Progressive Education: Why It's Hard to Beat, Why S-K's got it.

One of the topics that came up at the recruitment/marketing meeting last night was how to define "progressive education". For those of you interested in learning more about the meaning of the term and how it is the basis for the curriculum and culture of our community at S-K, there is a great article by Alfie Kohn that talks about the value and values of progressive education from the magazine Independent School.

Progressive Education: Why It’s Hard to Beat, But Also Hard to Find

http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/progressive.htm

There is another good entry about progressive education on wikipedia (although obviously the editors feel like it came from another source). I particularly like the bullets that describe the qualities of progressive ed...you can really see how this takes root and becomes manifest in our classrooms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_education

When I've tried to describe the magic of S-K in the past, I usually wander around in words until I finally say "you really have to see it in action to believe it!" I hope that these articles help others as much as they have helped me to be able to make the culture of the school concrete and real for others.

If you have any other great articles on progressive ed, brigh/creative/gifted children and learning, please pass them on. Thanks!