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Alternative schooling

B

This thread was inspired by   and this quote:

'School can ruin or taint so many aspects of life'  in this thread:

 HI EVERYONE I am new here 

This set me thinking about what type of education would actually suit autistic people best.

One thing I'd like to avoid is forced education - making people study subjects they dislike or are not good at and especially the exams - from what I see, there is much more pressure on achievement for children nowadays than when I was at school which must be very stressful.

Also, I wonder what would help to alleviate the bullying that certainly was endemic when I was at school - smaller classes maybe.

From my own experience the bullying and trauma of school can have a lifelong detrimental effect. 

Montessori schooling impresses me:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_education

What do you think?

Any radical changes you would like to see in education - whether private or state?

I am talking about the UK because that's all I have experience of but please talk about your own country too.

Parents

  • Although I agree with you to a large degree about making people study things they dislike. I do think there are some things that are important to teach. Basic English and maths should be essential for everyone. As should aspects of life skills and pshe. I don't think they need to be taught the extent of what they are taught now though. Just the skills that are actually useful in life. I don't know how far I'd go in other subjects as I'm aware that kids may change their mind about what they want to do and then may not have any basic knowledge in the subject area they want to go into. So I think they should probably do basics in a variety of subjects like science and geography.  However, I do think there should be a lot more flexibility in the curriculum. If a child really hates a subject then adaptations or an alternative should be found. And I absolutely think there should be more choices in it. Especially for older kids. I think there should be more realistic opportunities that actually teach skills that would be useful for careers rather than everything being book learning.

    I think there should be smaller class sizes and a stepped timetable system so that not everyone is on break/in the corridors at the same time. I also think there should be more time for kids to be kids and for regulation. Being allowed to move around when you feel fidgety should be encouraged not stopped.

    I'm not sure how you fully tackle bullying. Unfortunately, I think this can often stem from home which schools have little to no control over.

    I'd get rid of most homework. Reading, particularly for younger children yes. Maybe some practice of things like timetables. But no relentless worksheets etc. Some revision when they get older maybe but I also would want to move away from the heaviness of exams. I think they should bring back coursework and open book exams. There should be far more emphasis on applying knowledge, rather than memorising it. 

Reply

  • Although I agree with you to a large degree about making people study things they dislike. I do think there are some things that are important to teach. Basic English and maths should be essential for everyone. As should aspects of life skills and pshe. I don't think they need to be taught the extent of what they are taught now though. Just the skills that are actually useful in life. I don't know how far I'd go in other subjects as I'm aware that kids may change their mind about what they want to do and then may not have any basic knowledge in the subject area they want to go into. So I think they should probably do basics in a variety of subjects like science and geography.  However, I do think there should be a lot more flexibility in the curriculum. If a child really hates a subject then adaptations or an alternative should be found. And I absolutely think there should be more choices in it. Especially for older kids. I think there should be more realistic opportunities that actually teach skills that would be useful for careers rather than everything being book learning.

    I think there should be smaller class sizes and a stepped timetable system so that not everyone is on break/in the corridors at the same time. I also think there should be more time for kids to be kids and for regulation. Being allowed to move around when you feel fidgety should be encouraged not stopped.

    I'm not sure how you fully tackle bullying. Unfortunately, I think this can often stem from home which schools have little to no control over.

    I'd get rid of most homework. Reading, particularly for younger children yes. Maybe some practice of things like timetables. But no relentless worksheets etc. Some revision when they get older maybe but I also would want to move away from the heaviness of exams. I think they should bring back coursework and open book exams. There should be far more emphasis on applying knowledge, rather than memorising it. 

Children
  • in reply to Expecto_Patronum
    Expecto_Patronum said:
    There should be far more emphasis on applying knowledge, rather than memorising it.

    So many good points, but this in particular - in real life it's much more important to have the skills to look up knowledge.

    If you rely on memory alone like they teach you in exams, then you are more likely to have out-of-date-knowledge and not listen to experts.

    I think that's almost why the world is in such a bad state. Finding out things should be prized more than memory alone.