The epicenter of the search for the reorganization of the content, forms, methods of school education and upbringing turned out to be experimental educational institutions (experimental schools). These institutions are designed to test, develop and substantiate new pedagogical ideas, taking into account the experience of the best teachers. There were several types of such institutions: schools that implement a new educational concept; basic schools with scientific and pedagogical centers; exemplary schools, where traditional methods of education and training are polished; Experienced schools that carry out original pedagogical ideas.
The experience of experimental schools does not always become the property of an ordinary school. Experimental schools have a dual purpose – as centers for educational searches and as popularizers of new approaches to the teaching and educational process.
Organization of experimental teaching and educational institutions is one of the important directions of state policy. So, in the USA there is a federal Bureau of experimental schools. Organizers of pilot schools could count on state support at their own expense.
a number of conditions: comparative mass (from 2 to 5 thousand students), the implementation of original ideas, retraining of teachers, public participation and
parents of students.
In France, the National Pedagogical Institute acts as the coordinator of the activities of experimental schools in public education, whose staff is in charge of the experiment.
The creation and operation of experimental schools is the subject of special attention of official authorities in Japan. All major reforms of the last few years in the sphere of education necessarily provided for testing in pilot schools. The Ministry of Education has established a system of experimental educational institutions. Any public school can apply for the authorization and financing of an experiment for up to three years; at the end of the term the school must report on the results of the experiment. The Ministry of Education encourages various research projects based on schools. Only in 1988-1989 academic year the status of experimental “schools of cooperation” was received by more than 40 junior secondary educational institutions. As experimental grounds, basic general education schools at state universities are often used.
The organization of pilot schools in the early 1990s was recognized as one of the priorities of Russia’s school policy. Theoretical and practical problems of experimental teaching and educational institutions are dealt with by the Association of Innovative Schools and Centers, the Academy of Education, and the scientific institutions of the school department. Since the beginning of the 1990s, several contests of innovative teaching and educational institutions have been held, and a number of pilot schools have been established at the Academy of Education.
The organizers of the experimental schools relied on new concepts and ideas: developing training in the system of L.V. Zankov, V.V.- Davydov, D.B. Elkonin, the dialogue
cultures BC Biblera et al.
The initial provisions of developmental learning are concepts of upbringing, learning, and development as a dialectically interrelated process. Training is interpreted as the leading force in the development of the child’s psyche. Education is considered as the basis for the development of the child. Progress in development is assessed as a condition for mastering knowledge. Learning activities are designed as a collaborative search and collaboration.
The teacher’s mentality with students, when schoolchildren do not receive ready-made solutions, but look for them, straining their mental and intellectual forces.
Among the didactic principles of L. Zankov’s experimental system, the decisive role is played by the principle of learning at a high level of difficulty, which is closely dependent on other principles-the leading role of theoretical knowledge, moving forward at a rapid pace in the study of educational material, the consciousness of learning, activities.
The starting point of the concept of developing training VV Davydov consists in the assertion that the basis of such training is its content, from which the methods are derived. Educational activity of schoolchildren is supposed to be built in accordance with the method of presentation of scientific knowledge, when students’ thinking resembles the thinking of a scientist resorting to meaningful abstraction, generalization, theorizing, etc.
BC Bibler believes that in the XX century there was a convergence of educational and educational values of different cultures. Such a meeting is reflected in the consciousness, life of every person on Earth. And such a meeting should take place in the process of school education and upbringing.
Enthusiasts of experimental work coordinate their efforts on an international scale. The European Federation of Experimental Schools, headquartered in Paris, has been established and is operating. In some countries, international meetings and seminars are held on the problems of updating the technologies of education and upbringing.
A number of experimental schools try to repeat and continue in the new conditions the experience of non-traditional educational institutions of the 1920s and 1930s. It is about the use of the heritage of A. Neil (England), O. Dekroli
(Belgium), E. Parkhurst (USA), R. Steiner (Germany), S. Frenet (France), and others.
Followers of the “new school” A. Neil try to revive the slogan of “absolute freedom of students”, when students, for example, are allowed to skip classes. Several dozen schools, followers of A. Neil, operates in the United States. Similar schools arose outside the US, for example, private schools under the leadership of Miuri Yamaguchi and Yu Endo in Japan.
Successfully works in Brussels (Belgium) founded at the beginning of the century O. Decheli School “Hermitage”. This is a genuine pearl-
national and world education. For more than eighty years, the Hermitage has confronted verbal and verbal traditions, strives to rely on evolving children’s interests, building a learning process that takes into account the child’s thinking.
The Hermitage is one of the four best performing institutions in Brussels.
The school has branches of primary and secondary education. In the initial classes, the basis of education is the so-called centers of interest. “Centers of Interest” should group and organize the educational material in accordance with the interests and needs of the children. These are the children of primary school age identified the need for nutrition, protection from bad weather, hazards, in solidarity, rest and self-improvement. The educational material should be drawn from the child’s environment – nature, school life, family, society. In the 1991-1992 academic year, for example, several classes were engaged in the “center of interest” “Nutrition Requirements”. Schoolchildren collected and studied information about various foodstuffs, using these data in the classes on French language, mathematics, science, etc. One of the objects of a variety of study assignments and exercises was the cheese favorite in every family (making, storing, selling, describing, etc.).
In the “Hermitage” students use educational literature from the home, school and municipal libraries. The materials and conclusions of the authors of the textbooks sometimes do not coincide, or even contradict each other at all. Teacher N. Vandenbogar sees in this only a positive:
“The child is convinced that what has been said in the book is not a sacred word and that any fact should be treated critically without creating an idol.”
Any child can study in the Hermitage. There is no competition at admission. The only obstacle is the lack of places. Representatives of all ethnic groups living in Belgium study at the school. Tolerance in respect of any nationalities, beliefs, beliefs – a traditional line in the Hermitage. Teachers sincerely love their students, and they reciprocate with them. Teachers strive to create a humane climate, an atmosphere of active communication. Special purposes are also used for this purpose. For example, high school students are offered the subject “Factors of communication” in the lesson. In the context of the topic, the role of the press, literature,
the theater, the cinema, and human contacts. Such activities promote adolescents to the treasury of cultural aesthetic values.
The school journal Courier serves the development and encouragement of children’s creativity. Schoolchildren themselves produce materials, print, brochure journal issues. Authors are students of all ages. It encourages imagination, humor, imagery. 13-year-old Noah writes: “Hello, I live on an apple tree. I have many brothers and sisters. I’m waiting for the hour I’m so afraid of. Pass spring, summer and. . . they’ll eat me up “(the story” Apple “). But the verses of her contemporary Sadrin:
“The noise ceases, darkness and silence. On a white screen – a foreign country. Light, the hall talk – That’s the real life beginning. ”
(“Kinoeans”)
The Hermitage is a true “pedagogical Mecca.” Teachers from Europe, Asia and America are constantly trained here.
In the modern school, the ideas of the experimental educational institutions of the USA of the 1920s-1930s are used: “Dalton-plan”, “method of projects”, etc.
The essence of the “Dalton Plan” E. Parkhurst consisted in the implementation of the curriculum, divided into contracts (contracts), which specified sections, reference literature, control questions, materials for answering these questions. The order, rate of execution of contracts was a personal affair of students. Systematic control and verification of students’ performance was envisaged.
Some modern educational institutions turn to the method of E. Parkhurst. Thus, one of the private elementary schools in France (Eguebal, Creusot) practiced counter-regimes with schoolchildren. According to the agreements, the students undertook to perform a number of training tasks and exercises during the week. Contracts were made taking into account the strengths and desires of students. Externally attractive work on contracts has generated a number of problems. According to teachers, pupils who signed light contracts had difficulties in further education in the college and Lyceum.
Own version of the “Dalton-plan” was worked out in a number of schools in Japan. The pupils signed contracts with the school, for which they were obliged to fulfill the agreed study assignments at a certain time. Children themselves decide on what grade to sign the contract. If the “satisfactory”
the task was made up of seven questions, “good” -from twelve, “excellent” – of nineteen. The schoolboy had to make a decision. Having signed the contract for “excellent”, but having fulfilled it on “well”, the student received “unsatisfactory”, because any failure was equated with failure, inability to keep a word. Such an order differed from the original variant, according to which the evaluation was exhibited on the basis of the final result.
There are followers of the Dalton Plan in Russia. In the early 90’s, for example, according to this method worked school number 7 in Tchaikovsky. Teachers and pupils of the school in the “Dalton-plan” attracted the opportunity to engage in more time with their favorite subject, to communicate intensively, and to expand their independence and responsibility.
Close to the “Dalton Plan” is the “project method” by W. Kil-patrick, which was implemented, in particular, in the school of E. Collings. The students had to design what they had to do. Priority was given to the choice of activities through which knowledge was acquired. The curriculum was seen as a set of interrelated experiences. Materials for learning were taken from the daily life of students. The students themselves determined the content of the work, and the teacher helped to achieve the projected. The projects were individual and group. The nomenclature of projects was supposed to take into account different aspects of children’s life: play, excursions, crafts, etc. During the project, the student passed several stages: selection, planning, execution, discussion.
The “Project Method” has found a new life in the modern school (“independent work” in secondary schools in France, the “school of dialogue of cultures” in Russia).
Among the experimental educational institutions of the past, whose experience is also trying to reproduce, it is necessary to mention the school opened in 1919 by R. Steiner in Waldorf-Astoria (Stuttgart, Germany). The main activity of the Waldorf School was the search for forms of emotional and aesthetic upbringing and education. The work of the school was built on a personal approach and individual requirements, based on the study of each student’s personality. The emphasis was on creating a single emotional-aesthetic basis for learning. Accordingly, the program of education. Waldorf School relied on the idea that the knowledge of the human essence is accessible only to the wise and initiated and that man –
first of all a spiritual creation. Hence the purpose of education was defined as the all-round development through intense spiritual activity. The school was to turn into an autonomous world – the center of spirituality. The foreground of moral education was the awakening of imagination and fantasy as an antidote to childish bitterness.
Learning began with studying biographies of great scientists, thinkers, then proceeded to the ideas that they left to humanity. When mastering the teaching material, it was suggested to go in a spiral – from the person’s closest circle to the knowledge of astronomy and the cosmos. History, therefore, was first recognized through tales, legends and myths, then passed on to biblical legends and antiquity, and the newest history was mastered in the final class. The age of the heyday of ancient Greece, for example, studied schoolchildren 11-12 years. since the proponents of this theory believed that it was at this age that children were receptive to justice and capable of democratic thinking, so it would be appropriate to devote schoolchildren to the first experiments of the republican system.
The Waldorf school was built on self-government: there was a council, which included teachers, pupils, parents, friends of the school. The school abandoned traditional assessments and sought to take into account the individual results of each student. A variety of practical activities of pupils was organized, close cooperation with parents was established.
The experience of the Waldorf School is currently used in a number of European countries. In the late 80-ies in the world there were up to 350 educational institutions, created according to the model of the Waldorf School.
Modern Waldorf schools are markedly different from ordinary educational institutions. In these institutions, there are all branches of general education. Although they teach the same subjects as in other general education institutions (the exception is the subject called eurythmy, exercises where speech, music and movement are synthesized), teaching and teaching look different. The aim of the training is to help students to perceive the world of knowledge in its entirety. The head of the class, leading the main subjects for eight years, certainly should be a very erudite teacher. Uncommon organization of training;
no one is left in the second year and, as a rule, nobody is excluded. Instead of traditional assessments, brief
reviews about successes and results. When learning to avoid textbooks, preferring lecture classes. In the middle and upper classes, a system of cyclical study of disciplines is used – two hours a day for three weeks in each half-year. The system has advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, four-month gaps between the same cycles threaten a strong and systematic education. On the other hand, intensive immersion in the cycle of objects cannot but benefit.
In the middle of the day, classes are concentrated mainly around the subjects of the artistic cycle. They are built in the form of a variety of exercises – music, languages, eurythmy. Two foreign languages are studied from the first class. The school day ends with crafts.
The education program is focused on seven-year rhythmic cycles of human development – up to 7 years, from 7 to 14 years, from 14 years to 21 years. The rhythms of the year and one day are also taken into account. Perceptions of annual rhythms should be helped by school holidays ~ harvest. Christmas, holiday lanterns and others.
There are no directors in Walldorf schools. Annually the board is elected, which is in charge of the budget. Every day the conference on leadership decides. It includes teachers and parents. Parents are usually founders of the school.
There are no strict penalties in Waldorf schools. Here, avoiding moralizing, relying primarily on a positive moral and psychological environment of universal affection.
In Russia, the prospects for Waldorf pedagogy are mixed. According to the head of the Moscow Waldorf Education Center A. Pinsky, the Russian mentality is a fertile field for the application of R. Steiner’s pedagogical ideas. At the same time, he believes that pedagogical anthroposophism is in many ways alternative to the methods of intellectual development popular in the Russian school.
Russian Waldorf education enthusiasts attracted her appeal to the individual human top, non-encyclopedic education, emphasis on the development of artistic and aesthetic taste. They tried to move to the Russian soil ideas R. Steiner (Kargopo-lsky orphanage childhood home in the Komi Republic, Azarovsky orphanage in Kaluga, Yaroslavl Waldorf School, etc.).
Popular in the global school experiment C. Freinet. In 1935 he founded in Piuli (France) elementary boarding school, where he worked until his death. In this and other educational institutions, Frene developed “techniques”, which included the original forms of education and training.
Considering the prevailing inefficient learning process, C. Freinet initially tried to partially improve. Soon, however, he came to the conclusion that it is necessary to build all the different training. Elements of non-traditional learning accumulated gradually. Ultimately, “Frene equipment” was made up of a number of different functions of the elements: typography school, school co-op, “free text”, cards, chips, a working library and so on.
In the school of Frenet, life proceeded in the framework of self-management – a school cooperative. At the head of the school cooperative was the council – Frenet and several students. The Council controlled the educational, economic, cultural life of the school; he settled conflicts, defined measures of encouragement and punishment. Decisions of the council were made by voting, but the teacher retained the right of veto. The council was re-elected every year, so that students alternately became leaders and executors. At the end of each week there was a meeting of the cooperative, at which the headings of the school newspaper were discussed: “I criticize,” “I want,” “I did.”
“Free texts” – written works – reflected the personal experience and knowledge of children. Their training was at the same time training and education. The subjects of the works were very diverse – from descriptions of fear in the darkroom to pacifist plots. “Free texts” children printed on a small typewriter. They also printed chip cards that were different in function and content. Junior students filled in the chips with questions, using chips with information. More difficult were the cards of high school students. In fact, these were mini-grants made by the students themselves. The chip cards fell into the working library, which all schoolchildren could use.
At school, Frenet reigned joyful, business environment. In the first half of the day, some students conducted independent study work, asking for help from the teacher, others were on duty in the kitchen, others worked in the kitchen garden and workshops. Before lunch, they summed up the results, discussed “free texts”, messages, and held consultations. In the second half of the
day, the children played sports, played, worked in a workshop and a subsidiary farm. In the evening, in the presence of the whole school, S. Frenet summed up the day passed. Each student and each class had their own programs for a day, a week, a month. To fulfill the group task, the children themselves selected partners. The pupil regularly – at least once in three weeks – acted with a report.
In France, there is a pedagogical association of adepts Frenet. His followers are in Italy, Belgium, Japan and other countries. Scientific and technological progress made it possible to improve and enrich the “Frenet technique” using copying devices, audio and video equipment. The working library is replenished with new didactic materials – video, audio recordings, laser discs.
Note that in the experimental schools, separate components of the “Frenet technique” are used (usually “free texts” and copying equipment, literature from the working library). Meanwhile, Frenet himself noticed that his technique gives the best result only with a holistic application.
An interesting experiment was carried out in France by five “lyceum pilots” (in Marseilles, Montgeron, Sèvres, Toulouse, Enghien), which were guided by several principal didactic principles: 1) do not divide the subjects into basic and secondary; 2) to master the school curriculum by groups (teams) of lyceum students; 3) use active methods of teaching, taking into account the individual inclinations of students; 4) to teach in close interaction with the environment, close cooperation between the teacher and students; 5) turn exams into a process of acquiring knowledge. The implementation of such facilities was carried out in three main directions: updating programs, updating forms and methods of instruction, and using technical means.
Classes counted no more than 25 students who were divided into teams that arose on the basis of a community of interests in educational and extra-curricular activities. Their teams were also teachers (three people each). Members of the teachers’ teams had to coordinate their pedagogical efforts.
The training material was grouped according to the so-called synthetic topics. For example, in the Lyceum of Enghien, six such topics were offered during one school year. Class teams were invited to study these topics and report on the work done. For example, when studying the “synthetic theme” “Egypt”, students should be given a characterization of the
history and geography of Egypt. Traveling on a geographical map was accompanied by a study of the climate, economy, culture of Egypt. In preparation, the Lyceum students used textbooks and other literature, as well as documentary sources. They visited the museum in the Louvre, where they got acquainted with the culture of the ancient Egyptians.
Lyceum-pilots especially cared about the development of the creative beginning of schoolchildren. In this regard, the development of the so-called creative imagination of a teenager was encouraged (teachers of literature suggested fantasizing about any literary theme, mathematics teachers practiced in depicting complex geometric figures, physics teachers encouraged to make models of mechanisms, etc.).
Exemplary lyceums paid much attention to the aesthetic preparation of students. By the forces of students, theater performances were regularly staged.
Lyceums pilots were searching for an optimal combination of compulsory and elective education. In the latter case, students are systematically divided into groups (strong, weak, lazy, unstable). In organizing the elective learning motivation into account the need for such training. For example, in one of the model schools to encourage students to engage in excess of the compulsory program of the course “Economics and social development”, the teacher began the first lesson saying, “Recently, in France, there was a significant event – born resident of fifty million. Who and how it was able to learn? “After such an intriguing intonation students wanted to find out the statistical data processing engine. Then they were interested in questions of demography. To obtain the necessary knowledge they turned to libraries and archives.
“Failure or success?” In the spirit of such an alternative being discussed in France, the experience of pilots schools. Skeptics argue that these institutions did not shake the conservative traditions. Another point of view is shared by the majority of teachers and former students of lyceums pilots, rukoditeley part of the Ministry of Education. They note in particular that the high schools, the pilots have considerable experience teaching in an environment friendly involvement, personal responsibility, self-reliance, respect for the individual.
In various countries of the world, scientists and practitioners strive to create the most optimal variant of the educational institution, which leads to the emergence of new types of ex-
perimental schools. In particular, in the West there were the so-called public and alternative schools.
“Public schools” have proliferated in primary and secondary education in part. Teaching in the school implies a close relationship with the environment, taking into account a variety of social factors that affect the formation of the person, respect for the individual.
The practice of “open school” looks like a promising way of integration of educational and extracurricular educational and educational activity. Filed by the Institute of Education Economics (Dijon, France), “open learning” by virtue of attracting extra-curricular educational channel was twice cheaper than regular schools.
In the US, teachers, led by Charles Zilbermanom (University of Connecticut) developed a model of “open school”. A must is the selection of good faith and friendly teachers, as well as the planning of study with respect to time and forces students.
Modeled after the “open school”, for example, operated school in St. Paul (Minnesota). There are junior and senior secondary schools, where both studied about 500 children. Heads of institutions proclaimed goal of turning teaching into joy, to identify and encourage the individuality of children, to develop their activity, responsibility, creativity, sociability. The acquisition of knowledge and skills were subordinated to the objectives of education.
Several areas have been defined curriculum: Preparing for business activities; preparation for public activities, the general cultural development, Fort-ming interpersonal skills. The basis of the program were six bases: social and historical disciplines; subjects of an aesthetic cycle; Physico-mat-matically and science education; labor (manufacturing) training; economics; physical Culture and sport.
The training encouraged self-reliance, reliance on the personal experience of students. The student may apply for assistance and advice to teachers to make an individual work plan and an estimate of its activities. Widely practiced educational trips to various companies and business offices. Students are encouraged to collect and use information at the educational work of the economic, cultural and political life of the city.
By “open” schools are the so-called community schools in the US. Teachers of community schools strive to create an atmosphere of joy and cooperation. They prefer group work of students, encourage uninhibited behavior of students (in the classroom, for example, you can sit on the floor). Teacher slogan – “On-directs, encourage and endorse.” They want their children to feel liberated and protected at the same time, being sure that the teacher will always help them. Each student has an adult mentor-adviser. Such a mentor can be a hundred wards.
The idea of “open learning” has been realized in the experiment, called “school without walls”. Its meaning – the organization of parallel education in a regular school and beyond. “School Without Walls” can reduce class size. For classes are not only the school environment, but also business offices, factories and so on.
The first “school without walls” was established in 1968 at the College of CHAP (Philadelphia). Students can be found in offices and research laboratories, museums and theaters, department stores and snack bars, where they perform specific training tasks. As a result, the city became a place for them obucheniya- basic academic subjects studied in college in the two-hour group sessions four times a week. Weekly held the final meeting, which was attended by students, teachers, principals.
How to find the initiators of the “school without walls”, like the organization of training contributes to the diversity of student life, sharpens interest in learning.
England was the first country where there were experimental “open school”. One of the most famous – primary education to them. E. Lowe (London). Children of Niemann-in areas where there was the usual desks, a clear succession of lessons, the traditional curriculum and schedule. There was a flexible rhythm exercises. Tutor and students jointly planned topics and the different kinds of learning activities. This organization was named “integrated day.”
This is how, for example, took place “integrated day” six-year Henry. At first the boy was present in the classroom for math. Some time later, he was heading in the living area, where fed hamster and reading teacher proposed book about animals. Then Henry
was taken to wander around the school and got into the principal’s office. Here he was shown how to deal with a tape recorder.
In School. Lowe came from the fact that children must be taught to read, write, count, introduce in an accessible form to the issues of social and natural history. Do whatever it offers “a way of opening” means that children, studying and developing, should reach all by yourself at an unobtrusive support of the teachers. Hence, as a free daily student life, which is not forbidden, if they wish, for example, spend half the school day at the drawing. As school leaders believed, this open mode facilitates the child self-expression and comprehension of the world.
In School. Lowe’s apart from the usual age classes organized groups of pupils in the vertical (family groups), when in the classroom next to each other were younger and older students. It was supposed to create a confidential atmosphere of communication and care of older younger.
The method of “open learning” is embodied in Germany. Here experiment “The city as a school – Berlin” was held, implemented in the early 80s. Experiment basic idea was that students and teachers spent a significant part of the learning time outside the walls of the institution, studying German language publishing houses, mathematics – in computer centers, history – in museums and literature – in the library, physics and chemistry – in the laboratory, social and political sciences -.. at the headquarters of political parties, etc. The experiment covered several high schools and colleges. Students in combined classes in ordinary school and “open learning” beyond.
In France, with the “Open School” associated large-scale experiment in primary education, which was attended by about 150 public schools. Some of them were built on special projects, which take into account the wishes of teachers and students’ parents. Stir in the school of single-storey buildings with covered walkways, sliding walls, halls for entertainment and sports.
Teacher, director, counselors in psychology and pedagogy made up of like-minded team, any member of which students can get advice and consultation. During the lessons teachers advise, encourage, supervise. Class assigned to the teacher for two or three years, which
is unusual for a French primary school. Schedule allows you to work in the classroom is not one, but two or three teachers, which is also unusual for a primary school. A lot of guys this innovation suit because, as they said, you can choose a teacher who likes. However, there were also those who change unnerved teachers.
Along with the division into classes age students in the study were divided main disciplines (French and mathematics) at levels (strong, weak, lagging). For weak and lagging teacher (support group) organized extra classes. In addition to the division in levels within the same class applied vertical distribution, when successful, and the most capable in the French language and math involved with the older students.
Classes in groups of level of basic disciplines organized in the first half of the day. The rest of the training program was assimilated in the second half of the day in the form of a variety of activities in small interest groups or classes. Students engaged in a variety of cases: solving mathematical problems, exercises in the native language, staging of theatrical scenes, painting, games, sports. Schoolchildren were to be found in the library, “polyvalent” hall -. Room for a variety of activities, educational workshops, garden, photo lab, etc. Often, organized educational trips, excursions.
The prototype of “open learning” in France can be considered as “snow” classes, which later joined by “sea” and “forest” classes. Start organization “snow” classes dates back to 1953 (the trip of elementary school students of Vanves with the teacher on the holidays in the mountains). During the holidays the boys not only rest, but also to expand their understanding of the native nature, life, way of life of the population. The resulting impression was a great addition and motivation in the classroom. “Snows nym”, “sea”, “forest” class was destined to a long life. Every year, they have up to 200 thousand. Students.
A lot in common with the “Open Schools” in “alternative education”. “Alternative Schools” were an expression of a negative attitude to the curriculum encyclopedic inflated theoretical level of general education, increasing the number of lessons, learning activities, tighten discipline.
The main feature of “alternative schools” was the use of unconventional methods of training and education, in which emphasis was placed on human relations of participants of the educational process on the development of individual skills and creativity of students.
Being similar, “open” and “alternative” schools have some differences. If the “Open School” gives priority to the closer integration of education with the world, the “alternative schools” aim to a radical restructuring of the main components of school education and training.
Pioneers “alternative education” were US educators. The first 28 “alternative schools” appeared in the United States in 1968. In the mid-70s there were more than 2 thousand. Alternative schools have worked on more than 200 projects in 60 school districts. Coordinating federal engaged in pilot schools office. Association was established to support alternative education with the participation of prominent educators, businessmen. We provided financial assistance “alternative schools” from federal and private sources.
Typically, one project is implemented another school. In several cities in a single project tested a group of educational institutions: Berkeley (CA) – 24 schools, Seattle (WA) – 19 schools, Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) – 18 schools. In some cities, such as Luis Villa (Kentucky), St. Paul (Minnesota), and others. On different projects at the same time we operated two or three alternative schools.
Indispensable installing an “alternative school” was the principle of voluntariness. Teachers, students and parents have the right to choose between conventional and non-traditional learning. Opting for “alternative school”, they had to participate in the experiment. Innovation, therefore concerns only those who have spoken out in support of them. The second setting is the obligation to pedagogical innovation, without requiring the school district additional subsidies.
“Alternative School” is for those who did not want to be limited to the usual school. They were offered non-traditional occupations in museums, science laboratories, libraries, education centers for individual plans. The number of teachers compared with conventional educational institutions in the “alternative
GOVERNMENTAL schools” increased. Since students can engage not only teachers, but also parents (mixed teaching).
“Alternative Schools” professed principles of learning how to play and creativity, as well as learning how joyful discovery. Among the basic forms of training were conversations, discussions, educational games, creative writing uprazheniya character. Widely used learning in pairs and groups.
In the ‘alternative schools’ primary education in addition to the regular program is often offered to the discipline of the high school program (history, geography, foreign languages, science and so on.).
Among the schools “alternative education” stood out so-called free schools, self-proclaimed opposition to authoritarianism school education. It was an attempt to implement the idea of the “new education” (development man since childhood according to his own nature). The “free schools” encouraged self-education, self-sustaining knowledge-students of the world within the walls of the institution and outside it in the atmosphere of the game, study, uninhibited conversation, idle pastime.
“Free School” aims not only to reform education, but also to build a new type of human relations. Authoritarianism teachers completely rejected.
A typical example of “free schools” ~ two secondary educational institution in the city of Berkeley (California). Confessing similar pedagogical ideas, these institutions, however, differed from each other. In one of them, the idea of freedom of the students resulted in a chaotic but exciting life. Here, for example, organized a joint breakfast with the teachers and students on an equal footing, at ease discussing their current affairs, various issues (environment, birth control, etc.). In another school, students are free to attend and pass the training sessions. In the classroom they were allowed to sit back, read a newspaper. But in the end, students were required to report on the results of study.
Options “alternative education” were the so-called year-round and ungraded schools. These institutions drastically changed the rhythm of the educational process. So “year-round school” district Bally View (Illinois), city Feyrmaunta (Missouri) did not stop training all year round. The pupils were divided into groups. Groups studied for 45 days, and then went on a two-week vacation. Terms of vacation in the groups did not match. So the school took pupils of all twelve months of the year.
In total, the students spent in school the same number of days as the normal school students.
Peak “year-round schools’ popularity came at the end of the 80s. In 1989 they were about 500 thousand. Students from 19 states, ie about 1% of schoolchildren.
Unconventional mode of “year-round school” has reduced class sizes, which facilitates the organization of individualized learning. However, there are specific problems associated with the instability of the composition of classes. Teachers have been systematically denied the opportunity to communicate with their pets, which negatively affected the results of school education.
“Non-graded schools” went even further towards the revision of the class-lesson system. In the city of Appleton, which first arose such schools, their organizers abandoned the division of students on one-year age classes. Instead, for example, elementary education was divided into two cycles with specific educational programs.
One of the options “alternative education” in the US – home schools. These were mainly institutions of primary education, establishes groups of parents that their children were invited for professional teachers.
In European countries, an “alternative education” has not become as widespread as in the United States.
Year Round Schools
In the United States at the turn of the 1960s-1970s. there are non-traditional “year-round schools.” Their creation was caused by plans to use school buildings vacating during the summer holidays, to take up wishing to work at this time teachers and children left to themselves. Several variants of year-round schools were tested. According to one of them, the academic year is divided into four quarters of three months. Three months vacation lasted, but not necessarily in the summer. For this option, for example year-round schools in Franklin Pierce County (Washington State). Here the academic year was about 200 days. The following methods were used: a combination of ordinary lessons and seminars, individual and group classes in laboratories, the center of educational resources, visits to institutions and enterprises and work in them; four-day compulsory academic week; the allocation of the fifth school day for non-compulsory classes, in particular sports, labor training; training in the evenings at the center of training resources; summer courses for those who wish. Another option offered year-round schools in the Valley Vue County (Illinois) and the city of Fairmount (Missouri). The pupils were divided into groups. The groups studied for 45 days, after which they left for a two-week vacation. The holidays for the groups did not coincide. So the school accepted students 12 months a year. In total, the students spent the same number of days in the school as the students in the regular school. The mode of the year-round school allowed to reduce the occupancy of classes, to facilitate individualized training. There was an opportunity to increase the volume of study hours, without making the school day more busy. On the assurances of the initiators of the experiment, the transition to year-round training saved money. At the same time, specific problems arose due to instability in the composition of classes. Teachers lost the opportunity to systematically communicate with their pupils, which had a negative impact on the results of education.
Ungraded schools
Quite a wide distribution (primarily in the US) was in the 1940-1960’s. so-called non-graded schools. The first modern non-graduated school was established in 1942 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. By 1957, non-graded schools were opened in the 31 school districts of the United States. These primary educational institutions took the path of revising the class-lesson system. Their organizers refused to divide students into annual age classes. The training was divided into cycles with specific training programs.
The ideologists of the non-graded schools J. Goodlade, R. Anderson argue that the system of schools with successive classes is “obsolete and often does not reflect the pedagogical realities”: “We transfer the child from class to class together with his age group, but does this always correspond to his capabilities and knowledge? “. In their opinion, the preparation and needs of schoolchildren do not fit into the “Procrustean bed” of a series of classes. They believe that when entering regular schools, the child has problems, because he falls under the press standards (“average”, “normal”, “typical”) and “gets a label” for a certain class, regardless of the level of development.
The founders of non-graded schools emphasized that it was a fundamentally different teaching: “The teacher will open the door, the problems of the students will be close to him and understandable, he will be able to select a wide range of educational literature, without fears, that the successes of anybody students will not meet the generally accepted norms at the end of the school year, will not worry because the preparation of the student in reading is worse than in arithmetic. ”
Organizers of non-graduated schools intended to implement “continuously progressive education”, based on the recognition and maximum consideration of children’s differences. At the same time, they considered it legitimate to coexist graduated and non-graded schools.
A vivid example of non-graded schools is several educational institutions in Appleton (Wisconsin). In schools there was no division into classes. The progress in mastering the teaching material was carried out according to the personal differences of the students. Schoolchildren were divided into level training groups, which in turn were divided into subgroups, where they studied reading, writing and arithmetic. Individual account cards were used. Parents were constantly informed about the successes and problems of children. Parents and teachers at regular meetings thoroughly discussed the course of training. Following the first three-year cycle of primary education, the second three-year cycle began. Some schoolchildren spent seven years on the six-year course.
