Nowadays, innovations affect all spheres of human life - including education. Modern educational institutions do not coincide with the generally accepted idea of a “classical school” - they use new technologies and develop unusual teaching methods. And among the most innovative schools Diversity reigns: some rely on an individual approach, others allow students to create a curriculum on their own. A gymnasium with gender equality, iPads for fourth-graders, a school that moves from country to country - parents who want to send their children to an unusual school have plenty to choose from.
Summit Sierra School in Seattle, USA
Leaders at Summit Sierra, a private school that opened in 2015, say the personalized approach is one of the most effective ways training. Here are used Newest technologies to empower students to take charge of their own learning. Every day children spend 30 minutes reading, 30 minutes solving math problems, take online courses, talk with mentors about their careers and life goals. Taking Active participation In their own education, children learn responsibility and self-confidence. Bill Gates considers this approach to be the education system of the future.
Ørestad Gymnasium in Copenhagen, Denmark
Ørestad Gymnasium, with 358 students, is a huge glass cube. Open space should help children communicate with each other and teach them to think creatively in different areas of life. Students are actively involved in the learning process; they themselves form working groups and temporary classes, sometimes led by a teacher. “We want our students to conduct collaborative research and work together to solve real-world problems. It’s not enough to give them knowledge; we also need to teach them how to apply this knowledge in practice,” the school’s leaders believe.
Big Picture Learning, USA
The special model of education at this school blurs the line between study and work. The preferences of the students are always at the forefront. From the very beginning, children learn under the guidance of mentors - professionals from the field in which the students themselves would like to someday work.
Egalia in Stockholm, Sweden
The education system at Egalia School is based on full equality between students. This should help shape a future society without discrimination based on religion, age, gender, sexual orientation and disability. This approach is used by teachers among themselves, in communication with children and their parents. At school, the pronouns “he” and “she” are not used; children are called by name. This way, students learn to judge each other based on their actions, rather than according to generally accepted stereotypes.
AltSchool in San Francisco, USA
The learning model at AltSchool is radically different from the traditional education system. Standard testing is not used here, and children are taught to think flexibly - this will make it easier for them to adapt to changes in the world in the future. Students work with 3D modeling and learn to solve real-life problems. Social-emotional learning is a priority. Children aged from 4 to 14 years study at the school. AltSchool was first opened in 2013 in San Francisco. Branches are already operating in Brooklyn and Palo Alto. In the future, schools of this type will be opened throughout America.
Sra Pou Vocational School, Cambodia
The school was designed by a Finnish architectural agency. The local community took an active part in the construction, for whom the institutions were built. This way people were able to learn how to implement their plans and gain practical experience in construction. Sra Pou Vocational School gives the opportunity local residents and their children to gain independence. Instead of working in low-paying jobs, they can find out everything about the prices of their goods and sell them themselves. When the building is not in use as a school, it hosts public meetings.
Steve Jobs School in Amsterdam, Netherlands
At the Steve Jobs School, all students from grades 4 to 12 receive an iPad for personal use, which is already equipped with the applications necessary to create an individual learning plan. Each child chooses his own goals and makes his own own program, which can be adjusted every six weeks by the student himself, his parents or mentors (the word “teacher” is not used here). Therefore, children are not forced to adapt to a rigid system and can work at their own pace.
Brightworks School in San Francisco, USA
At Brightworks School, children are allowed to do everything that parents usually prohibit. Moreover, from these prohibitions the training program. Here you can get dirty, play with fire, take household appliances apart - and all this in the same day. The school is located in a large warehouse with makeshift forts and theaters and everything needed for creativity. “The world needs people who like to create rather than consume, who see challenges as fun puzzles, and who have creative abilities and perseverance to change the surrounding social and economic realities,” say the school’s founders.
Carpe Diem/Aiken, USA
The school space resembles an office rather than a classroom - 300 small rooms with a computer and everything necessary for learning for each student. In this way, children are prepared for life after school. Carpe Diem students read three times more than their peers at other schools and have scored the best overall test scores in Arizona for four years in a row.
Blue School/New York, USA
Creativity is at the forefront of the school, which was founded by performance group Blue Man Group. The spirit of the founders brought their quirkiness and love of exploration to the learning process. As part of the curriculum, children come up with ways to improve the recycling of materials, create 3D models of New York, and repair household appliances. Dynamic Learning develops creative innovators and helps children of all ages implement their ideas.
THINK Global School
Even though THINK Global School is headquartered in New York City, the school does not have walls as such. Students spend each semester in a different country, studying natural Sciences, local culture and literature. The students spent the fall of 2014 in Costa Rica, and in the spring of 2015 they sailed from island to island in the Ionian Sea, delved into ancient Greek philosophy, and studied ancient art and literature. In each country, students also undertake charity projects and work in local communities. THINK Global School is perfect option schools for parents who want their child to become a global citizen.
For our realities, it is quite normal to hate your school, to passionately not want to wake up in the morning and attend classes.
But what if you had a decent choice, good alternative? What do we mean by a good alternative?
We meet, a list of the strangest schools in the world, in which it would be interesting to be at least for one day.
Those who are afraid of the dark or confined spaces are unlikely to like it here, because the Dongzhong School, in the Chinese province of Guizhou, teaches children inside a cave.
However, the leaders of this “institution” did not choose their place of their own free will. This poorest province was not able to allocate even a separate building for the school, so the village residents found a unique solution to the problem.
Currently the school has 8 teachers and about 200 students. Some of them have to travel 2-3 hours to school. But isn't it worth it?
The world's oceans occupy such a huge area that it would be a sin not to use its area for peaceful purposes.
Today there are entire cities of floating houses. For example, in Bangladesh there are currently more than 100 floating schools. And for this area this is a completely reasonable and justified decision.
The fact is that in this country there are quite often severe floods. In order not to waste time and energy on restoring housing, so that floods would not cause children to miss school, the authorities solved the problem in such an unusual, but very effective way.
Today, Bangladesh has decided to transform other important government agencies. Now there are floating hospitals, ordinary residential buildings, and equally unusual schools. At the same time, educational and medical institutions equipped with everything necessary: powerful solar panels to generate electricity, computers with the Internet and even libraries.
This weird school is right on the platform railway station in India. Moreover, more than 4,000 children across the country study this way. Despite the pity and negativity that we feel when looking at these facts, the students of these schools are very proud of their studies.
The fact is that many children can only get a secondary education this way. And this was made possible for them by teacher Inderjit Khurana, who created an organization to help poor children throughout the country.
Thanks to the classes, children learn to read and write on the railway platform, and also receive free medicine and food. And at the same time, no one obliges anyone - the student can leave at any time if he wants to. Probably, it was this fact of free attendance that made this school one of the 5 most unusual schools in the world.
This place is considered one of the safest on earth. underground school Abo is able to bear nuclear explosion with an impact power of 20 megatons.
The educational institution, established in 1962 in the United States of America, could be used as a bomb shelter. In those days people were afraid that Cold War will end in nuclear war.
Above ground (or rather, on the roof of the school) there is only a playground. All other rooms are located under meters of ground. An autonomous generator is used to generate electricity. There are even decontamination showers and a morgue. If necessary, water can be extracted. And the air conditioning system is equipped with powerful filters.
However, the school building is now empty. In 1995, the building was closed, since the government no longer saw nuclear threats, but maintaining this facility cost the authorities a pretty penny.
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Do you think you are unlucky with your school? Then what can you say about these poor things - the little inhabitants of the mountainous Chinese village of Gulu? To get to their class, they have to overcome a difficult winding mountain road, go through a lot of narrow passages between rocks and pass 7 wooden bridges over the abyss, which can break at any moment.
Despite all these obstacles, the children really love their school, where there is only 1 teacher. Agree, this institution deserves to be included in the list of the 20 most unusual schools in the world, and its students deserve to become the most purposeful and hard-working.
Even the most unusual schools in Moscow cannot boast of a friendly attitude towards teenagers with non-traditional sexual orientation.
But New York's Harvey Milk School can! Of course, the founder of this educational institution was gay. Faced with all the “delights” of a teenager with a non-traditional sexual orientation, he decided to ease the torment of other outcast children like him.
Well, since this ancient profession still exists, why not finally organize a specialized institution where real professionals in their field would begin to share their experience with the younger generation rising to replace them?
So, in Valencia, the most real school for prostitutes has finally opened. Here this craft is considered completely legal, so in 202 the authorities decided to open the Trabagio Ya school, which became the cradle of more than 300,000 priestesses of love working today.
Here, moths receive the most up-to-date knowledge about the most effective methods that can be used in sexual practice.
True, training here does not last as long as elsewhere. Moths become school graduates within a week after the start of their studies. During this time, professionals study theory and practice, learning business skills that will be useful to them in their work.
The training is paid - those interested will have to pay approximately 120 euros for the course.
In this Philadelphia school, no one uses books or notebooks - all teaching is completely computerized. Tablets, computers, interactive whiteboards, digital lockers, ID cards - these are the technologies students and teachers use.
Today this establishment is considered one of the most modern, successful and prestigious.
Here, students decide for themselves what to do in class. There is no curricula, no verification work. Even homework is unfamiliar to those who are lucky enough to study at this school.
The kids decide for themselves which class they will go to today and which lesson they will take. All school rules were created by children. Children can walk, sleep, study, play at any time. They are their own teachers - adults in this school are needed only to coordinate educational process.
The goal of this educational institution is to help children find their own path, and not to go through it instead of the child.
With over 40,000 children, this American school will help you learn the basics of magic and witchcraft. Nothing surprising - just boys and girls moving with the help of a broom and with black caps on their heads.
There are many amazing things in the world, you just have to look around and notice it. For example, did you know that there are people very close to you who are ready to write any academic paper for you? And by the way, they exist.
Modern schoolchildren are against gray buildings and ordinary classrooms, just like the specialists of the Rosan Bosch architectural studio. It was they who developed and implemented the project of the Vittra Södermalm educational institution, which is located in Stockholm. This is one of the most unusual and interesting schools peace.
The first thing that attracts attention is the bright colors and their absolutely unexpected combination: black, red, yellow, blue...
There are no separate classrooms or offices for teachers here. To combine study and relaxation, classes at Vittra Södermalm are held on stands with steps. During the lesson, children can sit on them in a way that is comfortable for them. This device resembles an ancient amphitheater.
After looking at the photo, you will be convinced that this unusual school does not have the attributes that everyone considers indispensable for a school. Guess what we're talking about? Of course, about the blackboard and chalk!
The school has large tables for group classes, bright conference rooms, and small cozy corners for teachers. But during recess, students relax on sofas - small holes in the wall. It is interesting to spend time in the library in such an unusual school. It resembles a huge black box. There are books, magazines, laptops - everything you need in the learning process.
The school cafeteria is also designed in an unconventional style: children sit on high bar stools at brightly colored teardrop tables. And, of course, you can’t do without a healthy breakfast and a delicious hearty lunch.
Gymnasium based on the open space principle inDenmark
Orestand Gymnasium is located in the capital of Denmark - Copenhagen. The peculiarity of this educational institution is its unusual construction principle - open space. This means that the school is a continuous open space, where there are no classrooms, no partitions, no doors. Classes are separated from each other by a conventional boundary. In 2007, the gymnasium building was recognized as the best in Scandinavia.
Only high school students who dream of working in the media in the future study at Orestand Gymnasium. Thanks to wireless Internet, high school students communicate every day in real and virtual space.
The “heart” of the building is the large twisted steps. They serve as a kind of connection between the four levels of the gymnasium.
During recess in the recreation area, students have the opportunity to “lounge” on large bright pillows.
According to the designers, such an interior promotes the development of creativity and independence in acquiring knowledge.
Adventure school inUSA
Studying at the American Watershed School is truly a multi-year adventure.
When studying traditional subjects - mathematics and English - classes are held in classrooms. But during geography or biology, educational expeditions are organized. Teachers consider this method of teaching the most productive. Thus, trips to the forest and kayaking are regularly organized for children. During physical education, children have the opportunity to ride mountain bikes and play Frisbee. And, in addition to traditional sports, they do yoga.
Teachers encourage students to develop their talents. Students of this unusual school create rock bands, assemble robots and write scripts for video games.
Transport school made from industrial containers
De Kleine kapitein is a school in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. This school is unusual in that it consists entirely of industrial containers.
This educational institution was created in 2009 completely by accident. Happy new beginning school year It turned out that due to the rapid growth of the population, children from new microdistricts simply have no place to study. This is how the idea of making a school out of multi-colored “cubes” arose.
De Kleine kapitein was supposed to be only a temporary building for education, but parents liked this unusual school so much that they decided to leave it.
Colored houses can be easily rearranged from place to place. In addition, such a room does not require special repairs.
Underground school in the USA
Primary School Terraset is located in the small town of Reston (USA). It was built in the mid-1970s. At this time, the country was experiencing an energy crisis, so a regime of severe energy saving was introduced. It is clear that sufficient heating of schools was impossible. For this reason, one of the most unusual schools in the world was built - Terraset. This educational institution is located underground because this natural covering helps to retain heat in the room.
Today, Terraset is not only a school, but also an outstanding tourist attraction in the city.
Although the school is unusual in its own way appearance, the learning process here is traditional. Junior schoolchildren study the same subjects as in other US schools.
School in the form of a bookshelf in Georgia
The facade of a school in the city of Zugdidi resembles a shelf where huge books are placed. If you look closely at the photo, you will notice that there is even “Kobzar” by Taras Shevchenko. You will also find here works by Honore de Balzac, George Byron and outstanding Georgian classics.
Since a lot of attention is paid here to the study of natural sciences - physics, chemistry, biology - the school is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment inside.
Ichnyanskaya “School of Health”
You probably think that unusual schools only exist abroad? But no! In Ukraine, in the village of Ichnya, Chernihiv region, there is also a school that is not like the others. The children who study here never get sick and don’t know what quarantine is. You ask why? Because they have developed and successfully used a special teaching method that helps improve children’s health. Classes at school are organized so that children sit as little as possible and move more. For example, when studying the multiplication table, students jump. It turned out that thanks to this the material is absorbed better.
To improve health, this unusual school uses the following teaching methods:
- To ensure that children sit upright at their desks, bags of salt are placed on their heads;
- during a lesson in the lower grades, the teacher asks the child to answer a question by throwing a ball to the child;
- In each lesson, physical education is carried out at least 5 times;
- Each student has a Kinder container with garlic hanging around their neck;
- There are always onions and garlic on the windowsill - natural medicines for promoting health.
I wonder which of these schools you would like to visit?
In the minds of most of us, a school is a gray building, with classrooms, long corridors, a gym and a cafeteria. At best, this boring building enlivens the community of creative and caring people whom we call teachers, at worst, but let's not talk about sad things. At the same time, not everything in the world is so gray and monotonous; there are schools that can only be imagined in the wildest fantasies.
So, use your imagination - the most unusual schools in the world:
1. Terraset – an underground school (Terraset Elementary School PTA (USA)
Terraset - an underground school
Despite all the fantastic nature of this project, the Terraset School is actually located underground, in the city of Reston, Virginia. This educational institution is over 40 years old and was built in the mid-70s. This is a period when America suffered an energy crisis, and city authorities could not come up with anything more economical than building a school that would heat itself. For this purpose, they removed an earthen mound, built a building and covered it with earth again, providing not only that the school would heat itself, but also a cooling system for the building.
The students of this school can rightly be called “children of the dungeon.” In all other respects, this is the most ordinary school, where classical, by American standards, education takes place, not counting the fact that this educational institution is also the tourist Mecca of the city.
2. Floating school in Cambodia.
The next, no less exotic, educational institution is located on the water. However, in this region this phenomenon does not surprise anyone, since houses, shops, and other buildings here literally float.
Floating school in Cambodia
We are talking about the floating village of Kampong Luong, which is located on Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia. The school has about 60 students, 40 of whom are orphans whose parents died while fishing. There is only one large classroom in the educational institution, where children study and spend free time. Children swim to school in special basins that vaguely resemble a boat.
Children swim in special basins to school
Tourists visiting this region often visit this unusual educational institution, so schoolchildren have no shortage of sweets and educational supplies and look like absolutely happy and joyful children.
3. Alternative School Alpha (ALPHA Alternative School (Canada)
This is one of the oldest educational institutions in Canada, has existed since 1972 and is truly unique. What makes it special is the attitude towards the student, as well as the use of progressive pedagogical ideas in teaching.
Alternative School Alpha
The philosophy of the Alpha school is based on the recognition that each child is individual, each has his own speed of learning and area of interest, therefore the school does not have a daily routine or lesson schedule, and the rules of behavior are dictated by the students themselves. At this institution, students do not receive grades and have no homework. The division into classes occurs not according to age criteria, but according to the area of interest of the children.
The main issues of managing an educational institution are resolved at monthly meetings of students, teachers and parents. At the same time, parents, on a volunteer basis, are active participants in the educational process and teacher assistants during the school day. Alpha's motto is Collaborative Education.
4. Orestad Open School in Copenhagen (ØВrestad Gymnasium)
This school can truly be considered a work of modern architectural art. And not only the building, but also the nature of education here differs from the classical school. In the premises of this educational institution there are practically no internal partitions, and there are no classes, in their usual sense.
Orestad Open School in Copenhagen
The heart of the school is a huge spiral staircase that connects the 4 floors of the building. There are soft sofas and poufs throughout the school where students relax and do homework. “In our school there are practically no walls that would separate us, but we have high ceilings,” say the citizens of this unusual children's state. And these words contain not so much architectural feature buildings, as much as the philosophy of this unique country of Knowledge. Schoolchildren learn to work in a space without boundaries, using their skills and abilities to solve assigned problems. There are no classical classes at school teaching aids, the guys are studying e-books and use information obtained on the Internet.
ØВrestad Gymnasium
5. “Keneleken” - nomadic school (Oleneksky Evenki national district, Yakutia, Russia)
But the kids who study at this school are incredibly lucky. And this is not because they have a modern educational institution, but due to the fact that they have the opportunity to live with their parents and receive classical school education. Until recently, children from the nomadic tribes of the Northern regions of Russia were forced to either study and live in boarding schools, without seeing their relatives for months, or received no education at all.
"Keneleken" - nomadic school
The nomadic school can rightfully be called the smallest school in terms of the number of students and staff. Such an educational institution has from 6 to 8 students, where 2-3 teachers work. However, this does not prevent the children from gaining the same knowledge, skills and abilities as their sedentary peers. The nomadic school is equipped with satellite Internet, which makes it possible to communicate with outside world. The government plans to optimize the educational process by creating adapted electronic educational aids to replace classic school textbooks.
6. Watershed School (USA)
Adventure school is not the dream of every school-age boy and girl. And these dreams come true at the American Watershed School.
Watershed Adventure School
The educational process here is built as one big journey through the expanses of the Land of Knowledge. If this is geography, then its study takes place on the ground, biology - in a reserve, in direct contact with wildlife, architecture - on the streets of the city. Educational expeditions are the most productive methods obtaining strong knowledge, according to the teachers of this school. Despite the fact that the children have to study both mathematics and languages, the anticipation of the long-awaited trip and vivid impressions gives an incentive to study well. And, besides, sports, yoga, participation in a rock band make school years unforgettable. And the German writer Ernst Heine was truly right when he said: “You will find more knowledge in beeches and oaks than in books. Animals, trees and stones store such knowledge that no scientist can convey to you.”
7. Cave schools of China.
China never ceases to amaze us with economic miracles, and one of the prerequisites for this phenomenon can rightfully be considered the craving of these people for knowledge. This is confirmed by a unique school in Guizhou province. The Miao people, the indigenous people of this region, live quite modestly. Low level didn't let these people live for a long time get education. And only in 1984 the first school was opened. Since there were no funds to build a school, it was decided to locate the educational institution in a nearby cave. Classrooms, a sports ground and a recreation area were equipped here.
