Schools and Curricular Systems

ReSearch on School Curriculums

• Alternative Education Resource Organisation: Making Learner-centered Education Available Everywhere - http://www.educationrevolution.org/store/
• The Quebec Network of Democratic Schools: Le Réseau des écoles démocratiques au Québec (RÉDAQ) - http://redaq.ca/home/

Concepts on School Curriculums

What are the Education Systems and Curriculum Like for each Country

• Singapore
• Germany: Federalised education - each of the 16 states plans its own education system

Types of Schools

• Democratic Free Schools
  • De-emphasis of classes
    • No curriculum or set of required courses. Learner interest guides things, with students studying what they want to study.
    • No classrooms, just rooms where people choose to congregate
  • Age Mixing
    • Students not separated into age groups, and are allowed to mix freely.
    • Age-mixing emphasized as powerful tool for learning and development in all ages
  • Autonomous Democracy
    • Parents have limited or no involvement in school administration
• Anarchistic Free School
• Unschooling
• Minimally Invasive Education

Types of Schools (Categorised by Wikipedia)

• By educational stage
  • Early childhood:
    • Preschool
    • Pre-kindergarten
    • Kindergarten
  • Primary
    • Elementary school
    • First school
    • Infant school
    • Junior school
    • Primary school
  • Secondary
    • Adult high school
    • Comprehensive school
    • Grammar school
    • Gymnasium
    • High school
    • Lyceum
    • Middle school
    • Secondary school
    • Sixth form college
    • Studio school
    • University-preparatory school
    • University Technical College
    • Upper school
  • Tertiary
    • Continuing education
    • Further education
    • Professional school
    • Vocational school
    • Higher
      • Academy College
      • Community college
      • Graduate school
      • Institute of technology
      • Junior college
      • University
      • Upper division college
      • Vocational university
      • Seminary
• By funding / eligibility
  • Academy (England)
  • Charter school
  • Comprehensive school
  • For-profit education
  • Free education
  • Free school (England)
  • Independent school
  • UK Independent school preparatory public
  • Private school
  • Selective school
  • Separate school
  • State or public school
  • State-integrated school (New Zealand)
• By style of education
  • Adult education
  • Alternative school
  • Blab school
  • Boarding school
  • Day school
  • Folk high school
  • Free skool
  • Homeschool
  • International school
  • K-12
  • Madrasa
  • Magnet school
  • Montessori school
  • One-room schools
  • Parochial school
  • Ranch school
  • Sink school
  • Virtual school
  • Yeshiva
• By scope
  • College preparatory
  • Compulsory education
  • Democratic education
  • Gifted education
  • Remedial education
  • Vocational education
• Historical
  • Ancient higher-learning institutions
    • Platonic Academy / Lyceum
    • Monastic schools
    • Cathedral schools
    • Medieval universities
  • Schools imposed on indigenous peoples
    • in Canada
    • in New Zealand
    • in the United States
    • in South Africa
  • Informal or illegal
    • in Ireland
    • in Greece
    • in South Tyrol

Examples of Specialised schools and Curriculums

Anarchistic Free School/ Anarchist Free School/ Free Skool

What is an Anarchistic Free School?

• A decentralised network where skills, information and knowledge shared without hierarchy or institutional environment of formal schooling
• Students may be adults, children or both
• Open structure encourages self-reliance, critical consciousness and personal Development
• Based on Gift Economy
• Concept of Free is not without money, but emphasis on free speech and student-centred education

History of Anarchistic Free Schools

• Late 19th and early 20th century -
  • Anarchist Escuela Moderna of Spain established 'modern' progressive schools in defiance of educational system controlled by chruch.
  • non-institutional, non-authoritarian and counter-cultural learning at grassroots level with Autonomous and collective creation of educational opportunities and skill-sharing within communities

How is a Anarchistic Free School Run

• Offering of free ongoing education without hierarchy and outside of institutional control
• Anarchistic Free School in Toronto: " A volunteer-run, autonomous collective offering free courses, workshops and lectures"
• Free Skool Santa Cruz:
  • collectivism, self-reliance, mutual support with informal, non-authoritarian learning outside of monetary economy
  • From their website: "More than just an opportunity to learn, we see Free Skool as a direct challenge to dominant institutions and hierarchical relationships. Part of creating a new world is resistance to the old one, to the relentless commodification of everything, including learning and the way we relate to each other."

Reference

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchistic_free_school
• Free Schools Project Wiki - http://freeskoolsproject.wikispaces.com/

Sudbury Schools (Example of Democratic Free School)

What is A Sudbury School?

• School for K-12 age
• Students have complete responsibility for their own education
• School is run via direct democracy, where students and Staff are equals
• Daniel Greenberg (Co-founder):" 2 things that distinguish a Sudbury Model school are that everyone - adults and children - are treated equally and that there is no authority other than that granted by the consent of the governed."

History of the Sudbury school

• 1968 - Sudbury Valley School in Framingham, Massachusetts
• Now - 60 schools that identify with the school system

How is a Sudbury School Run?

• Underlying Beliefs
  • The educational belief that children are extremely good at (and therefore do not need to be taught) the main behaviors they will need as adults, such as creativity, imagination, alertness, curiosity, thoughtfulness, responsibility and judgement. What children lack is experience, which can be gained if adults guide students in open ways.
  • The sociopolitical belief that having full democratic rights in childhood is the best way to become an adult who is comfortable functioning within a democracy.
  • "The fundamental premises of the school are simple: that all people are curious by nature; that the most efficient, long-lasting, and profound learning takes place when started and pursued by the learner; that all people are creative if they are allowed to develop their unique talents; that age-mixing among students promotes growth in all members of the group; and that freedom is essential to the development of personal responsibility."
• Curriculum
  • Students individually decide on what to do with their time
• School Democracy
  • Weekly School Meeting: Similar to traditional New England Town Meeting. Passes, amends, and repeals school rules, manages school budget, hiring and firing of staff, and all individuals (Students and Staff) have an equal vote and decision is made on simple majority vote.
  • School Rules: Compiled in a law book, updated repeatedly and rules that require an investigation, hearing, trial sentence and appeal follows the philosophy that students face the consequences of their own behaviour
• Learning
  • Learning is a natural by-product of all human activity. (Learning is a by-product of ordinary experience rather than from coursework)
  • Learning is self-initiated and self-motivated. Implicitely and explicitly, students are responsible for their own education and only the student can design what he/she wants to learn.
  • Apprenticeships or specific classes can be requested.
  • There are many ways to learn
  • Learning is a process you do, not a process that is done to you
  • Presence and guidance of a teacher are not necessary
  • Free exchange of ideas and free conversation and the interplay between people provide broad exposure to areas that prove relevant and interesting to students. Students of all ages mix and learning take place between young and old. Older students provide both positive and negative role-model for younger students.
  • There is no ranking or comparison: no tests, evaluations or transcripts are required.
• Some Observations
  • Pervasiveness of Play: First-time visitors to a Sudbury school observe that students appear to be in perpetual recess
  • Reading is treated the same as other subject: Only a few students seek any help when they decide to learn. Each child have their own method. e.g. some learn from cereal boxes, some from game instructions, some from stret signs, some learn from letter sounds, syllables or whole words.

Reference

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudbury_school

Montessori

What is a Montessori School?

History of a Montessori School

How is a Montessori School run?

Steiner

Trending School Curriculums

• Rasfeld's Institution (Germany: Evangelical School Berlin Centre)
  • https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/01/no-grades-no-timetable-berlin-school-turns-teaching-upside-down