Natalia Nesteruk, Marta Żabolicka

No Bell School

In traditional school children are perceived as receivers of the learning, they have no
power and they are to obey the teachers. Teachers are providers of the teaching matter,
there is a clear hierarchy and rules. In No Bell school, on the contrary, there is no clear
division. Children are curious researchers and teacher is there to support their pursuit of
knowledge rather than to follow the content prepared by the teachers. There role of the
children is to discover the world and to shape their learning experiences. Not only children in
No Bell school have freedom of expression of oneself, they have only freedom of choice. No
Bell school believes, that students should be in control of their learning and gives them the
opportunities to do so. In No Bell school learning happens sometimes in chaos, but it always
is engaging for pupils.
Children can develop at their own peace, teachers support the development but do
not have set of ready expectations. No Bell school believes in individualisation of the
learning experience, they do not use ready made lesson patterns, rather they follow the
children and their needs at the moment and adjust to them accordingly. No Bell school
criticizes use of workbooks as they are prepared for a nonexistent statistical student. They
believe each child needs different things and it is the role of the teacher to acknowledge
those needs and based on them prepare personalized, authentic materials, instead of
automatisation of a teaching process.
Power in No Bell school is the most important issue. They believe that school is a
place for children, therefore the children should be in power in the school. Pupils by
themselves can choose the topics they want to follow, they can also select ways they want
to pursuit it. In No Bell school we can observe a transition of power, from teachers and
administration to students. This requires a lot of trust from the teaching stuff, but let’s
students be autonomous and responsible for oneselves as well as for the other pupils.
Teachers do not rely on formal authority and do not have to dominate over pupils. This
transition of power lets teachers make mistakes and show pupils that nobody is perfect but
everyone can learn from a failure.This transition of power is also challenging for the
students, who sometimes might find this kind of responsibility difficult, but leads to better
awareness and control of one's’ learning processes. In No Bell school everybody is in charge
and it makes everyone fulfilled.

The relationship between pupils and teachers is based on mutual trust. Teachers are
in the school to support pupils, but I believe that their most important role is to actively listen
to them. Together they create home-like atmosphere where everyone has an opportunity to
be oneself without restrictions. Pupils think of their teachers as mentors, who are in school to
give them opportunities for learning and to support their development. Teachers, students
and administration work together, towards one goal instead of opposing each other. Even
when there are some disagreements they are seen more as negotiations for improving than
quarrels. For me most interesting thing to watch was a school festival, when teachers
prepared play for the pupils, as usually it is on the contrary in the traditional schools. One
can observe clearly that teachers in No Bell school are there for students and no the
opposite. Relationship between pupils and teachers is strong, but it would not be possible if
there was no collaboration between the teachers. Their tight cooperation sets an example
and is a base for success in No Bell school.
The teacher-students relationship is a base for creating a positive atmosphere which
motivates the students and makes school a familiar, warm place. The role of parents also
helps in setting such pleasant environment. Cooperation between teachers and parents is
based on trust and knowledge, that they are working towards common goal and best results.
Parents praise the communication and information flow between them. No Bell school puts
enhancement on social aspect of learning and this is why local communities are also
involved in educational process, they help pupils transfer knowledge into skills. By working
tightly with parents and local communities No Bell school sets teaches pupils importance of
action and building relations, that are key to happiness and success.

The school philosophy is inspired by constructivists, child-centered theories of

education. The freedom of choice, specially designed learning space and cooperative
learning are also the key components of Montessori Method. Just as Maria Montessori,
teachers in No Bell school trust their students and transfer the power to them. Moreover, the
school follows the theory of Jean Piaget who believed that learning takes place when there
is an interaction between a child and the environment, when they have an opportunity to
build their own understanding by doing the things independently. The simple transfer of the
knowledge does not lead to success, only by the experience students will broaden their
knowledge.

The educational process should not only prepare the students for their future and
ensure the successful career but first and foremost help them to become better, ambitious
people with the strong personality and open minds. Moreover, No bell school does not want
to control the students, it gives them freedom in order to improve their choice making skills.
Decision making skills, cooperative skills, awakening their creativity and curiosity and
developing interpersonal and analytical skills are the main school objectives to fulfill when it
comes to the educational process.
Teaching materials are chosen according the students’ interests, needs and
competences. Not only does it increase the effectiveness of teaching but also encourages
and motivates students. The second aspect that also influence the efficacy of learning
process is the assessment. The main forms of evaluation are self-assessment and
peer-assessment. Thanks to self -assessment students become not only reflective
practitioners and but also fully responsible for their own learning process. Thanks to
peer-assessment, students can learn how to give constructive feedback, how to learn from it
and also to respect others’ opinions.

The No Bell school has achieved an enormous success thanks to its innovative
teaching methods, formative and summative assessment, learning friendly environment and
the aim to transfer the power to the students. Although, in our opinion the implementation of
this idea might be difficult we believe that it is possible. Teachers have to really know how to
transfer the power in the way that students only take advantages of it without abusing it. It is
also important that the school cares a lot students, teachers and parents as a community.
The good relationships between the whole community is crucial for the educational success.
We believe that the No Bell school owe its success to the trust for their students, their
passions, school community commitments and the courage and persistence to implement
their own educational approach.