Dr Brian V Hill "Choosing The Right School"
"Mark T"
in homeschooling. How does your homeschooling fare?
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From Dr Brian V Hill "Choosing The Right School" ( ATCF Books: Sydney:1987)
APPENDIX: THE GOOD SCHOOL pp 147 - 153 [Page references and other parts
snipped for easier reading]
A CHECK-LIST
A. Needs-Assessment
A 1 Which particular child's needs are you considering at this point? .
A 2Which of this child's needs are the primary responsibility of the parent?
A 3 In regard to schooling, has the child any special needs - physical,
intellectual, emotional, social, or special learning difficulties which will
need to be taken into account?
A 4 Has the child revealed any special talents or abilities which ought to
be kept in mind?
A 5 Is it important in this child's case to choose a school attended by its
close friends?
B. The School - Objectives
B 1 How well does the school's policy statement (or public speeches) reflect
the general objective [of education]?
B 2 Does the school see itself as a social community needing rules and areas
of freedom like the wider society or does it just talk about subjects and
results?
B 3 Does the school spell out the general rules on which it operates (i) as
a social organisation? and (ii) as an educational community?
B 4 Does the school appear to have achieved a satisfactory balance between
sustaining a supportive community within itself. and effectively
representing to the child the pluralistic world we live in?
B 5 Do the values the school says it stands for encourage both the study and
the critique of those values themselves? In particular does it anywhere
affirm its respect for children as persons. and for their right to have
their own opinions?
B 6 Does the school have a policy on multiculturalism, and on the admission
of students having regard to race or religion? Do you support it?
B 7 Is the school co-ed or single-sex? Does this, in combination with other
nurturing influences, meet this particular child's needs?
B 8 What does the school affirm with respect to its view of the home as an
educational agency?
B 9 How does the school define its relation to voluntary groups in the wider
community?
B 10 How does the school see its role in relation to local and wider
government instrumentalities?
C. The School - Administrative Structures
C 1 Does the school use a widely representative consultative body (such as a
school council) to make major, long-term policy decisions?
....
C 3 What provision is made to involve students in the decision-making
structures of the school?
C 4 What opportunities does the school provide for involvement in the life
of the school by parents and members of the wider community?
C 5 Do these opportunities include forums in which members of the wider
community sponsoring the particular school can participate in a genuine way
in the formulation of school policy?
C 6 Is the sheer size of the school big enough to provide an adequately wide
educational experience, but small enough to maintain a sense of community?
D. The Curriculum
D 1 Is this school locked in to the traditional literary / academic
subjects for status reasons, or is it prepared to try out promising
alternative themes for study as well?
D 2 Does the school achieve a good balance between the compulsory core and
the voluntary options within the curriculum?
D 3 What relative status does the school attach to the humanities as
compared with science-type subjects?
D 4 Does the range of subjects offered in this school appear likely to
encourage students to reflect on beliefs and values as well as ways and
means?
D 5 In particular, what happens in regard to the teaching of religion?
....
D 7 Does the school, in its references to its curriculum, include an
acknowledgment of the importance of informal learning and "extra-curricular"
activities, on the premises but outside the framework of formal classroom
instruction?
E. The School In Operation
E 1 Does the school have an explicit discipline policy, clearly spelling out
the steps to be taken in the case of students who continue to disrupt
classroom activity or flout the agreed rules of the school community?
E 2 Does it also have clauses identifying the personal liberties and rights
accorded to staff and students? Or is it all "do its"?
...
E 5 What steps are taken to regard students as whole persons, rather than
merely as students of separate subjects. and what regular (as opposed to
crisis) pastoral care and counselling structures operate in the school?
E 6 What support services does the school provide or is it able to call on
for emotionally disturbed or disruptive children?
E 7 What support services does the school provide for children with special
learning difficulties. in regard to both the number and type of educational
specialists on call, and specific procedures adopted to draw such children
aside for special assistance?
E 8 What steps are taken to make students aware of career opportunities and
of the working world as it impacts on their own local community? (p. 112)
E 9 How adequate are the physical facilities for your child's health and
wide learning?
F. The Classroom In operation
F 1 What does the school profess to be able to achieve in the context of
formal classroom curriculum? Is it realistic and ethical?
F 2 Where does the school place its emphasis in teaching methods, in regard
to such concepts as team teaching, teaching machines. social learning,
individualised instruction, direct teaching, and ability streaming vs. mixed
ability groups?
F 3 What can you infer from this about the attitude taken to the nature of
children as learners?
...
F 5 What does the school say about its policies of assessment in regard to
frequency of testing, whether testing is norm-referenced or
criterion-referenced, how often it reports to parents, and what it does
about students with low marks?
G. The School - Its Reputation
Official statements made by school administrators are one thing. What
actually goes on is another. Do you know any parents, other adults, students
or ex-students, who have had actual experience of the school in operation?
Ask them the following:
G 1 Is the school an enjoyable or anxiety-producing place to attend? Why?
G 2 Is the working climate efficient or time-wasting?
G 3 Are the relations of adults to students affirmative or negative?
G 4 To what degree are the staff members of the school, in their
extra-curricular time. committed to joining in with students in the
extra-curricular expressions of school community?
G 5 Is there parental involvement in the school day and is it generally
appreciated?
H. If It Is a Christian school
In addition to the above, some questions which probe potential strengths and
weaknesses of this particular class of school are as follows:
H 1 Is the school's admissions policy compatible with the kinds of contacts
you believe your child needs most?
H2 Does the curriculum fairly reflect the kind of world the child is living
in, or does it exclude or potentially distort information felt to be
contrary to the defence of the Christian position?
H 3 In the light of other budget priorities within the family, does the
extra financial burden seem reasonable?
H4 What minimum demands will there be on your time as a participating
parent? Can these demands, together with the extra demands on your tithe, be
justified as good stewardship?
I. Final Thoughts
I 1 Will your child be able to cope socially with the kind of community this
school runs?
I 2 Given the choice you now prefer, will the impact it has on your home
life be within acceptable limits (i.e. leave enough quality time for regular
family inter -action, strengthen rather than erode family discussion on
values, etc.)?
I 3 Will the choice that you have made communicate in itself the right scale
of values and priorities to your children?
I 4 Do the educational gains associated with the choice of this school
justify the likely investment of.
(a) personal time in peripheral activities connected with travel time,
working bees. fund-raising. etc.?
(b) available family finances?
....