Vittra Telefonplan: school of the future without division into classes
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This school is located in Stockholm in a spacious modern building, which does not have separate rooms, reminiscent of traditional classrooms with desks and a blackboard. Children are divided into groups according to the type of training and each is required to be given an individual laptop. Classes take place everywhere - on a bench around a huge blue amphitheater that looks like an iceberg, on a cozy green sofa, or even on the floor. In this school, the environment is a unique learning tool, so it is divided into five areas: “lab” for hands-on experiments, “water” for discussions, “fire” for group work, “show yourself” for displaying personal projects and “caves”. where you can relax and unwind.
Vittra Telefonplan does not have standard lessons, schedules, etc. Curriculum is not built on the study of isolated disciplines, but on solving specific issues that require extensive knowledge. Children perceive the world as single organism and learn to live in it harmoniously and wisely.
The team of Rosal Bosch architects created a very beautiful and unusual building for this school, which is considered a masterpiece of design art in Sweden and throughout the world. Perhaps this is one of the most beautiful schools in the world. The Vittra school organization has already opened 30 such schools, which means there are even more happy children and their parents!
Big Picture Learning: the main thing is career guidance
This educational institution rightfully included in the top ten unusual world. It appeared in the US state of Rhode Island in 1995 as an experimental project and very quickly demonstrated good results. About 98% of Big Picture Learning graduates go to colleges and universities, receive scholarships and have no problems finding employment. What's the secret? The fact is that at this school, studies are closely related to career guidance, so children study according to their own individual program. They are united in groups of 15 people, which are called councils, and each group is assigned a curator. The mentor communicates with his mentees, tries to understand their interests and help them choose a profession, since this is what the individual training scheme will be based on. Two days a week are devoted to career guidance, when students meet with specialists from different fields of activity and gain experience in different professions. There are no grades in the school, the teacher is not an overseer, but an assistant, and parents and children take an active part in drawing up the curriculum.
There are now more than 65 Big Picture Learning schools in the USA, Canada, Australia and Holland. Elliot Walter, one of the school's founders, says: “I am for standards, but not for standardization. On the contrary, we need to further move away from the “one test for all students” approach. The focus should always be on the interests of the students and what opportunities are available to them.”
Steve Jobs School: School for the Digital Age
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Steve Jobs called the educational institutions he created “School for new era", where all children study according to individual programs and in a free schedule of classes. Each student has a personal iPad with educational material, exercises, tasks and tests in accordance with the chosen training program. Everyone determines for themselves the intensity of classes, the speed of learning, priorities in school subjects and the amount of knowledge required. Teachers here are called coaches, because their main task is not to give knowledge and evaluate results, but to help and advise. The plan changes every six weeks, so there is never a dull moment.
The first school was opened in the Netherlands, and now a whole network of Steve Jobs schools operates successfully all over the world, main goal which is the formation of originality and flexibility of thinking, creativity, which are very necessary in our constantly changing world. Students acquire the universal qualities necessary for the digital age; by the end of school they are able to collect information, analyze it, draw conclusions and understand how this knowledge can be applied in practice. Instead of dividing into classes by age, groups of 20-30 children are created here with an age difference of up to 4 years. The younger ones learn from the older ones, and the older ones teach the younger ones.
According to Business Insider, Steve Jobs School is ranked as the most innovative educational institutions in the world.
Watershed School: a real life adventure school
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One day, two American educators Jason Burve and Sumaya Abu-Haidar decided to create a fun, unusual school in Colorado that would be very interesting for children. And this venture was crowned with success, despite the fact that at first only 16 people studied in it. Now the number of students has reached one hundred, with one teacher for every nine students. But this is not the most important thing at Watershed School. The school community is a friendly community in which children not only learn, but experience life in all its beautiful aspects. In addition to classes, the school has a design workshop, dance and theater centers, a sports club, science laboratories, and educational lessons in the fresh air. Children are actively involved in local history, visiting local farms, Indian reservations and beautiful places not only in their state, but also in other countries.
Headteacher Graham Bamford believes that “you can only be of good quality if you educational process supports and develops the innate love of learning. Students must love the process of learning and be active participants in it.” But the school sees its most important task as bridging the gap between the school walls and real life.
Shchetinin School: learning through immersion
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Oddly enough, among the list of non-standard educational institutions you can also find unusual schools in Russia. For example, the experimental school of Mikhail Petrovich Shchetinin was considered a sect for a long time, like everything unusual in our country. Created in 1988-1994 by a senior employee of the Research Institute of Teaching Means and Methods of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR in the village of Tekos, Krasnodar Territory, it immediately attracted attention with its unusualness. Since the school is a boarding school, children from different cities study there, and education is year-round.
Interesting fact: students themselves are involved in the construction, repair and maintenance of all buildings and premises on the school grounds. Agree that they don’t teach this in regular secondary schools!
Education at the Shchetinin school is based on the immersion method, which lasts from several days to several weeks, when children study only one subject. According to teachers and students themselves, this method of learning is more effective, since there is no need to constantly switch attention and jump between different school disciplines. In addition to traditional subjects, the program includes hand-to-hand combat, ethnic dances and esotericism. Actually, it is for this reason that many are wary of Shchetinin’s school.
Instead of classes, groups of different ages have been created, there are no classrooms, a grading system and certified subject teachers. Children receive education independently, with the support of adults.
The school has 350 students, but it is difficult to get here due to high competition. It doesn’t matter how the child studied previously, the priorities are character traits and teamwork - all this is revealed during the probationary period. The school, which is a kind of commune, has a fairly strict daily routine with early rises, physical education and hardening. Education is free, the level of education is high, children easily pass oral exams at universities and colleges, but it is more difficult to pass the Unified State Exam, since the test system is based on memorization. Graduates who need Unified State Exam results, prepare for them separately.
“Perspective”: all life is a game!
But perhaps the most unusual school in Russia is the Moscow Play School “Perspective”. Created in 1992 as an alternative to the traditional system, it took the best from the old Soviet school and added progressive techniques. This is how an educational institution appeared, in which many parents seek to enroll their child.
Education at the school is conducted in groups of ten people. The educational “program” consists of unique “packages” - courses that combine several subjects, such as history, literature and geography. During the course, all group members are immersed in the issue being studied. If the topic of study is Japan, instead of traditional porridge, the school cafeteria serves Japanese dishes that must be eaten with chopsticks, haiku is recited during lessons, and a tea ceremony is held on mats. All training is structured as exciting game. Part academic year takes place in boarding houses, and once a year the “Big Game” is held, for which a castle, a town with houses and streets, and a small village with private farms are created in the Moscow region. During the game, everyone has their own role. There are nobles, artisans, peasants, hunters and even robbers. However, role playing games for Perspective this is not a rarity, but a completely ordinary everyday process. Often educational material mastered in camps, trips and hikes.
First political cultural school No. 1650
In the first political cultural Russia No. 1650, children of 32 nationalities study, although people call it Armenian. The fact is that teacher Ophelia Vazgenovna Arakelyan created this school in 1989 for children injured during the earthquake in Armenia. Gradually, the school expanded and began to accept children of other nationalities.
Moreover, any student can study not only the language and culture of his own people, but also the national traditions of other states. It is interesting that Russian is taught here as a foreign language - on an equal basis with other languages. IN school curriculum there is cultural studies, ethnology, Russian studies, ethnopsychology, etiquette of the peoples of the world - it is no coincidence that this educational institution is called the school of international communications. About 200 students study here on a budget basis.
A school where you can swear and do nothing, an adventure school, a floating school and other strange institutions around the world
On the eve of September 1, Maria Ivanova, a freelance writer for Forbes, chose the 10 most unusual schools in the world.
1. Underground school
Terraset Elementary School PTA (USA)
Address: 11411 Ridge Heights Road, Reston, Virginia
The students of the American Terraset School are almost children of the underground. The school was built in the mid-1970s, when the United States was rocked by an energy crisis. The country introduced an energy saving regime, which was used, among other things, for heating schools. In the city of Reston, they built the Terraset School: they leveled the hill, erected a building on this site, and then covered it with earth. The natural earthen covering provided warmth and saved energy.
The designers faced another difficult task: the room had to be not only heated, but also cooled. And this required new energy costs. Solar collectors solved the problem. Today, Terraset is not only the most energy-efficient school in the country, but also one of Reston's top tourist attractions.
Unlike the history of the creation of Terraset, the learning process at school can hardly be called original. This junior school with a traditional US set of items. However, from time to time the school holds events for children and parents, such as a family run through the city streets or an evening bingo.
2. School without discipline
ALPHA Alternative School (Canada)
Address: 20 Brant Street, Toronto, Ontario
ALPHA School, which opened its doors in 1972, is a perpetual celebration of disobedience. There are no grades, no strict schedule, no homework. No one will punish you for a curse written in chalk on a blackboard and no one will stand over your soul. Students decide for themselves how to spend the school day and what classes to attend. Classes are formed not by age, but by interests: along with mathematics and spelling, classes in modeling, cooking and even elementary philosophy are provided. The teachers' job is simply not to interfere.
If some kind of conflict situation arises at school, a special committee consisting of students and teachers is convened. The parties are allowed to speak out and justify their point of view, after which the commission offers options for solving the problem. The main thing is to find a solution that everyone will like.
Another ALPHA tradition is to hold meetings during which children, along with adults, have the right to speak out about the need to make changes to the subject grid and school management system.
3. Nomadic school
"Keneleken" (Russia)
Address: Oleneksky Evenki national region, Yakutia
In the past, children of nomadic reindeer herders either did not receive a systematic education at all, or were forced to stay in boarding schools and not see their relatives for months. Today this problem is being solved with the help of nomadic schools, which are becoming more and more numerous in Russia every year. There are already more than a dozen such schools in Yakutia.
One of these nomadic schools is “Keneleken”. It is a branch of Kharyyalakhskaya high school Oleneksky Evenki national district. At each new nomad site, in addition to the usual structures, a school tent now appears. The number of students can be counted on one hand. However, despite their small numbers, subsequently they will be little inferior to their peers who are lucky enough to study in more stable conditions. Children study according to a specially designed schedule. Homework and tests are received via the Internet - all schools for children of reindeer herders, as part of the national project, have access to satellite Internet. After completion, they are sent back for verification.
photo courtesy of the press service of the governor of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
4. School of searching for a common language
Busan International Foreign School (South Korea)
Address: 798 Nae-ri, Gijang-eup, Gijang-gun, Busan
Students at a school for foreigners in Busan, South Korea, work tirelessly all year round. Children of emigrants or those who came to Korea to work for a long period of time study here, as well as boys and girls who were transferred as exchange students to one of the Korean schools and need adaptation. An intensive regime is necessary in order to quickly adapt to new living conditions and subsequently successfully enter one of the Korean universities.
It is not easy for young emigrants to make friends with new classmates in a regular school. Ignorance of local traditions often becomes a reason for ridicule, which can cause psychological trauma to a child. Many teachers at the Busan school for foreigners are psychologists by training. They teach their students to find common language with each other, despite the fact that many of them had never heard of the existence of the country from which their new classmate came.
Most children learn three languages at once: Korean, English, Spanish. The program also includes thematic classes that do not allow you to forget the culture of your native country.
There are multicultural schools in many countries. In Moscow, there is school No. 1650, which specifically enrolls children of different nationalities in order to instill in students a tolerant attitude towards those who are somehow different from them, as well as to help them learn more about the traditions of other peoples.
5. School of pleasant interaction with the world
Mountain Mahogany Community School (USA)
Address: 5014 4th Street NW, Albuquerque, New Mexico
To get into Mountain Mahogany School, you need to win the lottery. You need to download a special form from the school’s official website, fill it out, send it by fax or mail and wait for the drawing to take place and the list of lucky winners to be announced.
The approach to the learning process at school is no less original. The three principles on which school policy is based are pleasure, safety and emotional development. The program is based on the latest neurological research, according to which the key to good learning is a positive atmosphere and active involvement. The school has standard general education subjects, but first of all, children are taught how to interact with the outside world and everyday skills: sewing, cooking, gardening. Teachers jokingly call students “little gardeners.” And it’s not surprising: hundreds of trees are planted on the school grounds that need to be taken care of. The children eat organic fruits that they grow themselves.
6. School of learning everything through music
Choir Academy of Harlem (USA)
Address: 2005 Madison Avenue, New York
By sending their child to the Harlem Choir Academy, parents provide them with not only vocal cord training, touring, and exposure to spiritual values, but also a basic education with a humanitarian focus.
The mission of the teachers of this school is to contribute to the development of the child’s hidden talents. Therefore, the main program consists of various types of performing arts: singing, dancing, playing musical instruments. During the entrance interview, the potential student is tested for a sense of rhythm, time orientation and concentration. However, the child’s love for music remains paramount. If parents cannot afford to buy musical instrument, the school will provide it to the child for temporary use.
The physical development of students does not go unnoticed: the school has baseball and football teams and, of course, a group of cheerleaders.
7. School for refugees and illegal immigrants
"Bialik-Rogozin" (Israel)
Address: HaAliya, Tel Aviv
In February 2011, the Oscar for Best Short Film documentary went to the film “No Strangers Here” by Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon. The forty-minute film tells about the Israeli school “Bialik-Rogozin”, where children of refugees and illegal immigrants study. They come from all over the world, originating from different families and worship different gods, but short life each of them faced many trials. Many have lost loved ones and are exhausted both physically and emotionally. Some children have never gone to school before.
“Bialik-Rogozin” gives children not only the necessary basic knowledge. The students are fed, watered and clothed there. And the most important thing that students receive from their mentors is sincere participation and care. Here children are not considered strangers or unnecessary, since they have all become Israelis.
More details: www.schooly.co.il
8. Floating school
Kompong Luong School (Cambodia)
Address: Tonle Sap Lake, Kompong Luong Village
Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake, near which the famous Angkor Wat temple complex is located, is considered the largest freshwater body of water on the Indochina Peninsula. It is even called the “inland sea.” On the surface of the lake there is a famous landmark of Cambodia - the floating village of Kompong Luong: residential buildings, cafes, shops and a school.
For the students, the floating school has become a second home in the truest sense of the word - mostly orphans study there. This is where they live. The parents of many of them died while fishing: during the rainy season, the water level in the lake rises significantly and boating on it becomes quite dangerous.
Tourists help provide for children: each new group buys up all the goods from the shelves of local shops and literally inundates schoolchildren with toys, stationery and sweets.
9. School based on the open space principle
Ørestad Gymnasium (Denmark)
Address:Ørestads Boulevard 75 2300, Copenhagen
The Ørestad Gymnasium building in Copenhagen, designed by 3XN, is a real work of art contemporary art both inside and outside. In 2007, the gymnasium was named the best building in Scandinavia. This is the first educational institution opened in Denmark as part of the national educational reform.
Orestad's students are high school students who are about to receive higher education in the field of media. The word “communication” is heard here at every step. The school's classrooms are separated from each other quite conventionally - all classes practically study in one huge room. There is wireless Internet throughout the building, so high school students constantly interact not only in real, but also in virtual space.
The luxurious spiral staircase that connects the four levels of the gymnasium is called the heart of the building by students. During recess, they lie on bright pillows and look at the ceiling, decorated with round lamps, reminiscent of a starry sky.
10. Adventure School
Watershed School (USA)
Address: 1661 Alpine Avenue, Boulder, Colorado
The decline of farming culture in the United States worries not only the farmers themselves and the government, but also school officials. How else to explain the fact that Watershed School has introduced a Farm to Table program, in which students go to one of six local farms and learn how a farm works.
Overall, studying at Watershed feels like an epic adventure spanning several years. Of course, children also study regular subjects like mathematics and English, but these studies can be tolerated for the sake of educational expeditions, which are considered the most productive method of education here. Thus, children study architecture not in stuffy classrooms, but on the streets of the city. Instead of geography and biology lessons, they go kayaking on nearby rivers and wander through the forest.
Watershed teachers help students write songs, form rock bands, build robots and create scenarios for video games. In addition to traditional sports like football, students do yoga, mountain biking and play Frisbee.
More details: www.watershedschool.org
Modern schoolchildren are against gray buildings and ordinary classrooms, just like the specialists of the Rosan Bosch architectural studio. It was they who developed and implemented the project of the Vittra Södermalm educational institution, which is located in Stockholm. This is one of the most unusual and interesting schools peace.
The first thing that attracts attention is the bright colors and their absolutely unexpected combination: black, red, yellow, blue...
There are no separate classrooms or offices for teachers here. To combine study and relaxation, classes at Vittra Södermalm are held on stands with steps. During the lesson, children can sit on them in a way that is comfortable for them. This device resembles an ancient amphitheater.
After looking at the photo, you will be convinced that this unusual school does not have the attributes that everyone considers indispensable for a school. Guess what we're talking about? Of course, about the blackboard and chalk!
The school has large tables for group classes, bright conference rooms, and small cozy corners for teachers. But during recess, students relax on sofas - small holes in the wall. It is interesting to spend time in the library in such an unusual school. It resembles a huge black box. There are books, magazines, laptops - everything you need in the learning process.
The school cafeteria is also designed in an unconventional style: children sit on high bar stools at brightly colored teardrop tables. And, of course, you can’t do without a healthy breakfast and a delicious hearty lunch.
Gymnasium based on the open space principle inDenmark
Orestand Gymnasium is located in the capital of Denmark - Copenhagen. The peculiarity of this educational institution is its unusual construction principle - open space. This means that the school is a continuous open space, where there are no classrooms, no partitions, no doors. Classes are separated from each other by a conventional boundary. In 2007, the gymnasium building was recognized as the best in Scandinavia.
Only high school students who dream of working in the media in the future study at Orestand Gymnasium. Thanks to wireless Internet, high school students communicate every day in real and virtual space.
The “heart” of the building is the large twisted steps. They serve as a kind of connection between the four levels of the gymnasium.
During recess in the recreation area, students have the opportunity to “lounge” on large bright pillows.
According to the designers, such an interior promotes the development of creativity and independence in acquiring knowledge.
Adventure school inUSA
Studying at the American Watershed School is truly a multi-year adventure.
When studying traditional subjects - mathematics and English - classes are held in classrooms. But during geography or biology, educational expeditions are organized. Teachers consider this method of teaching the most productive. Thus, trips to the forest and kayaking are regularly organized for children. During physical education, children have the opportunity to ride mountain bikes and play Frisbee. And, in addition to traditional sports, they do yoga.
Teachers encourage students to develop their talents. Students of this unusual school create rock bands, assemble robots and write scripts for video games.
Transport school made from industrial containers
De Kleine kapitein is a school in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. This school is unusual in that it consists entirely of industrial containers.
This educational institution was created in 2009 completely by accident. With the start of the new school year, it turned out that due to the rapid growth of the population, children from new microdistricts simply have no place to study. This is how the idea of making a school out of multi-colored “cubes” arose.
De Kleine kapitein was supposed to be only a temporary building for education, but parents liked this unusual school so much that they decided to leave it.
Colored houses can be easily rearranged from place to place. In addition, such a room does not need special repairs.
Underground school in the USA
Terraset Elementary School is located in the small town of Reston (USA). It was built in the mid-1970s. At that time, the country was experiencing an energy crisis, so a regime of severe energy saving was introduced. It is clear that sufficient heating of schools was impossible. For this reason, one of the most unusual schools in the world was built - Terraset. This educational institution is located underground because this natural covering helps to retain heat in the room.
Today, Terraset is not only a school, but also an outstanding tourist attraction in the city.
Although the school is unusual in its own way appearance, the learning process here is traditional. Junior schoolchildren study the same subjects as in other US schools.
School in the form of a bookshelf in Georgia
The facade of a school in the city of Zugdidi resembles a shelf where huge books are placed. If you look closely at the photo, you will notice that there is even “Kobzar” by Taras Shevchenko. You will also find here works by Honore de Balzac, George Byron and outstanding Georgian classics.
Since a lot of attention is paid here to the study of natural sciences - physics, chemistry, biology - the school is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment inside.
Ichnyanskaya “School of Health”
You probably think that unusual schools only exist abroad? But no! In Ukraine, in the village of Ichnya, Chernigov region, there is also a school that is not like the others. The children who study here never get sick and don’t know what quarantine is. You ask why? Because they have developed and successfully used a special teaching method that helps improve children’s health. Classes at school are organized so that children sit as little as possible and move more. For example, when studying the multiplication table, students jump. It turned out that thanks to this the material is absorbed better.
To improve health, this unusual school uses the following teaching methods:
- To ensure that children sit upright at their desks, bags of salt are placed on their heads;
- During a lesson in the lower grades, the teacher asks the child to answer a question by throwing a ball to the child;
- In each lesson, physical education is carried out at least 5 times;
- Each student has a Kinder container with garlic hanging around their neck;
- There are always onions and garlic on the windowsill - natural medicines for promoting health.
I wonder which of these schools you would like to visit?