Alternative school
Encyclopedia
- This article deals with the physical schoolSchoolA school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s based on an educational model that purports to be outside of, and more rigorous than, historically traditional ones, but one that is nevertheless still meant for those without cognitive disabilities or similar impairments. For the more general concept behind these schools, see the article alternative educationAlternative educationAlternative education, also known as non-traditional education or educational alternative, includes a number of approaches to teaching and learning other than mainstream or traditional education. Educational alternatives are often rooted in various philosophies that are fundamentally different...
.
Alternative school is the name used in some parts of the world (in particular the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) to describe an institution which provides part of alternative education
Alternative education
Alternative education, also known as non-traditional education or educational alternative, includes a number of approaches to teaching and learning other than mainstream or traditional education. Educational alternatives are often rooted in various philosophies that are fundamentally different...
. It is an educational establishment with a curriculum and methods that are nontraditional. These schools have a special curriculum offering a more flexible program of study than a traditional school.
A wide range of philosophies and teaching methods are offered by alternative schools; some have strong political, scholarly, or philosophical orientations, while others are more ad-hoc assemblies of teachers and students dissatisfied with some aspect of mainstream or traditional education
Traditional education
Traditional education or back-to-basics refers to long-established customs found in schools that society has traditionally deemed appropriate. Some forms of education reform promote the adoption of progressive education practices, a more holistic approach which focuses on individual students'...
.
United Kingdom
In the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, School refers to a private school that provides a learner centered informal education
Informal education
Informal education is a general term for education outside of a standard school setting. It can refer to various forms of alternative education, such as:* Unschooling or Homeschooling* Autodidacticism * Youth Work...
as an alternative to the regimen of traditional education in the United Kingdom
Education in the United Kingdom
Education in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter with each of the countries of the United Kingdom having separate systems under separate governments: the UK Government is responsible for England, and the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive are...
. There is a long tradition of such schools which includes Summerhill
Summerhill School
Summerhill School is an independent British boarding school that was founded in 1921 by Alexander Sutherland Neill with the belief that the school should be made to fit the child, rather than the other way around...
, the founder of which, A. S. Neill
A. S. Neill
Alexander Sutherland Neill was a Scottish progressive educator, author and founder of Summerhill school, which remains open and continues to follow his educational philosophy to this day...
, greatly influenced the spread of such schools, Dartington, and Kilquhanity School
Kilquhanity School
Kilquhanity School was one of several free schools to have been established in the United Kingdom in the twentieth century. Others include Sands School in Devon, Summerhill in Suffolk and Kirkdale School in London....
and a range of schools based on the ideas of Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori was an Italian physician and educator, a noted humanitarian and devout Catholic best known for the philosophy of education which bears her name...
and Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
United States
In 1970, there were only a few alternative schools in operation in the United States. They originated to serve a growing population of students who were not experiencing success in the traditional schools. Today there are thousands, and the number continues to grow. The term "alternative" is now used to describe nearly every type of school imaginable, but many share certain distinguishing characteristics:- Average or smaller classroom size
- Close student-teacher relationship
- Student decision-making and skills gained daily
- More involvement with school activities and around the community
- Diverse curriculum
- Peer guidance and parental involvement
- Prepares for a successful future and students can obtain skills inside and outside the classroom
This type of school is not only intended to accommodate students who are considered at risk of failing academically, but also students of all academic levels and abilities who are better served by a non-traditional program. Many programs are specifically intended for students with special educational needs, but others address primarily social problems that affect students, such as teenage parenthood or homelessness.
Students are typically referred to as at-risk students, and may have one or more of any several reasons such as challenging behavior, a need for special remedial programs, emotional disabilities, or problems that destabilize the student's personal life, such as homelessness or, in the case of migrant farmworkers, moving very frequently.
Canada
Alternative schools in Canada share many of the same characteristics as American alternative schools. School boards, which are separate by municipality but funded by the province, choose whether or not they wish to have alternative schools and how they are operated.Germany
Germany has a long tradition with Montessori and Waldorf Schools which are organized in their own national associations (with 994 Waldorf schools in the world there are 213 in Germany compared to 130 in the USA). These are based the concept of "Reformpädagogik" which is roughly equivalent to the anthroposophyAnthroposophy
Anthroposophy, a philosophy founded by Rudolf Steiner, postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world accessible to direct experience through inner development...
concepts in progressive education. Other alternative schools are organized in the Bundesverband der Freien Alternativschulen (federal association of free alternative schools). These private schools only get limited funding which differs for each Bundesland in Germany.
Full public funding is given to "Laborschule" institutions which are schools attached to a research facility. They are supposed to explore alternative school concepts to be introduced to the general public school later on. The Laborschule Bielefeld
Laborschule Bielefeld
The Laborschule Bielefeld is an alternative school located in the city of Bielefeld, Germany. It has received significant media coverage in Germany because it is one of Germany's few "democratic" schools. The Laborschule has been called one of Germany's best schools by the media...
had a great influence on alternative schools that do not adhere to the traditional concepts (Montessori, Waldorf, etc.). One result was the renewal of the democratic school
Democratic school
This is a comprehensive list of current and former democratic schools. Most of these were modeled on the Summerhill School, the oldest existing democratic school founded in 1921...
concept.
South Korea
There are many alternative schools in South Korea. Moreover most of these alternative schools are based on religious faith and personal testimony.See also
- Anarchistic free school
- Continuation high schoolContinuation high schoolA continuation high school is an alternative to a comprehensive high school primarily for students who are considered at-risk of not graduating at the normal pace. The requirements to graduate are the same but the scheduling is more flexible to allow students to earn their credits at a quicker...
- Dartmoor SchoolDartmoor SchoolDartmoor School is an independent, one-to-one alternative 1-12 school with four campuses in the Puget Sound region . Dartmoor is an alternative school serving students who need to remediate skills or credits, or who need a different school setting or flexible scheduling...
- Democratic schoolDemocratic schoolThis is a comprehensive list of current and former democratic schools. Most of these were modeled on the Summerhill School, the oldest existing democratic school founded in 1921...
- Gifted educationGifted educationGifted education is a broad term for special practices, procedures and theories used in the education of children who have been identified as gifted or talented...
- Liberal arts collegeLiberal arts collegeA liberal arts college is one with a primary emphasis on undergraduate study in the liberal arts and sciences.Students in the liberal arts generally major in a particular discipline while receiving exposure to a wide range of academic subjects, including sciences as well as the traditional...
- Reform schoolReform schoolA reform school in the United States was a term used to define, often somewhat euphemistically, what was often essentially a penal institution for boys, generally teenagers.-History:...
- Special educationSpecial educationSpecial education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
- UnschoolingUnschoolingUnschooling is a range of educational philosophies and practices centered on allowing children to learn through their natural life experiences, including play, game play, household responsibilities, work experience, and social interaction, rather than through a more traditional school curriculum....
- Virtual schoolVirtual schoolA virtual school or cyberschool describes an institution that teaches courses entirely or primarily through online methods. Though there are tens of thousands of commercial and non-accredited courses available online, the term "virtual school" is generally reserved for accredited schools that teach...
- Waldorf school
- Sudbury schoolSudbury schoolA Sudbury school is a school that practices a form of democratic education in which students individually decide what to do with their time, and learn as a by-product of ordinary experience rather than adopting a descriptive educational syllabus or standardized instruction by classes following a...
- Montessori school
- Khan AcademyKhan AcademyThe Khan Academy is a not-for-profit educational organization, created in 2006 by Bangladeshi American educator Salman Khan, a graduate of MIT. With the stated mission of "providing a high quality education to anyone, anywhere", the website supplies a free online collection of more than 2,700 micro...
- Western Governors UniversityWestern Governors UniversityWestern Governors University is a private, nonprofit, American online university with nearly 30,000 students across the United States and in military bases overseas, as of December 2011. It is a competency-based university...
- Avondale Secondary Alternative SchoolAvondale Secondary Alternative SchoolAvondale Secondary Alternative School is a public alternative school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It teaches grades 9 through 12. ASAS and its family schools, Avondale Elementary School and Avondale Alternative Elementary School, are part of the Toronto District School Board.-History:Avondale's...
- the H-B Woodlawn Secondary ProgramH-B WoodlawnThe H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program, commonly referred to as H-B, is an alternative all-county public school located in Arlington County, Virginia, United States based on the liberal educational movements of the 1960s and 1970s...
- Alternative teacher training college in Denmark
Further reading
- Claire V. Korn, Alternative American Schools: Ideals in Action (Ithaca: SUNY Press, 1991).