Article published in the magazine of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan "Dalton Inspirations"
The innovation of education is one of the most important pillars of the development of the Dalton Laboratory Plan by Helen Parkhurst. To a large extent, the quality of the teaching process depends on its effectiveness. The quality and effectiveness of education are closely related to innovativeness, understood as the implementation of various changes, improving the educational process to a significant extent. Nowadays, Dalton education is moving towards the self-development of a child and the individualization of the process of working with a pupil. Learning the skills necessary preparing students to function in the twenty-first century, is now the priority of the Dalton schools around the world. As Roel Rohner rightly observes to “prepare students to survive their own future”[1], is a necessity of the modern school. The skills of the 21st century include learning the responsibility for pupil’s own work, learning to deal with emotions, education from an early age, emotional intelligence, creativity, good organization of work and innovative workshop attitude. Moreover, enforcement of intra-school work divisions is significant, since it teaches cooperation among pupils. It ought to be emphasized that teaching students innovative skills is one of the most important aspects of a well-functioning educational institution. As Henryk Rowid rightly pointed out "raising a man who can create a better future, a perfect world and a more beautiful life is the goal of the modern school, aimed at triggering the potentiality of a personal disciple . " Thus, the 21st century Dalton school should develop in three dimensions: physical, social and cognitive . For the above-mentioned reasons, the integration of the Dalton Laboratory Plan Helen Parkhurst with currently existing concepts supporting the personal development of students is an excellent solution for the 21st century Dalton school. These concepts are fully synchronized with the primary pillar of the Dalton Plan, and they fit into the contemporary concept of the Dalton Plan, developed to a large extent by Dutch pedagogues from Dutch Dalton Association and Dalton International Foundation. The primary pillars of Parkhurst (independence , cooperation, responsibility) have been enriched with additional ones, such as: Reflection, evaluation, embedding (goal recording and further planning of the educational process ) and effectiveness. Concepts that significantly intensify the process of individualisation of work with a student are undoubtedly : theory of Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences and Benjamin Bloom's teaching goals (learning how to solve problems independently, critical thinking). They are necessary to differentiate work with a child. As mentioned by Susan Semel " The trend of pedagogy of a progressive progressive school in the Dalton Plan is tolerant of all individual talents of the child ... .. progressive teachers have created tasks that match the mental needs of each child, the needs of these needs Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner describes as multiple intelligences .... " . Among the pluralism of the 21st century education concepts, both Susan Semel and others researchers of alternative education are continuously looking for concepts as close as possible to the Dalton plan. It seems that the above concepts fully correspond to the pedagogical pillars of Helen Parkhurst and the philosophy of John Dewey. Undoubtedly, a universal element is the fact that both Helen Parkhurst in 1928 and contemporaries perceive the child-centered education as the most effective one. In 1930, Parkhurst underlined the significance of the urgent need to explore the nature of the child in order to improve the quality of the Dalton education . As she claimed, " ... knowing the child's psychology is necessary if we will recognize the education machine so that it responds to the needs of every child, of all ages”. Nowadays, the basic philosophy of The Dalton School in New York is as it was in the 19th century. The basic assumption is to nurture children's nature, teach children to believe in their abilities, to teach self-confidence. It is also highly important to teach children responsible and independent learning and thinking. These are elements necessary in the 21st century.
Undoubtedly, the development of analytical thinking and problem-solving is a priority in the 21st century's Dalton Education. Through the implementation of Bloom's taxonomy , the education of both analysis and synthesis occur .
The individual stages of thinking are presented in the following way:
1. The process of remembering is based on the recognition or memorizing of facts, concepts, basic concepts, without a special understanding of their meaning
2. Understanding facts or ideas
3. Using the acquired knowledge in the process of solving problems
4. Analysis of relationships between situations
5. The evaluation process is based on the assessment of the given information, the validity of ideas, or the quality of work based on a set of assessment criteria.
6. Creation / synthesis involves building structures from various elements and creating a logical whole
On the basis of the above analysis, it can be concluded that such a synergy of the concept supporting the development of the pupil is undoubtedly a recipe for innovative education, based on the Dalton Plan. For these reasons, I created a program for learning the English language of the youngest, based on Bloom's taxonomy and the theory of multiple intelligences of Howard Gardner. The educational assumptions of the program are based on the pillars of the Dalton education: independence, cooperation, independence, responsibility, evaluation, reflection and efficiency. The program model assumes learning through play and consists of fifty teacher's work cards. The latest program "Ocean" is part of the "Let's Daltonize English" program, which enables stimulation of the holistic development of a pupil. Below the scheme of the "Let's Daltonize English" program:
| copyright: International Dalton Consultancy |
The diagram presents active
learning through Benjamin Bloom's thinking phases, from the simplest -
memorizing through analysis to creation. The program also includes
learning using the eight types of intelligence of Harvard psychologist Howard
Gardner. It seems
that such a diverse learning process of a foreign language among the youngest
will result in improving the quality and efficiency of the Dalton education,
especially while teaching foreign languages. At
present, research is being carried out on the effectiveness of the 'Let's
Daltonize English' program in the Dalton schools in Austria (Sternschule
Deutchlandberg), in China (Schenzhen Xinua Dalton School) Germany (Unstrautschule),
the Netherlands (De Leewerijk school of Richard Van den Berg) in Poland
(Kindergarten No. 148 in Poznań).
In conclusion, the above
analysis shows the phenomenon of innovation as essential to improve the
currently existing education. The Dalton Plan,
perceived as a platform for concepts supporting the child's development, is
also an innovative approach to education.
It is worth, therefore, to "refresh" the existing methods and
concepts and do not stop looking for new, better solutions in working with
pupils.
Bibliography:
1. Agata
Sowińska, Innovations in English Language Education in secondary schools in
the light of the creative school,
Episteme Publishing House, pp. 18-19 Lublin 2016.
3. Henryk Rowid, Creative School, Theoretical foundations and ways to
implement a school of work, ed. Gebethner and Woolf, Kraków 1926, p.34.
9. source: http://daltonroel.blogspot.com/.
Bibliography:
1. Agata
Sowińska, Innovations in English Language Education in secondary schools in
the light of the creative school,
Episteme Publishing House, pp. 18-19 Lublin 2016.
3. Henryk Rowid, Creative School, Theoretical foundations and ways to
implement a school of work, ed. Gebethner and Woolf, Kraków 1926, p.34.
9. source: http://daltonroel.blogspot.com/.