How do these "liberal education" programs differ from orthodox middle schools? What do the students study? Do children adapt naturally to these classes, and perhaps even perform better? Can the two systems be reconciled? These are questions that await answers. . . .
Education reform has been a major issue in recent years. Pro-reform groups have called insistently for change, and the education authorities have taken a number of bold steps, including allowing non-standardized material into the curriculum, creating alternatives to the exam system for high school, and allowing the establishment of many new tertiary institutions.
Besides these reforms "within the system," some people have also made an end run around the system, by creating experimental educational structures. The Forest Elementary and Seedlings schools were founded with the aim of breaking free of the old system and finding a better way.
The first experimental middle school program-the Holistic Education School (HES)-located in Choulan Township in Miaoli County, started in September 1995. There were 27 students for the first term, and now, entering its eighth term, the school has 54 students and 10 faculty.
From outside in
There are special factors that explain how HES came to be created. In 1994, Cheng Yen-ping was the contact person for Central Taiwan for the April 10 march for education reform. In this role he got to know many parents with liberal educational ideals. At that time there was still no alternative secondary-education program, yet it was (and remains) precisely this stage of mainstream education-in the middle of which students take the intensely competitive high school examinations-that many parents and children feared most. Some families have gone so far as to emigrate to spare their kids, while others have sent their children overseas on their own. Thus Cheng decided to found an experimental middle school.
Founding any educational institution is costly, but this was especially the case for HES, where the student-teacher ratio is very low. The start-up "hardware" bill was NT$34 million. The money came from contributions and mandatory interest-free loans from parents. In addition, tuition is NT$100,000 per term.
Besides this private effort, an alternative middle school program has also begun "within the system"-the Pei Cheng Experimental Class (PCEC), set within Taipei City's Pei Cheng Middle School.
Li Ya-ching, director of planning for the PCEC and also the founder of the Seedlings School, notes that the PCEC was initiated by parents and students at Pei Cheng, and only approved by the city Bureau of Education after two-and-a-half years of lobbying by its advocates.
There are 30 students in the PCEC. Most are first-year middle school students, but five are second-year students whose parents have deliberately held them back in order to allow them to join the experimental class. When the program began, the parents' association held a seminar to explain it to other parents and students so they could decide whether or not to join.
The main advantage of starting an experimental program "within the system" is that parents don't have to pay initial start-up costs, but can use the hardware already in place. Nevertheless, the PCEC requires more teacher time and teaching materials than a standard middle school class because it offers a lower student-teacher ratio and a more diversified curriculum. As the program was begun in haste, and there was not enough time for the city education bureau to appropriate funds, parents have had to donate money and volunteer their time to get this year's PCEC off the ground. For example, parent Li Shuang-yen volunteers two-and-a-half days a week teaching home economics to students.
Education close to home
Though the HES is outside the system and the PCEC is inside, they share a common philosophy: autonomous study rather than study by compulsion.
Cheng Yen-ping avers that education should start with a firm grounding in the child's own experience, and from there develop the child's ability to think and reason. Education should not only open a channel to human knowledge, but should also allow a child to realize his or her own individual character, as well as turn out a complete person with aesthetic sense, creativity, and the ability to think critically.
HES has smashed conventional demarcations of school organization, recruiting students from ages 10 to 15 (thus gathering together students who would normally be in primary, middle, and high schools). Classes are not differentiated by age. Rather, each class is subdivided by ability into small groups of three to fifteen students. Teaching proceeds through discussion and debate.
Take math for example. Students are taught to solve problems rather than to memorize formulas. Teachers do not provide correct answers off the bat, but let students try to figure things out for themselves. Exams are also different than in most schools. Held only once a term, they consist of 20 problems, none of which the students have seen before. The pupils are allowed to do research or discuss the questions with others. If they can come up with reasonable responses within a week, they pass.
Student-centered curriculum
Still, in comparison to experimental schools abroad which give students complete freedom, Taiwan's experimental secondary programs still have some "local" characteristics.
"HES is a product of Taiwanese experience," says Cheng, who formerly taught at the Forest School. Li Ya-ching of PCEC says that, though she can appreciate the "free learning" schools abroad, Taiwan lacks the requisite cultural and political environment. "To accommodate local educational circumstances, the system at the PCEC has aimed for a balance that everyone can be happy with."
One way Taiwan's experimental schools differ from those abroad is curriculum.
The curriculum at HES is divided into five main areas: languages, sciences, social studies, art, and "other." The category with the most unique features is social studies. It includes subjects such as aboriginal culture, Taiwan history, study of the local culture in Tapingting (where the school is located), Taiwan society, modern Chinese history, historiography, introduction to great world authors, and the study of society through reading fiction.
The art category has everything you can imagine: woodworking, calligraphy, drawing, pottery, photography, body art, jazz, rock and roll, film appreciation, classical music, art appreciation, and more. And in the "other" category are such subjects as computer science, health, adventure education, gender education, EQ training, career planning, and special lectures.
Letting them run wild
At the PCEC, the program is divided into three stages: required courses, elective courses, and self-directed study. Each stage takes two years, so the entire program takes six years (although at present approval has only been received for the middle school portion, which lasts three years). Required classes are those that "are considered important by adults": learning techniques, life skills, Chinese, English, arithmetic, aesthetics, history, philosophy, health, sex education, law, basic science, physical education, information technology, and personal security.
The elective course stage, says Li Ya-ching, "is where children explore their own strengths." Everyone is different, and schools should help students understand themselves and develop their individual talents. Thus the experimental class awards credits for self-study, research projects, out-of-school learning, and participation in clubs. Take for example independent research. Last term one student did a project on the portrayal of women in the works of Kawabata Yasunari.
The last two years are self-directed study. Students can follow courses that will lead to tertiary education, or to employment. These different tracks required different studies in preparation. Consideration is being given to cooperating with vocational schools in the future.
Teaching methods are flexible at HES, and can be adjusted to fit the needs of the individual. Besides standard pedagogy, supplementary instruction and individual instruction are available for students progressing at different rates. Students can also do
In fact, HES actually encourages students to take time off, causing some to say that principal Cheng lets students "run wild." Each term up to five students can take off from studies. Some travel, others take part-time jobs. This year two children have taken a year off. One is learning the cello, another is following an independent reading program. Cheng believes that "no matter what they do during their year off, it will probably have a greater effect on them than anything in class."
At the PCEC, which is trying to reform within the system, the teachers come from within the Pei Cheng Middle School. Li Ya-ching points out that it is quite a transition for them to go from a teacher-centered classroom model to a student-centered one. "They're all very capable, but they've never had a chance to try this before, so they lack confidence."
Boddhisatva, not Buddha
Li Tung-hsia, a teacher in the experimental class, says that she will finally have a chance to apply all the education theory that she learned. The benefit of the student-centered classroom, from her point of view, is that it is more lively and less stiflingly formal, but correspondingly there's much greater pressure to come up with interesting teaching materials.
She takes English for example. In an ordinary class there are too many students to do any activities, and you're stuck with traditional teaching methods. In order to keep things moving along, it isn't possible to look after the needs of students who fall behind. But in the experimental class, students are divided into four groups according to ability, with no more than eight students in each group. Every student has a chance to speak, and students of different abilities can be brought along at their own pace, and not abandoned.
For students with "mathephobia," the PCEC has invited Chu Chien-cheng, a professor of mathematics at National Taiwan University, to teach "fun math." This should give students more of a taste for mathematics.
Parents are welcome to join in "fun math." The teacher does his best to be lively and keep things moving, and lets the students develop an interest in math through amusing games. Chu says that math teachers have long been like the "Buddha," sitting serenely above the crowd, letting students grope their way to enlightenment as best they can. Except for those few students with a knack for math, most never get anywhere. But the teacher in the "fun math" class is more like a Boddhisatva, giving students guidance.
"In fact the subject matter in class is basically the same as everywhere else," says Chen Mu-chien, who has been in the experimental class for one term. It's just that the teachers in the experimental class show more respect for the students, and the classes are more lively and interesting.
Take your time, kids
It is not only the teachers who have to adjust. Parents and students also have to overcome many difficulties.
Only one-third of the students at HES come from the Forest or Seedlings primary schools. The others all come from ordinary elementary schools.
Each year nearly 100 students express interest in HES, but due to limitations of space and manpower, only ten have been accepted in each of the last couple of years. Principal Cheng Yen-ping says that applicants fall into basically two groups: those whose parents have especially liberal ideas about education, and those who are unable to adjust to the mainstream system and whose parents have nowhere else to turn.
Because there is an even greater difference between mainstream and alternative education at the secondary level than at the primary level, parents have to be even more committed to the school's ideals. This is why it is mostly the parents who decide on students' entry into the PCEC. Similarly, when HES chooses students, it looks more at the parents than at the children. The parents of the children at HES are mainly youngish people (in their early 40s) from the upper strata of society.
Despite all this, even though there have been several interviews to ensure that parents share the school's ideals, that does not mean that parents and the school always see eye-to-eye. Cheng says that the vast majority of conflicts arise from one cause: the child's choices are not necessarily those favored by the parents. Parents often can't see the "utility" of the classes chosen by their children.
For example, the school thinks photography trains students to look at the world in new ways, and that drawing develops creativity and allows children to express themselves. But parents tend to look at things from the point of view of "utility." They think that photography and drawing are recreational activities.
Another example is the "mountain hiking" class required for all students. Cheng opines that besides teaching students to overcome obstacles and take on challenges, hiking also allows them to better understand man's place in nature, creates a sense of awe for the wonders of the world, and helps interpersonal relations. "These things can't be taught out of a book or with lectures, but have to be experienced."
Thanks to the diversity of Taiwan's topography, the school can tackle a different 3000-meter-plus mountain each year. Last year they did Hsuehshan, with each student-"even the six ten-year-olds," says Cheng proudly-carrying a ten-kilo pack to the summit.
But however the school may see such activities, many parents still think they are not as important as English, math, physics, and chemistry.
Turbulent youth
Fortunately, most parents accept the programs' judgment.
Mrs. Tsai wanted her child to be educated in an open environment. She placed her son Mu-lin in HES when he was entering the 6th grade. She says that in his first term it was like summer camp, and he played around most of the time. In his second term he began to be more curious about his environment. It was only in his third term that he began to think about what he really wanted to study. In the year it took Mu-lin to get comfortable at the school, Mrs. Tsai could only be patient and wait.
Ho Kuang-han, who wanted his daughter to have a liberal education, discovered that she had trouble finding her equilibrium in her first term at HES. But he says that his child turned out to be "not nearly as lazy as I imagined." He says that most people don't believe that children have the ability to make decisions for themselves, but he feels: "A child will eventually have to be independent, so there's no point in wasting time."
Many students at first enjoy their apparently unlimited freedom. But eventually they find some equilibrium point, and even begin to put pressure on themselves.
"The pressure comes from your own expectations," says Chen Mu-chien, who dropped back from second year in middle school in order to join the PCEC. When he discovered that the other students were moving forward, he was also motivated to work harder.
The three commandments
Students in experimental programs enjoy freedom and dignity as a basic right. But, many people wonder, where is the line between freedom and license?
HES is located in a remote area, so students and teachers all live at the school. The student dorm is a mess, often being used as an example of how not to live. One parent, seeing the pigsty the students live in, commented: "It's a good thing I have a strong heart, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to stand the shock."
Teachers at HES debated for a whole year the merits of extending school authority into the students' personal living space. They did not take any action because Cheng, whom the students call "old graybeard," wanted to hold off doing anything until the staff completely understood the situation. He argued that it would be worse to intervene without really knowing the situation.
At HES, the top priority is freedom. But not unlimited freedom. Cheng relates that there are "three commandments": no violence, no sex, and no video games.
Cheng explains that it is a question of basic human rights for students and teachers to be free from the threat of being hurt by others. The ban on sex, on the other hand, is the result of social pressure on the school. Although the students vary in terms of their intellectual and physical maturity, there is no choice but to have a total ban on sex at the school.
As for video games, Cheng argues that these are like an opiate: they are addictive and cause people to fall into an unreal world. As Cheng wrote in turning down a student request to permit a video game competition, "Video games turn the horror of war into entertainment, and a life is nothing more than some equivalent in points scored. There is no tragedy in death, but joy. These games violate all humanitarian principles. . . ."
Except for these few "commandments from Heaven," most school rules are decided upon collectively by students and faculty.
At the PCEC, every day at noon is "adjudication time." The "court" handles agreements on new rules as well as violations of existing rules. The PCEC has also adopted the format of a collective self-governing social contract to set norms.
In the past at HES there was a self-governing assembly in which everyone participated to set the social contract. However, this didn't work out so well, so last term it was abolished. This term there have been elections for an "executive team" to pass and enforce laws. The team includes both students and teachers, and holds an open session once a week to get feedback from "the public."
"This is much more effective education in law and morals than any civics class could give," says Cheng. The children have to learn through experience. When they make a mistake, they have to accept responsibility and correct it. "Children only really internalize those things they see, hear, and experience in daily life."
Who cares about diplomas?
HES has now been in operation for four years. Although it has won accolades from parents, it has yet to win recognition from the educational authorities. This year six students at the school will reach graduation age, but it is still unclear whether they will be able to get any certification of their education.
Cheng says, "When our kids graduate, in the first year they definitely won't be able to test into any local colleges or universities." The questions in the university entrance exams in Taiwan are drawn directly from the public school textbooks, but HES doesn't use any of these. Thus its students either end up going abroad or spending a year in cram school to bone up to test into university in Taiwan.
Yang Shih-te would be in his first year of high school in a normal school. He transferred from a private high school to HES in his second year of middle school because of a fighting incident, and has remained there ever since. Ask him: "What you going to do with no diploma?" He replies without hesitation: "To heck with the diploma!" He says that in the future he wants to continue to study, but won't necessarily stay in Taiwan.
"I used to be very anxious about this," says Shen Man-li, whose daughter went from the Forest Elementary School to HES and will graduate this year. Her child has been following a path no one else has been on before. Should she go abroad to study, or take the university entrance exams? What can she do without a diploma? Inevitably there are worries associated with such questions. But Shen has seen her way clear: she will let her daughter decide. Shen laughs, "She has a different dream every day, she doesn't know what she wants yet!"
Mrs. Tsai, who does not own her own home and whose economic circumstances are less than ideal, has nonetheless gone all-out to give her child "a chance." She says that she, much like the majority of HES parents, does not care about the diploma. Moreover, community colleges are being promoted as the future trend in education. When the time comes, she's not worried her child will have no place to continue studying.
One school two systems
HES, which has always been outside the system, faces the problem of not being formally recognized by the educational authorities. But there is also uncertainty facing the PCEC. It is unknown whether it will pass review and be extended into the high school stage.
Faced with these uncertainties, most of the PCEC parents have a "take one step at a time" attitude.
"At first I was not certain. But as I saw my child take more initiative to study on her own, I was won over," says Li Shuang-yen, whose daughter is in the PCEC. She is certain that this educational environment is good for her child.
Ho Kuang-han originally chose Pei Cheng because he wanted his daughter in a smaller school, and then was "lucky" to come across the experimental class. He professes to be not at all worried about his child's future educational advancement. "At least she will have had six years in which she will have learned more than most kids, and enjoyed doing it to boot!" says this optimistic dad.
The PCEC faces special problems caused by the presence of two systems within one school.
The students in the experimental class do not have to go to the morning flag raising ceremony, do not wear uniforms, and don't have compulsory after-lunch naps. Naturally the students in the ordinary classes see them as enjoying "special privileges" and are jealous.
At the end of the first term, the school held a class representative assembly at the request of students. The students from the ordinary classes asked to be treated like those in the experimental class. In faculty meetings, teachers have asked to subdivide their students into small groups based on ability rather than into arbitrary classes. Of these various demands, thus far the school has only agreed to a trial period in which ordinary students may dress in casual clothing.
An alternative, not a replacement
Besides the above issues, the PCEC faces a potential "crowding out" problem in the future. Li Tung-hsia points out that already some parents have moved house or changed their residence registration so that their children can attend the PCEC. When the time comes, how will the school select among the candidates? Of course, no matter how they do so, some children will inevitably be left out.
"We're only providing a choice," says Li Ya-ching. Alternative education was never meant to extend across the entire country. No education system is suitable for every child, and the PCEC is just an experimental class. Li and her colleagues are still learning by trial and error. All they are doing is providing another possibility-a "chance" in the words of one HES parent-for education in Taiwan.
Different children need different chances. But, given that each child grows up in a different environment, will they all have a fair chance?
p.84
The Holistic Education School (HES) emphasizes independence and freedom, allowing students to find themselves in an open atmosphere. The photo is of an art class; the one pushing the baby carriage on the path is the home economics teacher.
p.86
"Children are like birds, you have to let them fly free!" says "graybeard" Cheng Yen-ping, principal of the HES.
p.87
"It's not important whether you come to class. It is important whether you are happy." Freedom to come and go to class as one pleases is one of the special features at HES.
p.88
The Pei Cheng Experimental Class (PCEC) was initiated by parents. Li Ya-ching (first at right), who drew up the initial proposal, is aiming to reform the educational system from within.
Parentsinevitably are a little nervous at the totally novel path their children are on. The kids, on the other hand, are carefree.
p.90
Playing dice? Yes! This is a "fun math" class at the PCEC. Teachers, parents, and kids gather together, cultivating an interest in math through games.
p.91
They pursue not only knowledge, but also life skills. This is a home economics session at the PCEC.p
p.92
Far removed from corporal punishment, rote memorization, and exam pressures, children in a free learning environment look happy and self-confident. But this form of education is still experimental and cannot be widely implemented.
Playing dice? Yes! This is a "fun math" class at the PCEC. Teachers, parents, and kids gather together, cultivating an interest in math through games.
They pursue not only knowledge, but also life skills. This is a home economics session at the PCEC.
Far removed from corporal punishment, rote memorization, and exam pressures, children in a free learning environment look happy and self-confident. But this form of education is still experimental and cannot be widely implemented.
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