Alternative Schooling Essay

Chapter 2

Why Alternative Schooling?

Now that we have arrived at the definition of the alternative and the traditional forms of schooling, we need to question why there is a division. There is a division because there is a requirement to be better than the current situation. This chapter explores why we need an alternative.

We attend school to attain education. Let us explore the meaning of education. ed•u•ca•tion [ej-oo-key-shuh n] noun The act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.

For making the argument easier to follow, let us divide this definition into the following parts -

1. Imparting or acquiring general knowledge

2. Developing the powers of reason and judgement

3. Preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.

Assuming that the best way to develop reasoning and judgement is by interaction with those whose views differ from yours – traditional schooling defeats that purpose of education altogether. Let us see how. We have already addressed the idea that children are not all the same. We cannot have a classroom with 20 children and all of whom can cope with the teacher. With the definition of classroom in the previous chapter kept in mind, let us try to remember what it is like to be in the classroom. Since the environment is so teacher-centric, the child remains unable to speak through the lesson till the teacher allows them to. Usually by the end of the lesson, the child would have forgotten the doubt it had in mind.

Even if the child does have doubts, the quality of doubts is always questioned by the teachers and its peers. While curiosity is ideally encouraged...

... middle of paper ...

...two and three in one particular school struggle to read individual words, but can neatly copy entire paragraphs from their textbooks into their notebooks.

This problem can be solved when the children can relate to what they are studying. If they realise that they need to look beyond concepts and understand the ideas behind them, they will be able to appreciate and apply the concepts better. Let us take the previous example of the rural children being unable to relate to the concept of their parents going to offices. This concept can be replaced by the concept of occupation. We can explain how different people go to different places of occupation and those who don’t are considered unemployed. This not only explains the concept more easily to children, but also helps them understand the concept of unemployment. This idea can be applied outside a rural set-up as well.