SECTION 2: GROWING UP

UNIT 4: ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION

PART ONE

A. TEXT
Think about the advantages and disadvantages of being educated at home
instead of in a normal school.

Education at home

Helene Warton and her sister don't go to school. Instead they are taught at home by their
parents, Heidrun and Richard Warton. The Wartons are one of the rapidly growing number of
families in Britain who are dissatisfied with the school system. The most famous example is
probably the Lawrence family, whose home- taught daughter Ruth recently gained a first-
class degree at Oxford University, at the age of 13.

Until Christmas 1982, Helene and Charlotte Warton went to their local village primary
school. But Helene, an intelligent, precise and tidy girl, had difficulties: “I’m slow at writing
and things like that" she says,” I don't like reading aloud; I got behind". “It was not until Mrs.
Warton met another family who were members of an organization called Education Otherwise
that she realized that it was possible for children to be educated at home.

However giving up school can produce withdrawal symptoms in both parents and children.
We were very unsure in the beginning,' says Heidrun Warton. “We tried to make it like school
at first". But gradually the family relaxed, and soon noticed the advantages of home deal.
Curiosity and self- motivation became important aspects of learning. Learning was no longer
competitive, it was not divided into subjects and it became more practical. As well as learning
from books, Helene and Charlotte started to cook, help in the garden, do woodwork, visit
museums and other places of interest with their parents, and go to drama and music lessons.
They got more opportunity to see what their mother calls 'real life'- their parents and other
adults doing normal everyday things.

Heidrun Warton is not a qualified teacher, and she believes that parents do not need special
qualifications:" Young children want to learn", she says. "You don't teach children at home;
you just allow them to learn" She has become very pessimistic about the normal school
system. “Education authorities are not willing to ready change. They feel that they are the
experts, and the only ones able to teach children. But mothers will always teach their children
more than anyone else- but in a natural way."

B. EXPLANATIONS
: Tôi đã bị bỏ lại phía sau (không theo kịp
I got left behind
người khác)
 : "Giáo dục theo cách khác" (tên một tổ chức
Education Otherwise giáo dục có cách tổ chức khác với hệ thống
giáo dục hiện hành)
symptom [n] : triệu chứng
: sự thu mình lại (không giao tiếp với người
withdrawal [n]
khác)
woodwork [n] : phần mộc, đồ gỗ
do woodwork : học, làm nghề gỗ, nghề mộc

C. FACT CHECK
Answer these questions without looking back at the text.

a. What is special about Helen and Charlotte?

b. What is unusual about the fact that Ruth Lawrence got a degree at Oxford University?

c. Why did Helen's parents decide to educate their daughter at home?

d. How did the Wartons find out about the idea of educating their children at home?

e. Is Mrs Warton a teacher?

Answer Key

D. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

a. Make a list of the advantages of home education in the opinion of the Wanton family.

b. Now make a list of the disadvantages of normal schools. Some are mentioned of
implied in the text. (Many of these are the opposites of the advantages.)

Answer Key

E. WORD CHECK

1. Opposites:
 Find words in the text which are opposite in meaning to these words.
a. slowly
b. satisfied
c. stupid/unintelligent
d. untidy
e. sure/certain
f. theoretical
g. unqualified

Answer Key

2. Connections:

What is the connection in meaning between the words in these groups.

a. sister parents mother daughter children adults

b. university degree

c. subjects books lessons teacher

Answer Key

3. Word families:

Find words in the text related to these words.

noun verb adjective

a satisfaction
b precision x
c x advantageous
d x curious
e motivate x
f competition
g practise
Answer Key

F. PREPOSITIONS

Fill in the gaps in these sentences with prepositions. (Look for similar sentences in the
text.)

a. Many parents these days are not satisfied .............. the education system.
b. Children who are slow ........... reading need extra help from their teachers.
c. Most children do better when they are working ........... their own speed.
d. Normal school divide learning ............ subjects.
e. Children learn .............. a more natural way ............. home.

Answer Key

G. LANGUAGE NOTES

1. At

• Ruth is good at maths. (She does maths well.)

• Helen Warton is slow at writing. (She writes slowly.)
• He's bad at paying bills. (He doesn't pay bills when he should.)

2. As well as is used to link two ideas.

Example:
As well as learning from books, Helen started to cook.
(Helen learnt from books. She also started to cook.)

Now use as well as to link these pairs of sentences.

a. I go swimming every week. I also play squash regularly.

b. I listen to the radio. I also watch television.

c. He does a full-time job. He's also got two part-time jobs.

Answer Key

PART TWO
A. TEXT

Education Otherwise

Education Otherwise is a support group for families

who teach their children out of school. The group,
which was started in 1977 by a small group of
parents, wants to encourage alternatives to the school
system, and to encourage parents to be responsible
for their children's education. It also believes that
children should have the right to express opinions
about their own education.

Education Otherwise has a membership of 1200

families. This is double what it was two years ago
and it gets 200 enquires a month from parents who
are thinking about educating their children at home. Jane Everdell, the enquiries secretary,
thinks that the actual number of children learning out of school is far higher than the
membership of the organization: " We lose about 20% of our membership every year, not
because of the children go back to school, but because the families no longer need us. We
estimate that there must be 6000-8000 children in Britain who are being educated out if
school."

According to Education Otherwise, there are several reasons why parents keep their
children out of school. Some have strong philosophical or religious objections to schools,
some think their children are not doing well enough academically. Others think it is the only
answer to a particular problem, like bullying. In addition, parents are becoming aware of the
effects of government cuts in education spending. In the past parents took their children out of
school when there was a particularly serious problem. Now more and more parents are
choosing quite deliberately to teach children at home.

Many members think that teaching children only at home is not ideal. They would like to
see a system of schooling that involves parents and considers the wishes and feelings of
children. An alternative school which includes these ideas is Kirkdale School in South
London. It was started in 1965 as a self-help co-operative of parents, some of whom were
teachers, who wanted their children's school to be " an extension of home". Its main principles
are loving relationships, curiosity as the motivation for learning, and self-regulation as the
only form of discipline. The school has no head teacher, no compulsory lessons, and uses no
punishments. Kirkdale usually has about 30 pupils, between the ages of 3-1/2 and 12, and has
a ratio of one teacher to every eight pupils. The parents are involved in every aspect of the
school, from teaching and management, to cleaning. The children have a full say in what they
do. Some of the parents use the school in combination with home learning.

B. EXPLANATIONS

support group : nhóm, tổ chức hỗtrợ

alternative [n] : giải pháp khác, giải pháp chọn lựa
philosophical [adj] : về hoặc có tính chất triết lý
academically [adv] : về phương diện học thuật
bully [v] : bắt nạt, hăm dọa
extension [n] : sự mở rộng; sự kéo dài
have a say in sth : có ý kiến về việc gì

C. PARAGRAPH CHECK

Which paragraph:

a. gives reasons why parents take their children away from normal schools?
b. describes an alternative system to both normal schools and education at home?
c. gives information about the numbers of parents in Britain who have rejected
the normal school system?
d. explains the ideas and purposes of the organization?

Answer Key

D. FACT CHECK
1. Answer these questions:

a. Who started the organization Education Otherwise?

b. How long ago was the organization started?

c. How does the organization explain that one fifth of the membership leaves every year?

d. About how many children are being educated outside the school system in Britain?

e. Read paragraph 4 carefully and make a list of these differences. In what ways is Kirk
Dade School different from a "normal school"?

Answer Key

2. Work it out
a. How do you know that more and more parents are becoming interested in alternatives
to the school system?

b. How have parents' reasons for taking their children away from school changed in
recent years?

c. What sort of parents would think that Ruth Lawrence is an important example of the
advantages of a home education? (What reasons would this sort of parent have for taking
their children away from school?)

d. How do the ideas of the parents of children at Kirkdale differ from the ideas of parents
who want to teach their children themselves?

e. Why do you think many parents would not want to send their children to Kirkdale
School?

Answer Key

E. WORD CHECK
1. Guess the meanings of these words and phrases from the text.

a. support group

b. alternatives to the school system

c. religious objections

d. cuts in education spending

e. a self-help co-operative

f. an extension of home

g. compulsory lessons
Answer Key

2. Word families: find words in the text related to these words

noun verb adjective

a encouragement x
b expression x
c loss x
d to object x
e philosophy x
f religion x
g to bully x
h to feel x
i to extend x
i x disciplinary
k to manage x

Answer Key

F. LANGUAGE NOTES: must

Ex:
There must be about 6000-8000 children who are being educated out of school.
This means: "We do not know for sure, but we have reason to believe that between 6,000
and 8,000 children are being educated out of school".

Rephrase these sentences using must be.

a. We think that Mr. Stevenson is about 80 years old, but we're not sure.

b. I can't remember but I think it is about three weeks since it last rained.

c. Nobody's sure, but people believe that there is intelligent life on other planets in our
solar system.

Answer Key

F. PRACTICE
Click here to view Exercises for Unit 4