. But for now, this is the way it is.

This is the case for most online course platforms, by the way. We just choose to be completely open about it. 

Do you use Trigger Warnings?

Yes, we do give trigger warnings for content that is sensitive to people who suffer from epilepsy, suicidal thoughts and PTSD.

But in the School of Rule Breaking you’ll also come across several other sensitive issues, like racism, sexism, the climate crisis, exploitation, chronic stress, etc. Issues that will be discomforting to many.

You may skip this content as you please, you're in charge of your own learning. However, we urge you to confront these issues, not avoid them. 

Life is messy and full of compexities and discomfort itself. Skipping discomforting content will make it hard to get a full grasp of the ambiguities, fluidity and general messiness that is part of rule breaking.



How can I contact the School of Rule Breaking?

The best way to contact us is by sending and email to hello@schoolofrulebreaking.com. 

What our students have to say...

The class really helped me to feel motivated again to not give up changing the world. It inspires with approaches how to get into action. And knowing, that there is other people trying to make the world better, is very motivational! 

Julia Bauer - Student

"The class gave me insights in how change works. Plus it helped me downsize my abstract dream to a specific first step. Which was an easy step to take and immediately resulted in high energy and motivation. One thing led to another and now I'm surrounding myself with people who want to help me with the next step. The combination of theory and action makes me comfortable in moving forward where I otherwise wouldn't have known how to start."

Diewertje Roukema - Student

"For me this class was an interesting new way to look at problems I encounter at my work. With the simplicity but also effectiveness of the lesson material it is easy to put this knowledge into practice."

Dirk Jilesen - Student

This class provides both theory and straightforward exercises to help you get started (or take a next step in) making a positive change in the world. 

Student

Good scrolling. You've earned yourself a picture of this cute Capuchin Monkey!

about coen bavinck

Hi, I'm Coen and I am the founder of the School of Rule Breaking. I am an organisational psychologist and professional trainer. I have many years of experience teaching e.g. effective communication, integrity and innovation skills to professionals and teams. In my work I spark people to challenge their own assumptions, to dare to make mistakes and to find the courage to put their ideas into action. I mix psychological-scientific knowledge with insights I gained on my travels and working for various startups to design memorable learning experiences.

In 2022 my daughter was born, which was a massive wake up call to me. Because I want her to grow up in a world that’s not completely ruined by us (Massive cliché, I know). And I was frustrated with myself that I didn’t really do anything about it. Even though putting intentions into action is literally what I do for a living: helping people to put their intentions and ambitions into actual, lasting behaviour change.

The School of Rule Breaking is the place to put my skills to a better use. To help aspiring rule breakers to make an actual positive impact in their world. Because I firmly believe that following the rules won't change the world. And boy, do we need some change.
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