THE FOCUS of Total Education is on enhancing the quality of relationships between the people who make up the School. In the planning and implementation of its program, the School has emphasised the dimension of personal growth and this gives the School its unique atmosphere. The School sees its most important task as facilitating open communication and free-flowing interaction between teachers, parents and students.

The Parent’s Role

A child’s personal growth is facilitated or inhibited by the model provided by his or her parents. We do not require parents to be teacher’s aides, nor do we ask them to participate in the governance of the School. We simply ask that they give time and attention to becoming more mindful parents. The School assists parents in this undertaking through the weekly Parents Program. Issues confronted by parents raising children in a modern society are discussed in small groups. Parents share their experiences, offer suggestions and lend mutual support. The Parents meetings also offer the opportunity for parents to discuss issues related to their own development. These discussions may concern, for example, personal relationships, attitudes to work, stress, the power of patience or the value of consistency.

The Teacher’s Role

Teachers play a pivotal role in Total Education. Teachers work at providing a role model of appropriate behaviour and try to bring out the best in their students by building a loving and respectful relationship with each child in their care. Teachers also provide an essential link between parents and their children.

Teachers joining the School have undertaken an extended Teacher Development Program. This program, devised by the School, focuses on the personal capacity of each teacher to implement his or her ideals in the classroom and assists the teacher to overcome the personal obstacles to this objective. The issues tackled in the program include: understanding children’s needs, creative discipline, working as a team, relating to parents, the basis of respect, and managing stress. The program encourages individual reflection and the building of a strong collegial atmosphere.

The Student’s Role

The students’ active contribution to School life is an essential part of Total Education. Students are treated with respect and their ideas and choices are sought in the planning of academic studies and special interest areas. Being a small school, older students easily interact with younger students. All students have a part in the care of the School and are encouraged, for example, to clean up their classrooms at the end of the day, to help in the regular children’s working bees and to assist teachers and parents in the general care of the School environment.

When children are relaxed they grow in a natural way and are more open to learning and discovering their innate capacities. The students’ role then is to find their unique means of expression and to become aware of their strengths and weaknesses — to learn and to develop their understanding, skills and capacity for working with others.

Copyright The School of Total Education 2001. This page last generated Thu, 7 Mar 2002. Web site by The Design Group.