 Because
our current society is changing so
rapidly from the industrial age to the
information age, it is hard to determine what
specific knowledge anyone will need in even
twenty years. We must focus instead on goals of
self-awareness and personal responsibility.
Because our work and social patterns are
changing so rapidly, those who are self-reliant,
thoughtful, and inventive will adapt best.
Because our adult community is more global
than ever, we need people who can create and
function in community. Children need to know how
to function in a true community of people with
various skills and interests who are responsible
for themselves and responsive to others on more
than a superficial level.
Because wanting to know, the disposition to
inquire, is lost without practice, the school
must guard against determining what questions
should be asked and instead provide
opportunities for children to ask questions
themselves. |
Because
our work and social patterns are changing so rapidly, those who are
self-reliant, thoughtful, and inventive will adapt best.
|
To this end there are no required courses,
no grades, and no segregation by age. Children
work with each other and adults on whatever
interests them. Group study does actually take
place with all the attendant necessities of
scheduled meeting times, skill practice, and
reading assignments which rigorous study or
investigation require. But unlike classes in a
more traditional setting, group studies at The
New School, their organization, subject matter,
topic coverage, duration, and materials are
determined by the interested parties, children
and staff alike. The fluidity means that a
project's inception, the means to accomplish it
and the effort to achieve the desired result
rest in the children's hands. And although
adults are available and willing to participate,
they are more like fellow (and more experienced)
explorers than founts of knowledge in each
endeavor. What must be realized is that these
studies may be initiated by anyone, adult or
child, participation is completely voluntary,
and the authority in the class is held by the
most knowledgeable participant, which is not
necessarily the adult. From this, children
develop a profound sense that their success lies
in their own hands, and that learning, although
difficult and often frustrating, is a natural,
fulfilling, and lifelong process. |
 Because
of this natural inquiry, discourse at The New
School is a conversation, not a lecture or
teacher-directed "discussion." Conversations
entail the mutual respect of the participants,
an interest in the topic, and a willingness to
exchange ideas. At The New School, because the
participants are interested in the conversation,
more is learned than if they were forced to
cover a topic of the teacher's choosing in an
artificially initiated and artificially
sustained "discussion." In depth studies built
on true conversation inevitably occur without
force or coercion, simply because human beings
by nature desire to know (Aristotle). |
| But will children actually learn
anything? By this question, most people assume
that there is a body of knowledge which every
person should possess to be considered educated.
There is so much information available today, no
one could hope to be cognizant of all of the
topics available for study, let alone determine
which are most important. Children accept as
important those ideas, attitudes, and activities
which they see practiced by their parents and
others around them. In the New School they will
know what is possible through access to the
world via the INTERNET and by spending their
time with people who have varied interests which
are actively pursued. In this environment,
education is more than the accretion of
knowledge, it is the development of an
individual, his personality, talents, and
interests. Children, shown learning as the
continuous development of the self and given the
opportunity and responsibility for their own
learning, do learn. |
| Because children have a
responsibility to become members of the
community beyond the school, they must show some
evidence of having sufficiently prepared
themselves to do so. To this end, the students
of the New School, in order to receive their
diploma, must determine what it is for them to
be responsible members of the community and
demonstrate this ability through a written
thesis, an oral presentation, and a cogently
argued defense. They must be attentive to their
own development, articulate in their
presentation, and persuasive in their arguments.
The School Assembly after reading, listening,
and questioning determines whether the student
has truly taken advantage of their*
opportunities. Only when the school community,
including other students mentors, and parents,
are satisfied, will a diploma be granted. |
*The third-person plural form is here used as a the
third-person singular generic pronoun, since the word "student" in the
School's usage denotes a group of persons as well as the condition of an
individual; see, The American Heritage Book of English Usage (1996) Sec.
18 "they with singular antecedent.".
© 1996 -
December, 2011
The New School.
Last revised 09 Dec 2011
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