Alternative College Education: Because Learning Shouldn’t Stop

Also named as educational alternative or non-traditional education, the alternative education takes in several learning and teaching approaches aside from the traditional or mainstream education.

Generally, there is alternative education for primary, secondary and college levels. However, majority of teaching approaches and designs are schemed for college level, thus, the alternative college education.

Educational alternatives for college level often roots in several philosophies which are basically different from the traditional or mainstream college education. While some are focused on strong scholarly, philosophical or political orientations, others however are more casual association of students and teachers discontented with few aspects of traditional or mainstream learning.

Alternative college education which takes in alternative schools, charter schools as well as home-based learning differ extensively yet regularly highlight the small size of the class value, community sense and relationships among teachers and students.

Terminology

Other words that are used to mean alternative college education include non-conventional, non-standardized or non-traditional though these terminologies are less frequently used and may pose multiple meaning and negative connotations.

People who are in the education field may have different term according to their philosophy of education. They often use the terms like progressive, holistic and authentic education. Nevertheless, each of these words has different connotations that are more ambiguous and specific than the simple term, alternative college education.

Modern forms of alternative education

The wide educational alternative varieties exist for the tertiary, secondary and elementary education levels. For the alternative college education and all other levels, there are four general levels. They are the home-based education, independent school, alternative school and school choice. Every category has more specific methodologies and practices.

School choice – the option for public schools includes completely separate schools, programs, and classes. The public school choice generally accepts all students in the community although some will be in waiting list. Examples are charter school, which combine state funding and private initiatives and magnet schools, which draw students to certain themes like performing arts.

Alternative school – this has a nontraditional method and curriculum. A lot of such schools were established in America during the 70’s period. The teaching and philosophies utilized cover philosophical, scholarly, political, and ad-hoc orientations.

Independent school – also known as private schools, they offer more flexibility when it comes to educational approach and staff selection. Most common instances include Waldorf schools, Friends school and Montessori school. Other independent schools use the international curriculum.

Home-based education – also called unschoolers, they follow an educational approach according to their interest than a planned curriculum. Many who opt for this education pose religious-based reasons.


The common countries, which offer alternative college education to everyone, include Australia, Canada, India, and Japan.