Special Education

Non-standard education tends to get ignored or disregarded in American society. The assumption is that traditional education is just better. But is that the case? Here are twelve factors why conventional education is NOT the best option:

1. Traditional education awards degrees on the basis of time served and credit earned, whilst non-standard education awards degrees on the basis of competencies and performance skills.

2. Conventional education bases degree requirements on the medieval formula of some generalized education and some specialized education, but non-standard education bases degree requirements on an agreement between the student and the faculty, aimed at helping the student obtain his or her career, personal, or professional goals.

three. Traditional education awards the degree when the student meets certain numerical requirements, but non-traditional education awards the degree when the student’s actual work and studying reach agreed-upon levels.

4. Non-conventional education assumes studying desirable at any age, and that degrees should be obtainable to men and women of all ages, but traditional education in secular and Christian colleges considers the years from age 18 to 22 as the period when a initial degree ought to be earned.

5. Non-conventional education sees any component of the world as suitable for some learning, although standard education, even Christian education, considers the classroom as the main source of data and the campus as the center of understanding.

6. Conventional education believes in printed text materials as the principal studying resource, although non-conventional education believes the range of studying resources is limitless, from the every day newspaper to personal interviews from videocassettes to microcomputers to world travel.

7. Non-conventional education faculty are judged on competency and personal qualities, in addition to credentials and degrees (take note: a non-traditional faculty ought to still be academically qualified), but conventional education faculty need to only have appropriate credentials and degrees.

8. Conventional education cultivates dependence on authority by way of prescribed curricula, needed campus residence, and needed classes, whilst non-conventional education cultivates self-direction and independence via planned independent study, both on and off campus.

9. Non-standard education credits and degrees also take into consideration understanding how to learn and the integration of diverse fields of knowledge, although standard education credits and degrees are based primarily on mastery of course content.

10. Traditional education curricula are generally oriented toward traditional disciplines and well-established professions, whilst non-traditional education Curricula reflect the student’s individual requirements and goals and are likely to be problem-oriented, concern-oriented, and world-oriented.

11. Non-standard education aims at producing lifelong learners, capable of responding all by way of their lives to their own evolving needs and those of society, even though traditional education aims at producing “finished products” – students who are completed with their education and ready for the job marketplace.

12. Lastly, to adapt the old Chinese saying, standard education gives you a fish and feeds you for a day, even though non-standard education teaches you how to fish, and feeds you for life.