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A quality education? Yes, for a price
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Thousands of Moscow parents, long accustomed to the notion of free education for all, are now having to dig deep into their own pockets to get all there is to offer from the capital's state schools.
As hundreds of city schools try to develop a modern curriculum on a limited budget, they are turning to parents to pick up the slack left by the government's limited coffers.
At state school No 1102 in southwestern Moscow, the student body is divided into two groups: A and B. Group A and Group В both arrive at 8:30. They both devote their mornings to studying all the basics: Russian, math, natural sciences, English. But by lunchtime Group A pupils slam shut their textbooks for the day, while the students in Group В – approximately half the class – face a full line-up of information technology, English conversation, physics, world culture, even ballroom dancing.
The parents of school No 1102 are lucky. They are paying the paltry sum for the supplementary programme. It may be a pittance, but it is enough to give Lida Studenkova, the school's director, the flexibility the city budget does not allow. "This money means I can pay quality teachers a little more," says Studenkova, adding that her teachers' salaries were "laughable."
While some school directors hire outside professors to teach supplementary programmes, Studenkova relies heavily on her own staff. Keeping quality English teachers on staff, however, is a particular problem. To give them the incentive they need to stay in the classroom, she dips into the extra funds.
Supplementary education is not new. For years parents have paid extra so their children could receive the afterschool instruction they needed to help them through a difficult subject, or to pass college entrance exams. But until recently the fee for these classes was within the means of any family. As the new system evolves, it is creating two distinct structures within state schools: one for students who pay, and one for those who do not.
While supplementary classes are by no means obligatory, they are becoming more popular for parents who worry that their children might otherwise be denied a proper education. "It doesn't mean that your kid will not get into university," says Jan Golf of the Institute of Public Education. "But for a good education these days you need money."
While the standard curriculum is still the same for all students, the supplementary programme varies from school to school, covering anything from computer science to marketing to etiquette. Just as programmes vary, so do fees.
The parents of school No 465, for example, have to dig a little deeper into their pockets. They pay the equivalent of $40 per month so their children can study computer science and German after school. And, according to Golf, fees may climb as high as $100. Even for the courses they share in common, Group A and Group В remain separated in different, classrooms.
While educators recognize that some students may be shut out of studying on the fast track because of their wallet and not their intellect, they consider this to be a natural development. "Before we all used to be the same," says Studenkova. "Now I've got some kids in Cadillacs and others in torn boots."
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Since state schools first started offering these classes three years ago, they have been gaining in popularity. But Svetlana Korovi-na, of Moscow's Department of Education, has no idea just how many of the city's 1,336 schools have supplementary programmes. "That is their affair," says Korovina.
Studenkova claims the practice is widespread. "The demand is ripe," she says, adding that the parents association now plays an active role in developing new curricula. "If we don't fulfil the parents' demands," she says, "they will take their children to another school."
Assignments:
1. Read the text and decide if the following statements are true or false and explain why:
a) In trying to develop a modern curriculum on a limited budget city schools turn to government for help.
b) There is no difference between Group A and Group B.
c) To teach supplementary programmes the school director relies on her own staff.
d) Supplementary education is new.
e) Supplementary classes are not compulsory but they areverypopular with parents.
f) The standard curriculum is the same for all students.
g) Parents association plays an active role in developing new curricula.
2. Express your attitude to fee-paying schools as an alternative to state-maintained schools.
3. Speak on the growing popularity of supplementary classes.
INDIVIDUAL EDUCATION
(From "Individual Psychology" by Patricia H. Elkins)
Individual Education (IE) is a new concept in schooling. The basic premise of IE is that education is a privilege and not an obligation. An IE school directs but does not demand, leads but does not drive, persuades but doesn't force, suggests but does not require. John Holt suggests that an alternative to authoritarian systems is to have schools in which each child can satisfy curiosity, develop abilities and talents, pursue interests, and obtain from adults and older children a glimpse of the great variety of richness of life.
Objectives of Individual Education
The objectives of IE are: 1) to generate motivation to learn the academic curriculum and to provide alternative ways of learning these subjects; 2) to offer guidance about how to best proceed in various ways of learning the academic curriculum; 3) to provide testing of learning at frequent intervals; 4) to provide opportunities for supervised social interaction with other individuals; 5) to provide opportunities to learn a variety of non-academic subjects.
Academic Curriculum
The academic Curriculum in an Individual Education school includes the usual elements such as language, arts, arithmetic, science and social sciences.
Creative Curriculum
The creative curriculum is a special means of fostering resourcefulness by helping the child locate and develop special talents and abilities. Teachers and students are invited to submit ideas for classes of special interest. Creative courses can motivate and reinforce learning in the academic subjects; to build a tree house or bake cookies, one must be able to read and measure.
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Socialization
The socialization process is aided in an IE school through the concept of discipline, in the homeroom, and through advisement by the teacher/advisors. Education is seen as a voluntary association with equals that creates an atmosphere of mutual respect and regard.
IE has three rules that the child must understand, and agree to follow before being admitted to an IE school. After a third violation a child attends a conference with his teacher/advisor (ТА) and the school principal; after the sixth violation the parents of the child are brought into the conference session; suspension occurs after the ninth and to the eleventh violation; and after the twelfth violation the child is considered for expulsion. Expulsion or suspension is rare at IE schools because students eventually realize that they have little need to rebel in the school.
Advising is a function of every faculty member in IE school. The child chooses his teacher/advisor by petition. The TA's role is to listen, offer help and advice, give information, and allow the child freedom to make decisions and even to make mistakes.
Advantages of IE
The educators list six advantages of IE schools:
1) Children learn more academically in less time.
2) Children like this kind of school.
3) Schools are orderly and disciplined.
4) Children get a better education for life.
5) Teachers prefer teaching in IE schools.
6) Parents prefer IE to traditional schools.
Assignments:
1. Find in the text the English for:
обязанность, любознательность, цель, руководство, социальное общение, особое средство, изобретательность (находчивость), выдвигать идеи, добровольный, взаимоуважение, нарушение, временное прекращение, исключение, выбирать кого-л. по просьбе, предоставлять свободу, принимать решения, делать ошибки.
2. Form the derivatives from:
educate, resource, curious, guide, foster, create, motivate, choice, socialize, advise, violate, admit, inform, able, decide.
3. Arrange A and В in pairs of synonyms:
A. to break the rule, to lead, to require, abilities, talent, to obtain, an objective, curriculum, to foster, to aid, advisor, respect, principal, to occur, to realize, to guide.
B. headmaster, to understand, to lead, to violate, to take place, capacities, to get, syllabus, tutor, to regard, to demand, purpose, gift, to instil, to help, to direct.
4. Arrange A and В in pairs of antonyms:
A. children, advantage, voluntary, best, various,to include, respect, admission, frequent, little.
B. compulsory, much, to exclude, adults, worst, disadvantage, disregard, rare, expulsion, identical.
5. Answer the following questions:
1) What is the basic premise of individual education?
2) How does John Holt describe IE schools?
3) What are the objectives of IE?
4) What academic subjects are included in the curriculum of an Individual Education school?
5) In what way can the creative abilities of students be developed?
6) How is the socialization process aided in an IE school?
7) IE creates an atmosphere of mutual regard and respect, doesn't it? In what way?
8) Are there any punishments for violation in an IE school? What are they?
9) Why do you think that expulsion and suspensionare rare in such schools?
10) How do children choose their teachers?
11) What is the teacher's role in an IE school?
12) What are the six advantages of IE schools?
13) Do you think that children enjoy studying at such schools and why?
6. Find the terms that correspond to the following definitions:
1)A school in which each child can satisfy curiosity/develop abilities and talents.
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2) The aims which an IE school pursue.
3)To advise about how to best proceed in various ways of learning the academic curriculum.
4) Children's communication (contacts) with other individuals.
5) When people respect each other.
6) The process of breaking rules.
7) The head of the school.
8) The strong points of IE.
7. Suppose you are the principal of an IE school. Speakabout yourschool, its aims, your students.
8. You are choosing a school for your child. Speak about the advantages of a IE school, and try to persuade other parents to send their children to this type of school.
9. Would you teach in a IE school? Explain why.
GRADE 3-4
(by {Carolina Bodner)
I listen and I hear,
I look and I see,
I do and I understand.
Our classroom environment and curriculum are organized to give children the opportunity to learn as much as possible through direct experience while reinforcing academic skills and concepts. The activity areas are designed to stimulate an awareness of the exciting world around them and to integrate their learning of writing, reading, math, social studies, art and environmental science. We believe this learning atmosphere naturally encourages and promotes a curiosity for learning, self-discovery, and individual expression of ideas.
The writing process is used in daily work, through journals, reports, and all forms of creative writing including poetry, story-telling and fiction. Each child publishes a number of original manuscripts each year.
The Laidlaw reading series* is the foundation of our language arts program. We also use Curriculum Associates spelling language activities, including SRA individual reading cards, and read individually chosen books during Quiet Reading** each week. Children are encouraged to bring in books from home or the library to read at this time.
We use the Scott Foresman Math program supplemented with "hands on" activities and games as much as possible to assure the understanding of concepts such as fractions, graphing, measuring and metrics.
Children are encouraged to feel a sense of pride in their family heritage, their city, state and country and to develop a sense of responsibility to each other and their community. Through our study of Somersworth and New Hampshire*** history and present day government, we hope they will develop a beginning understanding of our participatory democracy. At home this is a good age to follow daily news and begin to read the newspaper. Discussing relevant issues, locating places on maps, and using encyclopaedias can be a great family activity, while reinforcing important research and study skills.
Assignments:
1. Look through the text and say what level of education is described in the article.
2. Speak on the main way of teaching children in this school.
3. Find the paragraph where children are taught patriotism and translate it into Russian.
4. Say what the author advises to do in families while children are out of school.
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* Laidlaw reading series – пособие для обучения чтению
** Quiet Reading– уроки, посвященные чтению про себя
*** New Hampshire– штат в США
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