Which schools are most progressive?

[Anonymous]

The River School in DC explicitly follows a progressive educational philosophy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The River School in DC explicitly follows a progressive educational philosophy.

The River School explicitly embraces chaos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The River School in DC explicitly follows a progressive educational philosophy.

The River School explicitly embraces chaos.

I was driving by one day during morning drop off and I say two parents going the opposite direction on MacArthur stop in traffic to let their kids out of the car and they ran across multiple lanes. It was initiated because they were having an ongoing yelling conversation with windows down with a large group of kids with a parent who were walking on the sidewalk. I’ve honestly never seen anything so crazy and judging by this post I am going to assume that is also basically what is going on inside the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holton is NOT progressive. It’s very traditional.

It’s teaching method maybe traditional but all of the ideas, thoughts and curriculum coming out of that school are very, very progressive.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Progressive education is a pedagogical movement that began in the late nineteenth century and has persisted in various forms to the present. In Europe, progressive education took the form of the New Education Movement. The term progressive was engaged to distinguish this education from the traditional curricula of the 19th century, which was rooted in classical preparation for the university and strongly differentiated by social class. By contrast, progressive education finds its roots in modern experience. Most progressive education programs have these qualities in common:

• Emphasis on learning by doing – hands-on projects, expeditionary learning, experiential learning
• Integrated curriculum focused on thematic units
• Strong emphasis on problem solving and critical thinking
• Group work and development of social skills
• Understanding and action as the goals of learning as opposed to rote knowledge
• Collaborative and cooperative learning projects
• Education for social responsibility and democracy
• Integration of community service and service learning projects into the daily curriculum[2]
• Selection of subject content by looking forward to ask what skills will be needed in future society[3]
• De-emphasis on textbooks in favor of varied learning resources
• Emphasis on lifelong learning and social skills
• Assessment by evaluation of child's projects and productions

Correct. Just like Montessori schools - student led, hands on learning, projects, pace set by students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Progressive education is a pedagogical movement that began in the late nineteenth century and has persisted in various forms to the present. In Europe, progressive education took the form of the New Education Movement. The term progressive was engaged to distinguish this education from the traditional curricula of the 19th century, which was rooted in classical preparation for the university and strongly differentiated by social class. By contrast, progressive education finds its roots in modern experience. Most progressive education programs have these qualities in common:

• Emphasis on learning by doing – hands-on projects, expeditionary learning, experiential learning
• Integrated curriculum focused on thematic units
• Strong emphasis on problem solving and critical thinking
• Group work and development of social skills
• Understanding and action as the goals of learning as opposed to rote knowledge
• Collaborative and cooperative learning projects
• Education for social responsibility and democracy
• Integration of community service and service learning projects into the daily curriculum[2]
• Selection of subject content by looking forward to ask what skills will be needed in future society[3]
• De-emphasis on textbooks in favor of varied learning resources
• Emphasis on lifelong learning and social skills
• Assessment by evaluation of child's projects and productions

This is why much of this is edu-babble. Even our religious (and liberal social justice leaning) school with a traditional teaching pedagogy does all of these things, plus makes sure there are text books available and ensures that kids learn to memorize in addition to everything on the list.

So progressive education just means we don't learn to take tests and don't develop vital memory skills? I'm not sure there is a good evidence to support that we should eliminate the memory part of brain development.

[Anonymous]

OP here- I meant progressive in terms of educational philosophy (unstructured time in K, inquiry based learning, etc).


Thank you to those who responded so far.

[Anonymous]

The Barrie School

[Anonymous]

Anyone who chooses to spend tens of thousands a year to send their kid to private school instead of investing in their neighborhood and their public school is, by definition, not progressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who chooses to spend tens of thousands a year to send their kid to private school instead of investing in their neighborhood and their public school is, by definition, not progressive.

Any public school parent who trolls private school forums is, by definition, misguided.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who chooses to spend tens of thousands a year to send their kid to private school instead of investing in their neighborhood and their public school is, by definition, not progressive.

You're confusing progressive politics with progressive education. We actually chose our home because it was in bounds for a great dcps public school. However, I'm a teacher myself (in an mcps school) and have been learning more and more about how young children learn. A progressive approach to education is now what I'm seeking, but unfortunately it seems the public schools haven't been able to embrace this (in large part because some parents WANT traditional and balk at reduction in homework, for example).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Progressive education is a pedagogical movement that began in the late nineteenth century and has persisted in various forms to the present. In Europe, progressive education took the form of the New Education Movement. The term progressive was engaged to distinguish this education from the traditional curricula of the 19th century, which was rooted in classical preparation for the university and strongly differentiated by social class. By contrast, progressive education finds its roots in modern experience. Most progressive education programs have these qualities in common:

• Emphasis on learning by doing – hands-on projects, expeditionary learning, experiential learning
• Integrated curriculum focused on thematic units
• Strong emphasis on problem solving and critical thinking
• Group work and development of social skills
• Understanding and action as the goals of learning as opposed to rote knowledge
• Collaborative and cooperative learning projects
• Education for social responsibility and democracy
• Integration of community service and service learning projects into the daily curriculum[2]
• Selection of subject content by looking forward to ask what skills will be needed in future society[3]
• De-emphasis on textbooks in favor of varied learning resources
• Emphasis on lifelong learning and social skills
• Assessment by evaluation of child's projects and productions

This is why much of this is edu-babble. Even our religious (and liberal social justice leaning) school with a traditional teaching pedagogy does all of these things, plus makes sure there are text books available and ensures that kids learn to memorize in addition to everything on the list.

So progressive education just means we don't learn to take tests and don't develop vital memory skills? I'm not sure there is a good evidence to support that we should eliminate the memory part of brain development.

The skills identified above are much more likely to be helpful in modern work Place than is regurgitating facts by rote. Computers are here to stay for boring mental tasks. Who remember more than a few phone numbers since our smart phones collect all that data.

Learning what to do with all this information in the Information Age is much needed. The human jobs not delegated to technology require good communication and social skills as well as critical thinking to wade through all the misinformation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who chooses to spend tens of thousands a year to send their kid to private school instead of investing in their neighborhood and their public school is, by definition, not progressive.

Any public school parent who trolls private school forums is, by definition, misguided.

I'm not a public school parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who chooses to spend tens of thousands a year to send their kid to private school instead of investing in their neighborhood and their public school is, by definition, not progressive.

Any public school parent who trolls private school forums is, by definition, misguided.

I'm not a public school parent.

Physician heal thyself ….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who chooses to spend tens of thousands a year to send their kid to private school instead of investing in their neighborhood and their public school is, by definition, not progressive.

This is silly. That’s a false dichotomy. I’m active in my neighborhood association, pay taxes that support the public school, support the school fairs and bake sales. Sending my child to private school because of her particular learning needs does not mean I’m not also supporting my local public schools.