Alternative High Schools as the Path for the Education of the Future - Term Paper Example

High School Alternatives Table of contents Contents Pages 3 2. Introduction 4 3. Alternative High School 4-5 3.1 Characteristics 5 3.2 Principles 5-7 3.3 Benefits7 7 4. Waldorf Method 8 4.1 Success of Waldorf Education 8-9 5. HomeSchooling 9 6. Conclusion 9 7. Bibliography 10 1. Abstract Alternative education which is a much broader use of the term alternative high school covers all forms of non-traditional educational methods and philosophies, such as, independent school, home schooling, and alternative high school. However, the narrower usage of the term refers to schools with a novel and flexible curriculum aimed at intelligent, self-motivated students; a school designed to accommodate students with behavioral problems; or a school with particular remedial programs. Many schools were founded in the United States in the 1970s as an alternative to mainstream or conventional classroom arrangement. A wide range of philosophies and teaching methods are offered by alternative schools. “The only true education comes through the stimulation of the students powers by the demands of the social situations in which he finds himself. Through these demands he is stimulated to conceive of himself from the standpoint of the welfare of the group to which he belongs.” John Dewey. Schools decided the way a student’s life works, the way their mind develops and ultimately the life choices they make. Ordinary public schools usually cram information into students heads and test-test-test! Alternative schooling ensures students grow a creative mind of their own, by letting them learn for themselves. The actual teachers give structure to their ideas, and encourage them to think constructively and gain true knowledge .Alternative schooling aims at preparing students for the practicalities of living and succeeding not just during school life but to participate in the global economy by providing them with necessary knowledge and skills. 2. Introduction “High school was something I had to break out of, because all of it felt like chains that were keeping me down. And when I did, one day, break free, I felt liberated and ready to take on the world. Not because I had learned so much in high school, but because I no longer felt a restraint on my creativity.” this is a comment posted on the net by Faruk Ates a professional web developer .3 In conventional schools, areas of knowledge and particular skills fall into orderly categories, in life they merge together into a rich and intricate texture. Alternative schools may be defined as ‘an educational establishment with a curriculum and methods that are nontraditional.’ (Definition of alternative school) 1 .These schools have a special syllabus offering a more flexible curriculum of study than a conventional school. Such schools exist in various forms like Alternative Schools, independent schools such as Waldorf schools and home schools etc.The basic need of the day is to educate all youth to a certain level to make them competent to earn their living in today’s globally competitive environment. 3. Alternative High School Alternative High Schools provide placement for students otherwise maladjusted to regular school environments. Originally beginning as an after-school program in conventional high schools, Alternative High Schools developed into Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound Schools. Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound (ELS) 2 is a New American Schools Development Corporation design that realizes that all students can learn and places the same value on students character as on academic development. Drawing on the understanding and ideas of Outward Bound, Expeditionary Learning begins with the belief that learning is an expedition into the unfamiliar. 3.1 Characteristics Some characteristics which can be found in every E.L. school include the following: 1). Schools and classrooms are planned with flexibility of site, timetable, and student groups.2). Teachers work collaboratively through team teaching and shared preparation time.3) Students work with the same teacher(s) for more than a year.4) Schools take part in shared decision-making.5) Tracking is abolished. 3.2 Principles Expeditionary Learning is formed by ten design principles and arranges students education into focused expeditions of inquiry, invention and action. These principles are- 1. The Primacy of Self Discovery- education happens best with emotion, challenges and the necessary support. People discover their talents, values, "grand passions," and responsibilities in circumstances that offer adventure and the surprising. The most important job of the educator is to help students overcome their fears and discover they have more in them that they think. 2. The Having of Wonderful Ideas- Teaching so as to build on students curiosity about the world by creating learning circumstances that provide issues to think about, time for experimentation, and time to make sense of what is seen. Cultivate a community where students and adults views are respected. 3. The Responsibility for Learning- Learning is both a private, individually specific process of discovery and a collective activity. Every one of us learns within and for ourselves and also as a part of a group. Every facet of a school must support children, young people, and adults to become ever more responsible for directing their own individual and group learning. 4. Intimacy and Caring- Learning is promoted best in small groups where there is confidence, sustained caring and common respect among all members of the learning group. Schools and learning groups should be small. Ensure there is a caring adult looking after the development of each child. Arrangements for the older students to mentor the younger ones may be made. 5. Success and Failure- All students must be guaranteed a fair measure of success in learning in order to foster the confidence and capacity to take risks and rise to the progressively more difficult challenges. But it is also vital to experience failure, to conquer negative inclinations, to overcome adversity and to learn to turn disabilities into opportunity. 6. Collaboration and Competition- Teaching so as to join individual and group development so that the importance of friendship, trust, and group endeavor is made clear. Encourage students to vie, not against each other, but with their own personal best and with exact standards of excellence. 7. Diversity and Inclusivity- Diversity and inclusivity in all groups radically increases richness of ideas, creative power, problem solving ability, and approval to others. Promote students to investigate, value, and draw upon their own diverse histories, talents, and resources collectively with those of other communities and cultures. Keep the schools and learning groups mixed. 8. The Natural World- A direct and reverential relationship with the natural world refreshes the human spirit and exposes the important lessons of recurring cycles and cause and effect. Students learn to become protectors of the earth and the generations to come. 9. Reflection and Solitude- Solitude, reflection, and silence restore our energies and open our minds. Ensure students have time alone to explore their own feelings, make their own associations and create their own ideas. Then give them chances to swap their reflections with each other and with adults. 10. Service and Compassion- We are players, not observers in life, and are reinforced by acts of significant service to others. One of Alternative Schools primary functions is to train its students with the attitudes and skills to learn from and be of use to others. 3.3 Benefits As mentioned earlier Alternative High Schools provide education to students who do not fit into the mainstream education system due to a variety of reasons. For example dylexics, students with other health problems, language disabilities, and behavioral problems etc.Each and every young person has the right to an education that will make him/her capable of surviving in today’s global markets. 4. Waldorf Method The first school based upon the principles Rudolf Steiner’s first book on education, The Education of the Child was opened in 1919 in response to a request by Emil Molt, the proprietor and managing director of the Waldorf-Astoria Cigarette Company in Stuttgart, Germany. This is the foundation of the name Waldorf, which is now trademarked for use in connection with the educational method Waldorf method of education is based on the work of Rudolf Steiner and stresses the value of educating the whole child—body, mind, and spirit. In the early grades, there is a stress on arts and crafts, music and movement, and natural world. Older children are educated to develop self-awareness and how to reason things out by themselves. According to Steiners viewpoint, man is a threefold being of spirit, soul, and body whose abilities unfold in three developmental phases on the path to adulthood: early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence. 4.1 Success of Waldorf Education A UK Department for Education and Skills report (Philip Woods 2005)4 noted important differences in curriculum and instructive approach between Waldorf/Steiner and mainstream schools and suggested that schools in the state sector could profit from the various elements of Waldorf education: early introduction and approach to second languages; the amalgamation of block (class) and subject teaching for younger children; improvement of speaking and listening through a stress on oral work; the superior pacing of lessons via an emphasis on rhythm; the stress on child development guiding the core curriculum and examinations; etc.This report proves that even Government agencies now accept the success of the Waldorf method in educating students and helping them to achieve high standards of knowledge and creativity. 5. Homeschooling Homeschooling also called home education or home school is the education of children at home, normally by parents or guardians, rather than in a public or private school. Homeschooling is an alternative for parents who wish to give their children a different learning environment than that of public schools. It is also an alternative for those students who are unable, for practical or personal reasons, to comply with the regulations of conventional schools. The Montessori and Waldorf method are commonly used in home schools. Children in a Waldorf home school do not use standard textbooks; instead, the children create their own books. One common theme in all the home school philosophies is that home education should not be an attempt to bring the school construct into the home. Education is not viewed as an academic preliminary to life. They viewed it as a natural, experiential aspect of life that occurs as the members of the family are involved with one another in daily living. 6. Conclusion For many, the conventional school systems have not met the requirements of many parents and their children with regard to the academic educational standards. Non conventional methods as discussed above provide a credible alternative to the stifling structure of today’s formal education system. Students can learn and enhance their knowledge through the various alternatives open to them without fear of failure. 7. Bibliography 1.Definition of alternative school,http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alternative%20school 2. Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound, http://www.elschools.org/ 3. Faruk Ates (http://kurafire.net/) 4. Philip Woods, Martin Ashley and Glenys Woods 2005 report Steiner Schools in England University of the West of England, Steiner Schools in England, University of West of England, Bristol: Research Report RR645 Read More