This field study was based on experiences as a
teacher and parent in an alternative, progressive early
childhood school: The Co-Operative School, O'Connor, ACT.
The data for the study was recorded during 1978, 1979,
1980; the first three years of the school's existence as a
Government school. The development and educational
progress of fourteen girls and boys, aged from five to
eight years in 1978, was followed. The philosophy,
policies , organization, curriculum content, teaching
strategies and general milieu of the school were examined.
The aim of the study was to analyse the philosophy
of the school, as set out in the constitution, and to see
how it related to curriculum and teaching strategies.
Issues of freedom and choice within a compulsory school
environment were examined in relation to the stated aims
of the school: the underlying reason for this examination
was the problem caused by the gap which existed between
philosophy and practice, which caused the experiences of
the children in the school, to often be at variance with
stated aims.
The developmental needs of children in the early
childhood age group, and the personal variables they
brought to the learning situation, were related to the
school environment. Social learning theory was utilised,
as a perspective from which to provide a unified
conceptual basis, for planned interventions in teaching
and learning. The importance of modelling, self-expectation,
feelings of self-efficacy and competency,
were related to the community, the curriculum content, and
teaching strategies of the school.
Decision-making strategies were examined for their
relevance to consensus-based processes and a co-operative
style of community management. Consideration was given to
the provision of a cohesive environment, in which adult
members of the community could participate freely in
autonomous learning experiences with children. The area of
conflict resolution and the incidence of aggressive
behaviour in the school were explored, and techniques for
successful negotiation of differences were suggested.
Areas of the curriculum which have traditionally
been difficult for alternative schools to implement to the
satisfaction of all community members were examined.
Areas such as: goal-setting and m o t i v a t i o n of children;
basic skills in early childhood; transition to mainstream
education; the effect of emergent lifestyle values; the
provision of equal opportunity for girls and boys; and the
importance of co-operative learning strategies.
The study ends with reflections on the place of
alternative, progressive schools in the 1980s, and the
need for such schools to exist to provide an educational
choice for parents and children in the future.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/218915 |
| Date | January 1985 |
| Creators | Enright, Coleen, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Canberra. Education |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | ), Copyright Coleen Enright |
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