skydog Posted May 16, 2014 I had a dream that I was in school and couldnt escape and it felt like a prison Which makes me wonder Does anyone think a lot of stuff and time spent in schools is complete nonsense Its kind of like babysitting service for the adults that work and conditioning people to the ideas Yeh there is a lot of great stuff too But when I have kids I wouldnt want them to be punished and have their freedom taken away for failing to keep quiet the whole time, or failing to do a so called obligatory piece of work How about schools that fail to educate children in stuff that really does matter, in fact even more so that some rubbish taught in schools today I want to create my own type of schools someday 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jetsun Posted May 16, 2014 There is this revolutionary school started in the 1960s in the UK called Summerhill where there are no rules, attendance for lessons is optional and all people staff and students are treated equally. Most of the students had been expelled or had problems, but they say that in the end all of the students attend all their classes because they realise that they are free and no longer being pushed around. Apparently the kids do quite well and develop more rounded characters where they arent intimidated by authority or hierarchy, which gives them more self esteem when they aren't looking up at people all the time. Its probably the only non aggressive school in the country. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brian Posted May 16, 2014 (edited) Quaker and Montessori schools often take a similar approach. Seems to work nicely when the majority of the students come from an environment which appreciates learning, when the number of "troublemakers" at any one time is relatively low, and when the teachers are carefully selected "professional educators" rather than people who got a teaching certificate because it was easy. Devolves into something not-so-pretty when those boundary conditions are not maintained. (I was once a board member for a Quaker school...) Edited May 16, 2014 by Brian 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrandmasterP Posted May 16, 2014 I had a dream that I was in school and couldnt escape and it felt like a prison Which makes me wonder Does anyone think a lot of stuff and time spent in schools is complete nonsense Its kind of like babysitting service for the adults that work and conditioning people to the ideas Yeh there is a lot of great stuff too But when I have kids I wouldnt want them to be punished and have their freedom taken away for failing to keep quiet the whole time, or failing to do a so called obligatory piece of work How about schools that fail to educate children in stuff that really does matter, in fact even more so that some rubbish taught in schools today I want to create my own type of schools someday I get that same thing every single working day. It's not a dream either! Roll on retirement. :-) 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jetsun Posted May 16, 2014 Sounds interesting, yeah there might be others, infact near me there is a Steiner school which follows the theories of Rudolf Steiner, i don't know how they teach but he had a lot of esoteric knowledge so it is likely to be better than most of the other schools around here. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrandmasterP Posted May 16, 2014 (edited) There is this revolutionary school started in the 1960s in the UK called Summerhill where there are no rules, attendance for lessons is optional and all people staff and students are treated equally. Most of the students had been expelled or had problems, but they say that in the end all of the students attend all their classes because they realise that they are free and no longer being pushed around. Apparently the kids do quite well and develop more rounded characters where they arent intimidated by authority or hierarchy, which gives them more self esteem when they aren't looking up at people all the time. Its probably the only non aggressive school in the country. Summerhill under Neal was little more than a holding pen for the troubled offspring of wealthy parents. There's some pretty disturbing Summerhill memoirs out there. Recent one here... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Conversation-About-Happiness-Story-Childhood/dp/1782393145/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400252756&sr=8-1&keywords=A+Conversation+About+Happiness They do seem to have moderated their approach since they came under the Ofsted inspection regime but I'd not send my hens there to be educated let alone my kids. Edited May 16, 2014 by GrandmasterP Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thelerner Posted May 16, 2014 Careful what you ask for. Teaching is actually pretty hard. I taught martial arts and wonderful lesson plans and ideas often had to be thrown out the window due to kid craziness. Quite often the little suckers just don't want to learn. My kids certainly equate school with prison. My 14 year old constantly rants that there's nothing else for him to learn. Interestingly, my wife has visits from the common anxiety dream of being in school and either late or unprepared for a test. Since I was in that case so often in real life, I'm pretty much immune. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Unseen_Abilities Posted May 17, 2014 What would you teach in your schools, Skydog? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nungali Posted May 17, 2014 Quaker and Montessori schools often take a similar approach. Seems to work nicely when the majority of the students come from an environment which appreciates learning, when the number of "troublemakers" at any one time is relatively low, and when the teachers are carefully selected "professional educators" rather than people who got a teaching certificate because it was easy. Devolves into something not-so-pretty when those boundary conditions are not maintained. (I was once a board member for a Quaker school...) Great points. I did two terms year 10 and one year 9 teaching a 'life skills' course at the local 'Steiner School'. Its a good system if implemented rightly ... if not then there can be some disciplinary blowouts; e.g. the teacher should graduate with the class ie. the same teacher as you move up a year. When I started, year 9 had already had 4 different class teachers for the year. Talk about a discipline problem! year 10 was easier as I already had a good relationship with some of the students before I was teaching there. Also 'being real' helps immensely ; put yourself in the same boat - kids wouldnt stop smoking, I was asked to address that ... after a real talk with the kids they told me some teachers smoked behind the sports shed, so why should they follow the rules if the people that made them didnt ? A very good point IMO! ... 3 rules - respect for them and you, consistency and dont lie ... simple ! Also realise you ( students and teacher) are 'on the same side' (which can mean not the side of admin ... the teacher should represent the students in this case). Perhaps discipline in the class works well if you are also their sports teacher ... and they do martial arts for sports . Most of them came from a great environment and stable backgrounds, a nice country lifestyle etc. ... doesn't stop all problems though ... but its a BIG help . Once the basics were in place ... it was a dream and very enjoyable ... great bunch of kids. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nungali Posted May 17, 2014 I still have the 'Life Skills' curriculum I developed and taught (somewhere in the paper museum); it was based on a four element model. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rara Posted May 17, 2014 (edited) I had a dream that I was in school and couldnt escape and it felt like a prison Which makes me wonder Does anyone think a lot of stuff and time spent in schools is complete nonsense Its kind of like babysitting service for the adults that work and conditioning people to the ideas Yeh there is a lot of great stuff too But when I have kids I wouldnt want them to be punished and have their freedom taken away for failing to keep quiet the whole time, or failing to do a so called obligatory piece of work How about schools that fail to educate children in stuff that really does matter, in fact even more so that some rubbish taught in schools today I want to create my own type of schools someday Yes. The compulsory 'one size fits all' system. It's not too bad, there are alternative institutes for the arts and of course, they can be studied in standard schools but the encouragement to push creativity is still outweighed by the "useful" subjects. I kinda like being useless for a lot of things! See "Sir Ken Robinson - Do Schools Kill Creativity" on Youtube. Nothing better than a professor encouraging those with creative flair. EDIT: Oh and home economics. Would be pretty handy being educated in this "modern day survival". Edited May 17, 2014 by Rara 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydog Posted May 17, 2014 (edited) Good points yeh i have heard of some of those schools I taught to Tibetan Monks, and to indian school children for a bit. I thought I was good in some respects, some things could be developed maybe Though really it would be cool to create different structures It would be nice to make much more of an emphasis on creativity, stories, kids teaching each other, and learning through ways which may empower and be more fun, with more focus on the individual, perhaps there is opportunity for art or music and with less hours, treating children as more wise, encouraging critical thinking Perhaps there will be teaching of gardening, growing food, forest, cooking, nature Also it may be nice to do for university age people who wish to follow their destiny hmm Edited May 17, 2014 by skydog 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
