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‘Alternative schools’ are gaining popularity not only in Bangalore, but all
over India. Thank God for that! More often than not, they have been
started by people who are not happy with the way mainstream schools
operate, and who believe that there are better ways to bring about
outcomes in education. Many alternative schools come to be as a result
of dissatisfied parents whose children went to mainstream schools, and
who are confident that there are better ways to teach and to learn.
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They seek to bring about changes in the way we teach, and the way
students learn, by moving away from the ‘rote learning’ factory type
system of education that has been so prevalent not only in India, but
all over the world for the last two hundred and fifty years.
Given that they are run by educators who think the system is currently
failing most of its students, they don’t stick to text books and syllabus.
The dire state of textbooks in CBSE and ICSE schools back me up here —
they are the most boring, unimaginative and badly written books you are
likely to come across. Educators at alternative schools therefore look to
use a variety of methods apart from textbooks to bring subjects alive for
children. This might include the use of technology, live projects and
experiments, innovative use of the immediate environment to teach
mathematical and scientific concepts, games, group discussions, role
play, music, movement and more. It really is down to the creativity and
nous of the educator.
Philosophy
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end.
Learning is actually far more enjoyable when it involves other people
— the school model where everything depends on individual exams
is too far removed from reality. This also means there is a support
group I can turn to whenever I exhaust my own capabilities at any
point in time.
Misconceptions
1. These are schools for children who are differently abled or can’t
cope with the demands of a mainstream school
This is simply not true. For children who are differently abled, you’d go to
a school which is equipped to help children with various challenges.
Having said that, many alternative schools are inclusive learning spaces.
Furthermore, children at alternative schools are equally if not more
capable as far as academic skills are concerned.
Again, not true. If anything, they have a variety of activities that children
can spend their creative energies pursuing. Also, the academic program
is carefully planned to give children as much of an exposure to a topic as
possible and to go beyond the classroom.
Again, no. NO! They do, but they have a different approach to reaching
academic outcomes and milestones. The approach used in alternative
schools is more likely to make a child a well-rounded and analytical
thinker than an approach of primarily text-book based learning. The
focus is on giving students the opportunity to develop well rounded
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Yes, almost all so called alternative schools will offer exams of some
board or the other. After all, credentialing and signaling are two important
features of any education system, so this is a given.
Probably, but a swimming pool does not maketh the man. Also, since
these schools are usually started by passionate educators and not real
estate behemoths, they are not as well funded. But given how important
sport and other activities are to all round development, these schools
usually use outside facilities for this purpose. So it’s not all that bad and
children don’t miss out due to a lack of infrastructure. On that note, I
envision that alternative schools come together to share facilities and
infrastructure in the near future.
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students.
Closing Thoughts
To sum up, the term ‘alternative’ has stuck because there needs to be an
easy way to refer to such schools, and since they are quite different to
the norm, they are referred to as alternative. But that should not put you
off because they are working towards a well defined set of objectives,
and if you identify with those as a parent, then the decision to choose an
alternative school is much easier.
Were you happy with your schooling and did it prepare you for life?
The answer is usually a big, fat, resounding NO. Well, then its probably
time you look at the ‘alternatives’ available to you!
People who run alternative schools know that boards and governments
and other so called policy makers cannot be relied upon to take us where
we need to go. Just imagine putting your future in the hands of a board
which thinks mathematics is no longer needed. Does that sound
ridiculous to you or what?!
As someone who runs such a school, I can confidently say that the era of
textbook learning, rote learning and compartmentalized classrooms is
coming to an end.
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There is nothing natural about following a text book which hasn’t been
updated in years, when all of the world’s knowledge is available to us,
whenever we want, and in multiple formats
Hopefully, this gives you a better idea about why ‘alternative’ schools are
surfacing all over the country. Do you have more ideas on how we can
improve education? Send me a note on Twitter or here!
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