A new independent school will allow students to determine the direction of the curriculum.
Maple Hill Free School is for students five to 12 years old. It will employ group learning, with no grades and students divided up based on interests, said Andrea Howard, principal.
“It’s basically based on the fundamental right that the children know how to educate themselves,” said Howard. “They know what they need to do. They have the ability to learn and we are giving them the opportunity to do so versus a conventional education system where they’re told what to do.”
Howard said the school is democratically run by students and staff. This extends to policy, conflict resolution and discipline, but not health and safety.
“In addition to being self directed, if a group of students comes together and say they’re interested in learning about ancient Egypt, they can vote on that and vote to create a class and then the staff will work accordingly with that group,” said Howard.
While she said Maple Hill’s method is unconventional, it encourages children to learn how to access information. Should a student seem uninspired, teachers will try to stimulate the child’s curiosity.
“The other theory that we work on is emergent curriculum, so we see what their interests are … we’re interested in My Little Pony, we might want to learn about horses. We can take their interests and create opportunity for them,” said Howard.
The school looks to open in September on Nicol Street, but Howard said that isn’t finalized yet.
“The way that you have to do this with the ministry is enrolling students at the same time you’re finalizing your location, so it’s a bit tricky right now,” said Howard.
She anticipates an enrolment of 20 students for the first year.
For more information, including tuition, go to www.nanaimofreelearners.com.