Development of Social Development in a Steiner and Mainstream School - Literature review Example

Development of social development in a Steiner and mainstream school Inserts His/Her Inserts Grade Inserts Tutor’s Name 8, November, 2010 Development of social development in a Steiner school and mainstream school Steiner Schools Steiner Education, also known as Waldorf education is a student centered approach to education. The educational philosophy of this schooling system is based on interdisciplinary learning, practical and artistic conceptions. Steiner education emphasizes on the role of imagination in students learning. This helps the student to develop creativity and analytic approaches.( Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship) This approach of education was given by Rudolf Steiner. He was born in 1861 in a small village Croatia. In the age of twenties he became a linguist, scholar, mathematician, scientist and historian as well. Rudolf believed that education should meet the changing need of a child and should polish his potential. It should develop all aspects of a child’s personality like his physical, mental and emotional. Curriculum of Steiner Schooling 1. Till the age seven children are encouraged to play, draw, take part in storytelling and study natural things. 2. Writing is taught before teaching them to read. 3. Reading is started at the age of seven. 4. Same teacher is preferred for a child. Changing teachers is not encouraged. 5. Concentration on one subject is made for several weeks, switching to different subjects daily is not encouraged. 6. Child is encouraged in learning, but not only for good grades in assessments. Rudolf made specific curriculums for history, geography, mathematics and many other subjects. Mainstream Schooling Mainstream schooling is a new concept in education. It is a school in which students with special needs are also taught in regular classes. In this special children are also taught with normal and average students. This is a combination of regular education with special education. In mainstream schooling children with mild to moderate disabilities are taught together with average children. A child with special needs who cannot function properly in regular classrooms is sent for special education environment. It is observed that educating disabled and non-disabled children together brings understanding and tolerance. In mainstream schooling system, students with disability have access to special education classroom which is known as “resource room or self-contained classroom”. In this room a student with any disability learns and clears his queries one on one with a teacher. This classroom has provided an important position and achievements in the result of this schooling system. (Gareth) Mainstream Class It is mostly a primary or secondary class in a mainstream schooling. A mainstream class is classified as a mainstream class if it built to provide a special education or help to children. Mainstream classes are not integrated classes. They are not only built to provide help to special kids only. These classes provide the education to any child who need help and assessment. Mainstream schooling vs. Special Education There is a certain difference between a mainstream schooling and special education which sometimes become confusion for people. A special education is a system of education exclusive for special kids with disabilities. The disability can be of any kind such as learning impairment, deaf, CP etc. In any disability there are levels of impairment. A child can be impaired from mild to moderate scale or can be completely impaired in his disability. This degree of the child’s impairment shows the degree of help and assistance he/she needs. Those kids who have mild to moderate impairment are preferred to study in mainstream schooling as their degree of impairment is mild. So the next question raised is how these kids are able to give average results in their class? A kid who has mild learning disability means that he is below average then the students of his average age. So to do justice to his abilities he is given admission in the level which he can easily pass. This level can be below his age. Suppose a kid is aged to study in 4th level then he will be given admission in 3rd or 2nd grade class. There are many other disabilities which do not need special education. If a kid has a hearing problem then with hearing aid he can study in mainstream school with normal kids. But if such child will study in special school then he might him loose out on many opportunities as with little more hard work he can compete the average kids. If a kid with the mild impairments will study in special school then he might not be able to compete with the real world but studying in a mainstream school a mildly impaired kid has an advantage to polish his abilities. With this he/she can also polish his social skills while living with average student. It might be something worthwhile for the parents and the kid to adopt the environment. And in daily routine he will need guidance to help him handle children in school. Development of Behavior and Personality In Steiner system of schooling a child develops his full potentials in a friendly environment. This system encourages a child to polish his capabilities in a light and friendly environment. The focus of this system is to help child learn with art and creativity and polish their potentials to fullest. In Steiner schooling the behavior of child is polished as he is encouraged to do what interest him most. There curriculum is designed in a way that it interests children and holds his attention. This system does not push the child to learn but it focuses on capturing the child’s interest in learning. So a child himself is enthusiastic enough to learn more and new. Where as in mainstream schooling thought the curriculums of children are normal but the personality of children is built in realistic way. They realize the differences in society in all ways. They observe the concept themselves that everyone is different, some are more capable and some are special in their needs. They are taught to be nice and friendly with everyone. The disabled children somewhere do feel that they are not normal or need any special assistance. But they work as hard as others which make their thinking positive about life. They have high self-esteem in general as they are treated equally with their peers. (Gareth) Future Skill development of children For future skill development of children, both school systems have the same agenda with different curriculums. They both aim at polishing the children abilities. In Steiner school system a child is given free approach to learn and to build his creative side. They are encouraged to pursue whatever they are good at and are helped to polish their specific skills. (Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship) Where as in Mainstream schooling the most important thing a kid learns is to accept the differences in life and how to deal with them. If someone lacks some qualities, then he/she shouldn’t be taunted but should be accepted as who he is Social Development A child brought up in mainstream schooling has shown higher academic results in many researches as the resource room has given him good and positive facility to students. Children with any disabilities are able to solve their queries in resource room and then are able to produce good results in their assessments. In mainstream schooling both normal and disabled students are taught in ground realities. They are brought up in the environment where they learn to deal with each other which give them a better understanding of the world. It brings tolerance and understanding between students and also opens up communication and understanding with each other. Disabled students are exposed to the routine world which makes them understand the world better. While in other special schools they are kept in special environment with special assistance. This makes them dependent and unaware of the real world. On the other hand, a kid who has grown up in Steiner schooling system grows up with creativity. Both schooling has somehow different techniques of teaching and might give different results as Steiner schooling basically focuses on bringing out the creative side of the kid and then polishing it to fullest whereas Mainstream schooling focuses on keeping social equality. The Steiner schools are mostly expensive and are only affordable by the elite class whereas mainstream schooling is available to all. Impact on Students In mainstream schooling the general public is being taught. This is also a positive aspect for students as they have grown up with every type of children belonging to different social backgrounds. It brings tolerance, understanding and patience in students. It encourages the student to understand the society better. Conclusion Both schools aims at the different aspects but have same goals, which is to polish a student so that he can do well in society. Steiner schooling has its own criteria which brings out the best in children and polish his potentials. Where as in Mainstream schooling a student with learning also gets aware of the society and of the bitter realities which are also the part of world. Steiner polishes the creativity and encourages the child to learn more. And in Mainstream schooling a kid learns tolerance, sympathy and understanding towards others. References Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship Ltd (n.d) What is Steiner education? [Accessed 8th Nov, 2010] [Online] available from < http://www.steinerwaldorf.org.uk/whatissteinereducation.html> EzineArticles (2010) Educating Special Needs Children in Mainstream Schools ? [Accessed 8th Nov, 2010] [online] available from < http://ezinearticles.com/?Educating-Special-Needs-Children-in-Mainstream-Schools&id=4229996 > Gareth Lewis, Freedom-in-Education (2001) Rudolf Steiner ? [Accessed 8th Nov, 2010] [online] available from < http://www.freedom-in-education.co.uk/Steiner.htm> Read More