What is the difference between alternate school and progressive school?
The New Age education for Gen Alpha learners is based on flexibility, skill development, and adaptability to embrace changes when and how they come. Flexibility lies in the core of the progressive education system which involves an equal learning space for mentors and learners to collaborate and construct knowledge from the external artifacts. Learners, at the centre of the inquiry cycle, lead the process by raising challenging questions and aiming to solve them through a wide range of flexible and feasible approaches involving creative, critical, and problem solving skills. There is no fixed rule of the learning game, except all should be open minded and culturally respectful and compassionate towards their cohort. Of course, there is a value added on holistic upbringing where not only intellectual, social, emotional skills are inclcated but also the adversity quotient and happiness quotient are triggered.
On the other hand, walking a step back is the structured alternate schooling system based on predefined philosophies of Montessori, Waldorf, or religious-based education. There is less scope for the window to welcome a radical change in the philosophies, rather just reinforce the experiential hands on creative approach followed. Regardless to say, as there is a limited degree of flexibility, the adaptability quotient of withstanding a huge technological shift in the age of humans and robots is on the lower side.