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Philosophy Statement
The Tutorial School's program is based on a plethora of experience and readings in educational philosophy. Here's a bibliography of our major influences.
The Tutorial School is an educational community that includes students, staff, and parents joining together for what we believe to be among the most basic and fundamental of human activities: the pursuit of self-knowledge and the exploration, discovery, and understanding of life and the universe in all its multifarious aspects. We believe, too, that these activities can best be pursued in an environment that is free of fear and authority, and whatever else interferes with creativity and a genuine love of leaning, including coercion, rewards and punishments, competition, comparison, and unsolicited criticism or evaluation. For, it is only in an environment that is free of these obstacles to creativity that true intelligence can be nurtured. We believe that true intelligence has as much to do with sensitivity and compassion as it does with technical skill and competence. It is a delicate balance of heart and mind. Relationship, therefore, takes on a special significance at The Tutorial School, for it is only in relationships that sensitivity and compassion can flower. The school has no hierarchical structure, and students and staff develop relationships with each other that are based on mutual respect and cooperation, as we learn together, work together, and run the school together.
General Description
The Tutorial School provides its students with a learning environment that is free of any coercion or formality. Students are not required to attend formal classes or to follow a formal curriculum. They are free to select the subjects they wish to study and the method that best suits their learning style. Students may choose to learn on their own, with others, with the help of a tutor, in a class taught by a staff member or a student, or by undertaking a project. There are no required tests or grades or any form of comparative evaluations. There is absolute respect for the student's right to privacy, to decision making, and to control over his or her life and learning as long as this does not interfere with the rights of others or with the orderly functioning of the school. The school is run cooperatively by staff members and students with support from the parents.
Respect For Students
We affirm that a student, no matter how young, has the same right to respect and consideration as any adult human being. Condescension has no place in this community. Students are encouraged to take charge of their lives and their learning. They have complete control of their time and may choose to play, to go to classes, to read, to daydream, or simply to "hang out" with friends or staff. When young people have leisure they can better explore and discover themselves, their world, and what it is they truly love to do (not what their parents, their teachers, or society wants them to do). When they are free of the influence of rewards and punishments, enticements and persuasion, externally imposed structures and discipline, they are more likely to be genuine and unique human beings rather than copies from a mold fashioned by society, the state, or the church. Adult expectation, judgments, evaluations, and labeling have done irreparable harm to many children and continue to do so. We adults fail to see that the imposition of our values, beliefs, and ideals on children whether they be religious, cultural, or political is abusive and perpetuates the divisions among people that cause hatred and war. Furthermore, this attempt to condition the minds and hearts of children stifles originality and all but precludes the development of a new breed of human beings capable of creating a more functional and compassionate society.
Curriculum
It is worth noting that the word curriculum and the word course come from the same Latin verb, currere meaning "to run." More specifically curriculum means "to run in a circle" or "race course." This brings to mind the image of rats being conditioned to run mazes and the expression "rat race," frequently applied to life in and out of school. Equally noteworthy is that the word school derives from the Greek word skole meaning leisure, the antithesis of what is implied by "rat race," that is, the frenzied, competitive pursuit of status and security, often motivated by ambition and greed and rooted in fear. It is this kind of mindless activity that we at TTS wish to avoid.
In contrast, what we at this school wish to emphasize is very much in the tradition of the classical Greek ideal of the person as human being rather than as technician and specialist. This, however, requires leisure for reflective thought as well as spontaneous and open discussion regarding all issues pertaining to our humanity and its manifestations in the modern world. Influenced by the Industrial Revolution, modern education has emphasized technical training to meet the demands of the technological society for more and more technicians and specialists with terrifying results: precocious technological knowledge and inventions in the hands of fragmented, dysfunctional people. Humanity is on the brink of self-destruction for want of whole human beings.
Our approach to curriculum, then, respects the humanity and individuality of both staff and students. Students are free to pursue projects or studies on their own, or to request tutorials (one to one instruction) from staff members, or to attend classes conducted by students or staff. Staff members are free to offer classes on topics they and the students are vitally interested in, to initiate projects or conduct research with students, and to take them on field trips or recreational outings whenever they feel the need to. Students may also hold jobs as part of a work study project or they may commit themselves to an apprenticeship in some field of their choice. The staff is committed to helping students discover and explore their aptitudes and passionate interest with an eye to their individual learning styles. What we wish to foster is the joy of learning and self-discovery which is difficult to do if the curriculum is preordained and imposed on all alike.
Academics
As mentioned above, students are free to develop their own academic program. This includes apprenticeships, work-study programs, and college courses via concurrent enrollment in local colleges. Students with college in mind (presuming it is their own choice and not an adult expectation) should have no trouble preparing themselves to apply and be accepted to the collage of their choice. Staff members, some of whom have advanced academic degrees or are practicing crafts persons, teach or tutor a wide variety of standard academics subjects as well as cooking, pottery, music, and art. Students are free to request instruction in any subject of interest to them. This has resulted in courses such as philosophy, architecture, astronomy, and theology. These courses are open to students of any age to be pursued to whatever level their interests and capabilities can advance them. It should be noted that when students voluntarily do academic work, they tend to do so more enthusiastically and efficiently. Furthermore, they are better prepared to handle the more laissez faire environment of college life having learned to be more self-directed and self-motivated. Be it further noted that all graduates of TTS who have wanted to, have gone on to college.
Educational Goal
The educational goal of our school is to prepare students to live fully-functional lives in a society changing at accelerated rates. What we mean by fully-functional is being open to using all available ways of knowing, including intuitive and affective or feeling modes, to determine behavior in any given situation. To this end we provide an atmosphere that is non-threatening and conductive to building self-esteem and self-confidence. By encouraging students to take charge of their lives, they become mature human beings who, having no need to control others, take full responsibility for their own needs and desires. Students must directly experience their actions so that in the process they can see the results and consequences of these actions first hand. In addition, the tools needed to economically survive in a society that is rapidly changing would include the ability to adapt, the ability to learn, and the love of new experience since any skill learned now may be outdated in a few years.
A Special Word to Parents
One function of The Tutorial School (tutorial is from the Latin word for guardianship or protection) is to protect the young from the subtle and not so subtle abuse they are ordinarily subject to in regular schools. TTS, it must be emphasized, is a community that provides an environment for young people to grow and learn without fear or coercion. It is not a business selling a product or service. When you pay tuition, you are contributing to the support of the community just as the students are by helping with the running and upkeep of the school and the staff by providing for the needs of the students. You must understand that you are not buying preparation for college or vocational training or baby-sitting. You are voluntarily supporting a community that encourages learning for its own sake and at a pace set by the student. If you are anxious to see "progress" within a given period of time, you would do well to send you child to a regular school. Another thing that parents need to be clear about is that sending a child to TTS will have an effect on their child rearing practices. It will either support or change or undermine them. Consequently, you should send your son or daughter to TTS only if you have absolute trust in the ability of children to take charge of their lives and to make their own decisions or if you are at least willing to learn to develop that trust. To this end, we strongly urge parents to attend the bimonthly parent meetings that give parents the opportunity to discuss issues related to the school and to parenting. These meetings provide support as well as information to those who choose to attend. One more caution: if you have any worldly expectations of your children or wish them to accept any particular religious, cultural, or political beliefs or ideologies, you should know that sending them to this school is very risky since students in this environment have a tendency to want to question everything and to think independently!
Lastly, it is imperative that you know what this school is really about before you commit yourself and you child to being a part of it. Therefore, please read this information thoroughly and thoughtfully before you decide to sign an agreement with us so that, once you do, you can keep that agreement in good faith and we can support each other in providing a true education for your child as well as for all the students at this school.
The Tutorial School is a nonprofit corporation that does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, disability, national or ethnic origin, sex, or sexual orientation in the administration of its educational, admissions, scholarship and financial aid policies, in management, or in any other programs and policies administered by the school.