Reply to Is Georgetown Day's Reputation Merited?

Forum Index » Private & Independent Schools

Reply to "Is Georgetown Day's Reputation Merited?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think you are conflating a few things here.  GDS is not particularly structured - the school teaches to the individual student and tries to make learning fun.  The kids themselves are straight-laced for the most part: they do their work, want to succeed, etc., but they are allowed to express themselves.  They dress how they want, walk themselves to and from classes, and have some academic freedom, even in middle school.  If your son needs to be told what to wear, what classes to take, and wants everyone around him to be similar, GDS isn't the best fit for him.  [/quote]

Contrary to the remarkably offensive suggestion of the post reprinted immediately above, one does not have to choose between a so-called "progressive school" (as in the educational progressive movement from which GDS arose) where "learning is fun," there are no dress guidelines, first names are used, etc. OR a school where children "need to be told what to wear, what classes to take, and wants everyone around him to be similar."   Just as some posters noted that calling teachers by first or last names is a matter of preference or comfort, so too is whether one prefers an environment where students can daily wear jeans,  hang out around the school with few limitations, etc.    There is nothing wrong with that approach in my view for certain children, but what is offensive is the suggestion that is inherently a superior form of education than somewhat more traditional modes.  In fact, there are many schools in the DMV area that do not consider themselves "progressive" -- they may require students to use teacher last names, they may have a dress code, they may impose more restrictions on student's hanging out wherever they like in their free time on campus -- but guess what, sometimes these schools also have wonderful teachers who make learning interesting and fun.  And some kids appreciate a little structure, not because they can't hack it without it or need someone to tell them what to do, but because they are happier in a more structured environment for any number of reasons -- so much of the success of a less structured school is dependent upon the faculties ability to execute the program with the kids that they have enrolled.  Students who attend schools that are not "progressive" are just as capable of independent work as those of their counterparts taking attending more progressive schools.  One system is not inherently better than the other.   Signed -- Parent of children who attended both a "progressive" and a more "traditional" independent school at different stages of their education. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics