The Freedom And Self Determination Curriculum

The author further discusses some schools similar to Anne Fox Elementary School, that have transformed and really became the academic haven for children, paving newer paths of success for their students. It gives an overview of the other chapters and lists some great changes that had taken place when these schools really adopted the principle, and the results they had received from making a change in their system. It goes to show that when our systems aren't working in terms of helping children meet their goal it is very important for us to become open to change and really believing that change and success in any child are possible as long as we believe in them. Becoming a supportive adult can make the biggest difference in a child. From this chapter I learned that being open-minded, researching new ways to improve, accepting our mistakes can really change our effectiveness in the lives of the children around

Young people wind up neglecting high school for various reasons. In this circumstance, a number of students either don't have the aspiration to remain in school or they simply cannot stand to pay the tuition. In a couple of cases, the students dropout, as a result of low quality teaching. According to the article, Let Kids Rule The School by Susan Engel, she states “I recently followed a group of eight public high school students, aged 15 to 17, in Western Massachusetts as they designed & ran their own school within a school.” This quote shows that in our society today, its critical to consider who our 'associates' are in a peer learning group & how they don’t have a part like an educator.

The freedom to hold beliefs of one's choosing and to change them is central to human development. It is the individual's search for meaning and the desire to know who we are as human beings that distinguish the human conscience. Human Development Reports have evolved dramatically from a purely materialist approach centered on wealth and income to embrace the concept of development as the expansion of human freedoms.

The students at Summit Charter Collegiate Academy, also known as SCCA, are bright young students with potential to make their future an outstanding work of art. They are students who are serious about their education and will do anything to get to the highest pinnacle in life. But besides being determined and solemn scholars, they are still only teenagers in high school who just want to have fun. The culture at SCCA lacks fun, excitement, and freedom, and the main reason for that is because of the Burton School District that runs the facility. There needs to be some changes in the Burton School District and in the culture of SCCA.

In chapter 5, Reforming America’s Schools, I learned many things that affect me as an educator. An important fact that interests me was that there are four goals that schools should follow. The first one is academic, including a broad array of knowledge and intellectual skills. The second one is vocational, aimed at readiness for the world of work and economic responsibilities. The third one is social and civic, including skills and behavior for participating in a complex democratic society. The fourth one is personal, including the development of individual talent and self-expression. This will affect me as an educator so that I can follow and do my best to complete these goals. Now I am aware of what should be done in a classroom.

The school is testing ground for the brain. I believe that the student should be exposed to new ideas, experiences, techniques and methods so as to further develop their own capacities to adapt, change, learn, and grow as people. One of the most important goals of the school, if not the most significant, is to develop literate and productive members of society, who are able to converse with a variety of issues using varied methods of communication and media. All students should be encouraged to make thoughtful contributions to society, no matter how large or small they may be. Also, the school is not confined to a

Ohanian begins with the statement that encompasses her outlook on the curriculum and standards teachers are expected to teach which states "Teachers and curriculum being flexible enough to meet the needs of each students, not shoving every kid through some distant committee's phantasmic pipe dream of a necessary curriculum for tomorrow's workforce" (Ohanian, 1999, p.2). In this quote Ohanian says what school should be about and stresses the need for "oddball plans for oddball students". Throughout the book this point is supported with personal recounts and stories of interactions with students and the outcomes. The most key point of this book is that standards are unfair to children who do not learn the traditional way. Curriculums and standards are created by individuals who are not even in a classroom day to day whom Ohanian refers to as "standardistos". Therefore the importance of a nurturing, personal relationship suffers

Many students across the nation are attending schools that have seven classes during each school day as their schedule, one of them being Conroe High School. But behind the scenes, students are not exactly satisfied with these conditions, but they are forced to accept this brutal schedule as part of their everyday lives. That is why Conroe High School’s principal, Dr. Weatherly, should change the school’s schedule to have less, but longer, classes in a single day to create a less stressful environment for the students’ and teachers’ benefit.

The practice of caring for the individual needs of each student should transform schools and society. The transformation is dependent on the market reaction to the personalized learning and care shown to students. As schools moved to an industrial model where bigger, impersonal, standardized learning became the norm, student’s needs became secondary. Kittay (2011) argues that all people have a need for dependency for care from others. Schools are built to provide care, but often fall under the category of being an institution. The impersonal nature of institutional schools has led to larger buildings, higher classes sizes, and curriculum geared for testing. This is not just a phenomenon in public schools where No Child Left Behind has left schools adjusting the curriculum to meet standards for continued funding. Standardization has also become wide spread within the independent school communities.

In this outline, Jason W. Brooks goes over what advantages the principle of Newton High School in Iowa, Bill Peters promoted during his speech with the Newton Community School District Board of Education. Peter’s speech consisted of the positives that come along with having a blocked schedule also he states how flexible the schedule can be. The two main arguments are the flexibility and to keep the seniors on campus. The president believes that “Block scheduling not only puts some kids through a freshman (college) year’s worth of

America, the land of opportunity. Many people imagine of making their dreams a reality in the country of the United States, some do succeed but for others it is out of their reach. Many people do not think of the fight for education to be an issue in America, especially since America is called “the best nation on Earth”. It is like when Malala from Pakistan fought for rights that everyone should have the right to education. Education is said to be the key to success and with the proper education people can get jobs and make a living off it. Native Americans need education to get out of poverty and to reach out to society and, hopefully, catch with the rest of the world. People tend to forgot the importance of

Despite their best interest, schools are often bound by tight guidelines that determine an exact curriculum. Although these guidelines often successfully lead students into the right direction as for preparation into the future, they also restrict students into specific mindsets such as “economics, accountability and compliance” (Rose 3). In his excerpt from Why School, Mike Rose explains how schools restrict growth and development of students through a specific and close-minded economic view potentially limiting shared respect and social obligation. Although many schools are truly constrained by specific guidelines, they continue to encourage and inspire students to branch out and follow their dreams.

Although this approach allowed for students to explore a variety of interests and freedom, it did not have a structured curriculum of set goals which needed to be succeeded in order to move to higher education and be prepared to compete with other students in the future with a basic similar knowledge background. Freedom of activities should be exclusively for recess, lunchtime, playtime in the educational field. If students are playing videogames all day or painting…playing outside…etc., it does not benefit them in the educational field. Students have plenty of time for play outside of school which they should use as a relaxation and social time outside of the

The next school to present was Floyd C. Fretz Middle School by their principles Mrs. Slaven and Mrs Signor. Overall, Fretz scored an 84.5%. Looking over the information they received from the state, they concluded that the math program was doing well. Mrs. Slaved credited the students for their hard work. In addition to crediting the students, the principle said that the teachers have implemented a new program called HERE. HERE is a program where a teacher “adopts” a student and mentors them whether it is to improve academically or socially. The staff at Fretz feels the program works well with students who are at risk but does not do much for the advanced students. In class we discussed that middle school is a challenging time period for adolescence. I think the program they have implemented will help to greatly ease the challenges students face. In class we

of us fail to cherish and value our granted freedom. Many of us do not