Abstract/Notes: Based on a database of over 500 resources, this paper explores the educational alternatives that exist today between the cracks of mainstream education and culture. It presents information about the growing numbers of schools and education centers that call themselves learner-centered, progressive, and/or holistic. Sources of data for this summary report also include over 3 years of informal interviews with and observations of people at alternative schools. The paper begins by examining terminology issues, discussing qualities for distinguishing educational alternatives, and describing eight types of schools (democratic and free schools, folk education, Quaker schools, homeschooling/unschooling/deschooling, Krishnamurti schools, Montessori schools, open schools, and Waldorf schools). It also presents frameworks for education (maps for understanding the territories of alternatives), and it discusses the three orientations of a competency based education: transaction (progressive), self-directed (learner-centered), and transformation (holistic). After looking at political issues around school choice which could impact the growth of the various philosophical alternatives, the paper concludes that in a society where issues of pluralism and diversity are valued as part of creating a more sustainable world and just democracy, the diversity of philosophical perspectives in education needs to be acknowledged. (Contains 41 references.) (SM)

Language: English

Published: New Orleans, Louisiana, 2002

Abstract/Notes: This chapter explores the theories and histories of the holistic educational paradigm. Beginning with a description of the theoretical structures that underpin the holistic educational viewpoint, it lays the groundwork to understand how pedagogies as diverse as Waldorf, Montessori, Democratic Free Schooling, and homeschooling are connected by a common set of paradigmatic assumptions. Following brief summaries of the origins of these traditions, key aspects of practice and highlights from research carried out in each pedagogy are discussed. Concluding remarks draw connections between the fundamental convictions that gave rise to these pedagogies and the needs of educators in diverse contexts today. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-4906-3.ch001

Language: English

Published: Hershey, Pennsylvania: IGI Global, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-79984-906-3

Abstract/Notes: Based on a database of over 500 resources, this paper explores the educational alternatives that exist today between the cracks of mainstream education and culture. It presents information about the growing numbers of schools and education centers that call themselves learner-centered, progressive, and/or holistic. Sources of data for this summary report also include over 3 years of informal interviews with and observations of people at alternative schools. The paper begins by examining terminology issues, discussing qualities for distinguishing educational alternatives, and describing eight types of schools (democratic and free schools, folk education, Quaker schools, homeschooling/unschooling/deschooling, Krishnamurti schools, Montessori schools, open schools, and Waldorf schools). It also presents frameworks for education (maps for understanding the territories of alternatives), and it discusses the three orientations of a competency based education: transaction (progressive), self-directed (learner-centered), and transformation (holistic). After looking at political issues around school choice which could impact the growth of the various philosophical alternatives, the paper concludes that in a society where issues of pluralism and diversity are valued as part of creating a more sustainable world and just democracy, the diversity of philosophical perspectives in education needs to be acknowledged. (Contains 41 references.) (SM)

Language: English

ISSN: 1094-3838, 2158-8414

Language: English

ISSN: 0737-5328

Language: English

ISSN: 0889-5643

Language: German

Published: Berlin, Germany: LIT Verlag, 2009

ISBN: 978-3-8258-1650-6

Series: Impulse der Reformpädagogik , 24

Abstract/Notes: Providing a comprehensive overview of holistic education’s history, conceptions, practices, and research, this Handbook presents an up-to-date, global picture of the field. Organized in five sections, the Handbook lays out the field’s theoretical and historical foundations; offers examples of holistic education in practice with regard to schools, programs, and pedagogies at all levels; presents research methods used in holistic education; outlines the growing effort among holistic educators to connect holistic teaching and learning with research practice; and examines present trends and future areas of interest in program development, inquiry, and research. This volume is a must-have resource for researchers and practitioners and serves as an essential foundational text for courses in the field.

Language: English

Published: [S.I.]: Routledge, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-351-62189-2

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this study was to construct a holistic education school evaluation tool using Montessori Erdkinder principles, and begin the validation process of examining the proposed tool. This study addresses a vital need in the holistic education community for a school evaluation tool. The tool construction process included using Erdkinder literature to justify the development of each item through the use of an item matrix, ultimately leading to the development of the 23 item formative Montessori Erdkinder School Evaluation Survey. The validation process included a series of three Rasch Rating Scale Model analyses with data from a sample school. The validation process used item anchoring estimates from the earlier analyses in the later analyses and included determining the tool’s dimensionality, reliability, item fit, possible differential item functioning, and comparing the order of item difficulty levels to the holistic model of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Results of the study showed that six items had issues with fit and would need to be revised, and that the items in the cognitive and moral facet will need to be revised to better match Maslow’s model. This study provides the foundation for the development of a holistic education evaluation or accreditation system, and constructed a resource that could be directly implemented in schools.

Language: English

Published: Lexington, Kentucky, 2016

Abstract/Notes: The holistic education (HE) movement is loosely organised across the globe through organisational networks and particular schooling philosophies such as Montessori and Waldorf/Steiner. Movement actors define themselves in juxtaposition to what they see as public educational establishments with very different values. Given HE’s predisposition to emphasise many of the personal and social aspects of student growth that critics of mainstream schooling find lacking within the conventional education system, there has been a growing interest in ways to make these approaches more widely available within the state system. This study begins by examining the philosophical underpinnings of the holistic worldview and its implications for education through an analysis of the work of the three main HE thinker/practitioners, Maria Montessori, Rudolf Steiner and Jiddu Krishnamurti. It goes on to examine how HE ideas parallel and can be understood through the lens of the absolute idealist framework in a way that allows for a more critical examination of holistic theory and practice. With regard to the aims of education, one of HE’s defining characteristics is the emphasis it places on the development of persons through the vehicle of community and relationships. The holistic philosophy affects the work of schools in five main areas: growth as a person, development of community, notions of authority and discipline, the development of knowledge and understanding (curriculum), and modes of teaching and assessment. All of these areas are examined in turn. The study concludes with an examination of the challenges involved in implementing holistic principles and practices in a state school through a case study of an English secondary school which has been adopting a holistic model. The school’s experiences, including the results of a state inspection by Ofsted during its second year, provide some insight into the process for other schools wishing to adopt a holistic model; these include, the importance of working with a coherent theoretical framework including specific principles for practice, and of engaging in particular approaches to professional development. The school’s experience also demonstrates the need for changes to be made to the Ofsted inspection process if the government is serious about supporting schools adopting innovative approaches to education.

Language: English

Published: Oxford, England, 2007

Language: English

ISSN: 1071-6246