DEVELOPMENT OF AN ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION IN THE USA

Abstract

This article is devoted to the problem of alternative education. In modern society we observe really great changes in many fields: policy, economy, communication, international contacts etc. In such conditions the system of education can’t be the same as it was during the last two or three centuries. In response to the establishment of standardized and compulsory education alternative education grew up. The aim of the study is to investigate the development and to reveal the peculiarities of alternative education in the USA. Theoretical research methods have been used in this study: analysis of scientific sources for the: systematisation and generalisation of available data; defining of the essence of basic concepts; identification of the current state of the problem. The results of investigation give possibility to state that alternative school is an establishment with a curriculum and teaching methods that are unusual, nontraditional. Alternative pedagogical approaches may include different structures, as in the open classroom, different teacher-student relationship, as in the free schools and different curricula and teaching methods, as in the Waldorf and Montessori schools. Synonyms for the alternative in this context include non-traditional, non-conventional, non-standardized. In modern times the legal right to provide educational alternatives has become established in many countries. Among them such country as the United States is worth to be mentioned. In the USA a variety of educational alternatives exist at the elementary, secondary and some other levels in four categories: school choice, independent schools, home-based education or home-schooling, self-education. Some schools are based on the pedagogical approaches different from the mainstream pedagogy, while other schools are for gifted students, children with special needs, vulnerable children etc. Alternative schools appeared in the United States more than three centuries ago. They provide special educational conditions for the personal development of each pupil.