Learning environments are based on following principles:
• freedom in choosing a teacher, theme, way of working, speed of learning
• challenging to set personal goals and objectives in making an individual curriculum
• considering of personal experience, style of learning, capacities, interests, relations etc.
• challenging to make up personal attitudes to various facts, events, patterns, hypothesis, other viewpoints, doings of others etc
• challenging and teaching how to set up activities for exploring culture and developing environment
• mutual assessment
• self-assessment
Creativity learning environment
Creativity learning environment aims to provide a wide range of opportunities for children to discover their likes and dislikes, interests, and abilities. And from the other hand, we aim to teach kids possible ways of working with arts as a help in exploring the world and self-expressing in various fields. In order to reach these goals we set up conditions in a way that all school community is filled with various forms of creativity.
A student is always to choose a theme, way or, for example, a part in a common job. There are special rooms for studying arts, making crafts, painting, playing music, sculpturing, filming, dancing etc. with all required tools, materials and reference sources. We also have a wonderful semi-professional drama studio with a stage and auditorium.
Dramatizing, i.e. using drama methods is one of the key techniques in all subjects, role games, project presentations etc.
Playing learning environment
Basic features of playing learning environment are:
• clearing the aims and main ideas of the game to all the participants
• involving students in the processes of making a game
• providing opportunities to choose (a way, form, role, viewpoint etc)
• presenting a visual result that is important not only for game participants but also for a school community as a whole
• creating facilities for reflecting on the work done both during the game and at the end of the game
Lawful learning environment
Lawful learning environment is presented as a model of a democratic community with following characteristics:
• Each member of a school community is a citizen with equal rights along with all other citizens. School leavers, parents and school friends have a right to claim for a citizenship.
• There is a friendly atmosphere to public discussion of democratic values and relationships inside the school community. We also make situations that prompt children to comprehend these values.
• Children and adults take active part in creating rules about living in a democratic community. As a result we passed Constitution, 12 laws and 8 regulations about different aspects of the school life.
• Each member of a school community has an opportunity to take part in making decisions concerning the most important matters through either School Meeting or School Council.
• There are some local self-governing bodies beside School Council and JC within classes, certain groups e.g. trustee council, business game city administration etc.
Labor and social learning environment
Together with volunteer parents we search for resources in the city to introduce a real adult life to students. High school students have to spend a week a year working on probation. Students can choose any field they are interested in from working in a bank to nurserying in a local hospital. It is one of the ways of testing yourself within a would-be occupation,
Sometimes students choose to spend a week at university they are going to enter discovering the atmosphere, challenging themselves to study in “an adult way”, talking to people and asking for their opinion about the department and the university itself.