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Subject:Educational reform From:mpriestley -at- VNET -dot- IBM -dot- COM Date:Tue, 16 Aug 1994 11:11:00 EDT
LaVonna Funkhouser wrote:
>Perhaps a more wholistic approach is the key to education reform
>Something that shows that English _is_ important to biology and
>history; history _does_ relate to English and science; algebra
>_does_ relate to... uh... hmmm... ;-) Oh well, you get the
>idea.
>Do any of you have any experience with alternative forms of
>education?
:proselytizing on.
I went to a Waldorf school up here in Toronto, from kindergarten through
grade 12. Wonderful teachers, wonderful school, great teaching philosophy.
Some of the things they did:
- teach within a historical sequence. For example, chemistry went through
ancient Greek theories, medieval ones, up through phlogiston, etc.
before we even saw a periodic table. We didn't touch a computer until
grade 10, and then only after we had gone through courses on electricity
and circuit-board programming (AND, NAND, OR gates etc.).
In addition, there were several courses such as "history through music"
or "history through architecture", that explored the development of a
particular discipline from earliest roots up to the present day, to sort
of weave the different disciplines into a single historical tapestry.
- don't be in a hurry. I didn't learn to read until I was seven. This was
about the time we were taught to read. The idea was that you should spend
time playing, exploring your environment etc., before you get sucked into
a pure imaginative/intellectual environment like a book.
- teach the whole child, not just the mind. Music, woodworking, pottery,
drama, and sports were all compulsory parts of the curriculum, in addition
to languages (French and German), math, history, etc.
They are bitter oponents of standardized testing, because their idea of what
should be taught when differs from the ideas of the Ministry of Education.
(they also think the tests are poorly designed and degrading). My fellow
alumni are following courses as varied as: doctor, sculptor, actor,
environmentalist, baseball scout, teacher, and computer programmer.
They don't appear to have been hurt by the school's teaching methods.
The ones I've talked to recently still give the school considerable credit
for starting them off on the right foot, giving them a comprehensive
education and teaching them to think.
:proselytizing off.
Sincerely,
Michael Priestley
mpriestley -at- vnet -dot- ibm -dot- com
Disclaimer: speaking on my own behalf
