What Is Alternative Education? Definition and Examples
What Is Alternative Education?
Definition and Examples
Accelerate your child’s learning with alternative education. What is alternative education? It is instruction that deviates from the existing education system.
Some people view alternative instruction as homeschooling, but “alternative” is a broad term that encompasses more than the type of education administration. Let’s take a look at how alternative teaching differs from classical education.
How Alternative Education Differs From Traditional Homeschooling
I'm a fan of homeschooling; however, homeschoolers often employ standard methods rather than alternative instruction.
Why Is Alternative Education Effective?
Alternative education is effective because it opens up a new path to learning in the mind of the student. You can find the top two reasons alternative education is effective below.
1. The human brain operates best in an expressive manner
The standard method of teaching pours information into the minds of students like they are empty vessels. It doesn’t teach kids to develop their perceptive ability or to trust their perceptions.
2. The human brain is 98% sensory based
We evolved as sensory beings, sensing movement through interaction and feedback from the environment. As a result, our brains are wired for sensory perception.
Aligning educational instruction with that biological reality is the most effective way for individuals to develop academically. Alternative education programs prove beneficial to a bored, struggling student because they are less dogmatic and encourage self-expression.
The Benefits of Alternative Education
1. Complements traditional education
If students are taught alternative learning the right way, they will know how to succeed inside or outside the regular schooling system.
2. Dynamic learning
Learners can flourish in traditional schools if they adapt the alternative learning method to them and create something enjoyable and exciting that develops their natural abilities.
Students can adapt to classic instruction quite easily without having to draw any attention to their alternative methods.
3. Encourages self-expression
Alternative learning starts with creative expression and using more portions of the brain. We all learn better by doing rather than listening and reading.
The Meaning of Alternative Schools: Definition and Examples
Alternative schools employ different methods than the norm. For example, some alternative schools use methods to draw out the students’ perceptions and abilities via expression exercises and feedback loops.
What Are Alternative Schools?
The educational philosophies of Montessori, Waldorf, and Fundamental schools promote alternative instruction. Encouraging self-expression and providing feedback is common to all highly effective methods, which is why Montessori is so successful with infants.
What Are the Features of Alternative Education?
Creative skills and experiential learning are at the core of the curriculum. The experiential approach includes creating sensory expressions on the material, which will connect to your ideas, stories, and other concepts you have, and putting things down artistically, etc.
Alternative education is generally a mixture of traditional learning and alternative methods; based on doing, movement, experiencing, and, most importantly, expression.
What Is an Alternative Education Program?
One that brings the material to life and connects it to your interests, talents, and creativity. Effective alternative education also allows students to be dynamic and create this in all educational environments. The student can then flourish even in normal and dry academic settings.
What Is an Alternative Method of Learning?
Alternative learning is centered around the child rather than the teacher. The child and parent have a big say in the activities, method, and education that creates the most enjoyment, fun, and engagement.
When done via a self-expression model, an alternative learning program will automatically create this for the child/student, and they can do this with any material.
Components of Alternative Education
A super effective alternative education program will have these components:
- Self-expression
- Enhances articulation
- Incorporates artistic expression (more of the brain)
- It has individualised parts the student can do in the primary setting or at home
- Engages experiential learning (sensory feedback)
- Understands that physical brain wiring affects learning ability (coordination, balance, eye tracking ability, etc., have to be at least at a foundational level)
- Realises breath span affects learning, focus, and IQ
- Acknowledges and addresses health and nutrition as essential factors in an effective learning program
- Develops the individual, their perceptions, and trust in their perceptions
- Develops self-belief, releases trauma and internal stressors that can act as blocks to the person succeeding
- It can facilitate the individual even in systematic academic environments
- Brings successful results in every aspect of learning and examination
- Alternative education meaning
- A big passion of mine for decades has been bringing this all together so that alternative education is not just a buzzword but also applies to regular education.
Every child or student flourishes if we teach them in a way that engenders self-belief, makes learning enjoyable and exciting, and continually develops their abilities.
As a result, I created the Quantum Learning Program.
A Leap Forward in Education | check out the FREE series.
I go through the above in depth in the Quantum Learning Program, which is the crème de la crème of Alternative Learning; check it out here.
FAQ
What Do You Mean by Alternative Education?
The system defines alternative ed as "a school or program maintained and operated by a local or regional board of education that is offered to students in a non-traditional educational setting and addresses the social, emotional, behavioural and academic needs of such students."
However, as we have said, if appropriately done, alternative education is a system that can bring effective learning to any setting; a traditional school, an alternative school, or homeschooling.
The definition of alternative education should not be bound to one issue or a particular set of issues.
What Is the Purpose of Alternative Education?
Alternative education programs are often put in place for students with behavioural problems. Some would see the goal of alternative education to continue to meet the students' educational needs and help the students correct their behaviour and ultimately return to the "home school" setting.
However, this is only one facet of alternative education. Alt Ed can be applied to far more than behavioural problems since it is pervasive for most students to need help to optimise their learning in the current system.
Most students find school very difficult. The reason for that is that the standard teaching method focuses on memorisation, verbal and mathematical intelligence, and needs to be more mindful of the other six essential facets of intelligence.
A comprehensive self-expressive approach is required for the student to flourish.
What Is Alternative Teaching?
Alternative teaching is two teachers using two methods with two groups within one class. An alternative teacher uses methods different from the regular ones.
What Is Alternative Learning?
Alternative learning is different from standard methodologies and focuses on the student.
When done in the self-expressive sensory manner, it can and should be part of all curriculums in all types of settings due to its effectiveness. And the student can also incorporate it themselves.
A Leap Forward in Education |
I go through the above in depth in The Quantum Learning Program, which is the crème de la crème of Alternative Learning; check it the FREE series here.
Brian Timlin, MD, Quantum Learning
Brian Timlin is married with three daughters in Ireland, is the author of The Great Awakening Novel; Lightworker No. 17, and is the MD of Irish Golf Leaderboard & QuantumLearning.info. Brian is passionate about sport and, in particular, golf, having played it all his life. Though he describes himself as only a decent golfer, he has been as low as scratch and has provincial and national medals. Quantum Learning is his newest program and he is very excited about it!
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