 | The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline for books .(April 2024) |
School is Dead: An Essay on Alternatives in Education is a book written by Everett Reimer, published in 1971. In this work, the author critically examines the educational system and proposes an alternative vision for education. The book has been translated into several languages, including French, [1] German, [2] Spanish, [3] and Italian. [4]
Reimer challenges conventional education methods in "School is Dead" and advocates for a more student-centered and flexible approach. He argues that the traditional school system, which emphasizes standardized curriculum, grading, and hierarchical structure, is outdated and does not effectively address the diverse needs of students.
According to Reimer, genuine learning occurs beyond the confines of the traditional classroom. He encourages a shift towards alternative forms of education that acknowledge and nurture individual talents and interests. Reimer promotes the idea that education should be a lifelong, self-directed process, and he suggests that the rigid structure of schools hinders creativity and personal development.
Critics argue that Reimer's vision for alternative education is utopian and impractical in the real world. [5] They claim he overlooks the value of structured learning and oversimplifies complex issues like social inequality. The lack of specific alternatives with clear details in his proposals is also criticized. [6] Published in 1971, the book's historical context is emphasized, with critics noting that some arguments may not be relevant today due to changes in educational practices and society. [7]
While "School is Dead" may be considered provocative and controversial, it has influenced discussions on education reform and alternative learning approaches. Reimer's work has contributed to ongoing debates about the best ways to prepare individuals for the challenges of the modern world. It's important to note that opinions on Reimer's ideas vary, and the book remains a topic of discussion within educational circles. [8] [9] [10]
Education is the transmission of knowledge, skills, and character traits and manifests in various forms. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education also follows a structured approach but occurs outside the formal schooling system, while informal education entails unstructured learning through daily experiences. Formal and non-formal education are categorized into levels, including early childhood education, primary education, secondary education, and tertiary education. Other classifications focus on teaching methods, such as teacher-centered and student-centered education, and on subjects, such as science education, language education, and physical education. Additionally, the term "education" can denote the mental states and qualities of educated individuals and the academic field studying educational phenomena.
Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or online teacher, many homeschool families use less formal, more personalized and individualized methods of learning that are not always found in schools. The actual practice of homeschooling varies considerably. The spectrum ranges from highly structured forms based on traditional school lessons to more open, free forms such as unschooling, which is a lesson- and curriculum-free implementation of homeschooling. Some families who initially attended a school go through a deschool phase to break away from school habits and prepare for homeschooling. While "homeschooling" is the term commonly used in North America, "home education" is primarily used in Europe and many Commonwealth countries. Homeschooling should not be confused with distance education, which generally refers to the arrangement where the student is educated by and conforms to the requirements of an online school, rather than being educated independently and unrestrictedly by their parents or by themselves.
Colin Ward was a British anarchist writer and editor. He has been called "one of the greatest anarchist thinkers of the past half century, and a pioneering social historian."
Unschooling is an informal learning method that prioritizes learner-chosen activities as a primary means for learning. Unschoolers learn through their natural life experiences including play, household responsibilities, personal interests and curiosity, internships and work experience, travel, books, elective classes, family, mentors, and social interaction. Often considered a lesson- and curriculum-free implementation of homeschooling, unschooling encourages exploration of activities initiated by the children themselves, under the belief that the more personal learning is, the more meaningful, well-understood, and therefore useful it is to the child. While unschooled students may occasionally take courses, unschooling questions the usefulness of standard curricula, fixed times at which learning should take place, conventional grading methods and standardized tests, forced contact with children in their own age group, the compulsion to do homework regardless of whether it helps the learner in their individual situation, the effectiveness of listening to and obeying the orders of one authority figure for several hours each day, and other features of traditional schooling.
John Caldwell Holt was an American author and educator, a proponent of homeschooling, and a pioneer in youth rights theory.
Ivan Dominic Illich was an Austrian Roman Catholic priest, theologian, philosopher, and social critic. His 1971 book Deschooling Society criticises modern society's institutional approach to education, an approach that constrains learning to narrow situations in a fairly short period of the human lifespan. His 1975 book Medical Nemesis, importing to the sociology of medicine the concept of medical harm, argues that industrialised society widely impairs quality of life by overmedicalising life, pathologizing normal conditions, creating false dependency, and limiting other more healthful solutions. Illich called himself "an errant pilgrim."
Autodidacticism or self-education is the practice of education without the guidance of schoolmasters.
Instructional scaffolding is the support given to a student by an instructor throughout the learning process. This support is specifically tailored to each student; this instructional approach allows students to experience student-centered learning, which tends to facilitate more efficient learning than teacher-centered learning. This learning process promotes a deeper level of learning than many other common teaching strategies.
Alternative education encompasses many pedagogical approaches differing from mainstream pedagogy. Such alternative learning environments may be found within state, charter, and independent schools as well as home-based learning environments. Many educational alternatives emphasize small class sizes, close relationships between students and teachers and a sense of community.
This is an index of education articles.
Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all people and is imposed by the government. This education may take place at a registered school or at other places.
Anti-schooling activism, or radical education reform, describes positions that are critical of school as a learning institution and/or compulsory schooling laws; or multiple attempts and approaches to fundamentally change the school system. People of this movement usually advocate alternatives to the traditional school system, education independent from school, the absence of the concept of schooling as a whole, or the right that people can choose how, where and with whom they are educated.
Everett W. Reimer (1910–1998) was an education theorist who authored several books on educational policy and was a proponent of deschooling. He was a notable friend of Ivan Illich, whom he met at the Catholic University of Puerto Rico.
Education in Niger, as in other nations in the Sahelian region of Africa, faces challenges due to poverty and poor access to schools. Although education is compulsory between the ages of seven and fifteen, with primary and secondary school leading into optional higher education, Niger has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world. With assistance from external organizations, Niger has been pursuing educational improvement, reforming how schools utilize languages of instruction, and exploring how the system can close gender gaps in retention and learning.
Competency-based learning or competency-based education is a framework for teaching and assessment of learning. It is also described as a type of education based on predetermined "competencies," which focuses on outcomes and real-world performance. Competency-based learning is sometimes presented as an alternative to traditional methods of assessment in education.
Philosophy education is the practice of teaching and learning philosophy along with the associated scholarly research. It is not philosophy of education, nor the philosophical study of education in general.
Anarchism has had a special interest on the issue of education from the works of William Godwin and Max Stirner onwards.
Compulsory Miseducation is a critique of American public schools written by Paul Goodman and published by Horizon Press in 1964. Already established as a social critic of American society and the role of its youth in his previous book Growing Up Absurd (1960), Goodman argues in Compulsory Miseducation against the necessity of schools for the socialization of youth and recommends their abolition. He suggests that formal education lasts too long, teaches the wrong social class values, and increasingly damages students over time. Goodman writes that the school reflects the misguided and insincere values of its society and thus school reformers should focus on these values before schools. He proposes a variety of alternatives to school including no school, the city or farm as school, apprenticeships, guided travel, and youth organizations. Reviewers complimented Goodman's style and noted his deliberate contrarianism, but were split on the feasibility of his proposals. Goodman's book was a precursor to the work of deschooling advocate Ivan Illich.
The École alsacienne is a co-educational private school located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris.
Antipedagogy sometimes spelled anti-pedagogy with the hyphen, is a critical theory that examines traditional pedagogical dynamics, particularly scrutinizing the exercise of parental or educational authority as a violation of human rights. The anti-pedagogical enlightenment brings attention to the detrimental effects of conventional pedagogy and advocates for intergenerational equality. In 1975, Ekkehard von Braunmühl laid the foundation for this theory with his publication, "Antipedagogy – Studies on the Abolition of Education".
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of May 2024 (link)