Introduction
Education is among the most important investments that many people strife to achieve. As a result, the most secure inheritance that parents wish to leave their children is quality education. Parents leave their children material possessions but unless the children have good education, they fail to manage the material wealth their parents leave them hence they end up in poverty. This implies that it is important to have good schools that provide learners with quality education. Schools should not be established for the sake of having them because they are tasked with the responsibility of shaping the lives of learners. An ideal school should be different from ordinary schools by providing quality education that guarantees the learners success in life after studies. On the basis of my philosophy that every child can learn, this essay discusses the ideal school.
Curriculum
Curriculum is crucial for the ideal school since it gives guidelines of the essential skills to be taught to the learners. It should be in accordance with the standards laid down by the education board. The standards laid down by the state only show the objectives to be achieved while the ideal school curriculum will give a detailed content of what will be taught. It will include sample assignments the learners will undertake, supplementary resources and relevant textbooks to be read. Often, individual teachers will design detailed curriculums for the courses they teach since they understand them better.
Mission Statement for the School
A mission statement is an inspirational phrase developed to concisely and clearly define the direction an institution or an organization should take (Blake, 2010).By developing a clear mission statement, it becomes easy to communicate through a powerful way the intentions of an institution and encourage all stakeholders to work towards a common future. A mission statement is critical for the ideal school because sometimes people may forget the core reasons for its establishment and start concentrating on other issues that do not benefit the school. In such situations, the mission statement is very essential since it reminds individuals the purpose of the school and brings them back to the track when they stray. As the school expands, individuals may stray from its key objectives and this may affect it negatively. A mission statement is therefore critical in reaffirming what the school should achieve. Since my philosophy is that all children can learn, the following is the mission statement for the school.
The ideal school treats all learners as unique and creative individuals who should be assisted to succeed. The ideal school therefore recognizes the individual needs of learners, creates a conducive learning environment and lays emphasis on intellectual, social and physical development of all children.
Classroom Management and Discipline
Classroom management for the ideal school will be geared towards creating an environment where the learners will be motivated to learn while the teachers will have the inspiration to teach. This will be achieved by putting a management plan in place whose basis will be to take care of the learners and assist them realize their full potential. The use of these two principles in classroom management will ensure that meeting the needs of the learners will not a difficult task. The experience at school will therefore be purely teaching and learning rather than spending time solving problems that arise from poor classroom management.
Naturally, rest and activity are cycles which continue through out the life of an individual and offer support for each other hence they enhance growth in life. Such a relationship also exists between successful classroom management and fulfilling the needs of learners by the teachers. In the event that one of the two qualities is available in a classroom, the other quality will be there since they work together to produce satisfied students. Perceptive teachers know the needs of their learners and work towards fulfilling them through classroom management. The teachers also observe keenly the behavior of the students to identify needs that may not have been anticipated (Kizlik, 2012).
For an effective classroom management to be achieved, the teachers should build good relationships with the students which result in well disciplined learners. Learners should realize that teachers are concerned about them and work towards ensuring they succeed. The teachers on the other hand should be good examples to the learners that the learners may use them as guides to establish the right relationships. There are some guidelines that should be displayed for the learners to build good relationships and maintain discipline.
The first guideline is that teachers should always concentrate on the positive aspects of the students. Undesirable qualities do not depict the true nature of students but only indicate problems that are solvable. This builds a good relationship between the teachers and the students because the students appreciate the fact that teachers focus on the best in them. The second guideline is that teachers should be interested in knowing the learners personally and identifying matters that are important to the learners for them to feel acknowledged. The third guideline is that learners should be given alternatives instead of giving them out rightly negative feedbacks. The fourth guideline is that teachers should be open and approachable for the learners to find it easy to relate with them. By focusing on these guidelines, teachers in the ideal school will effectively manage their classes and peacefully instill discipline in the learners.
Parent involvement
Any ideal school focuses on the success of the learners. For the learners to succeed there are three critical components that must work closely. The components include the learners themselves, the teachers and the parents. Parent involvement is very crucial for the success of learners in the ideal school. Many studies have been conducted and all of them indicate that parents who are actively involved in the formal education of their children increase their chances of success. The ideal school should involve parents in running the school in order to take care of the needs of the learners effectively.
Since the teachers cannot afford to be with the learners always, one of the ways through which they can involve the parents in ensuring that the learners succeed is to ask the parents to take an active role in monitoring the learners once they are out of school. This involves showing them the importance of prioritizing their school work and encouraging them to work hard. Parents should also attend parent conferences at school without failure and be present during all other school events. In addition, they should always be in contact with the teachers to enquire about the progress of their children in order to counter any problems that their children might develop early enough.
Special Education, Multiculturalism and Diverse Learners
The society is comprised of people with different physical needs. The same case applies to schools since they are an extension of the society. The ideal school should factor in its program special education, multiculturalism and diversity of learners to ensure that the needs of each individual are met. The school should train its learners on how to deal with people with special needs in the society. These are people who have various disabilities and require special attention. Multiculturalism is also a reality that should be anticipated in the ideal school. The entire school community should be educated on the importance of accepting individuals from diverse cultures. The ideal school should not be characterized by ethnicity or racial profiling but instead, it should be characterized by diversity of learners. This enables the learners to develop broad minds and the capacity to appreciate others. In order to maintain all this, social justice should be upheld in the school.
Special Programs
The ideal school does not produce students who are good in academics only but all rounded individuals. Apart from the academic work, there are other co-curricular activities that learners in the ideal school should be trained. These activities ensure that the school produces all rounded individuals. For example, there should be programs where the learners get chances to interact with individuals who have succeeded in life for them to be inspired (Beyer & Johnson, 2005). The school should also introduce special programs that identify learners with unique talents outside the classroom such as singing, playing musical instruments and public speaking among others. Once such talents are identified, the school should nurture them. In addition, there should be after-school programs where learners who are not as fast as the rest can catch up in areas they were left behind.
Conclusion
The ideal school is a school that is different from other ordinary schools in many aspects. It is a school that recognizes learners as individuals with unique needs that should be always met. The teachers strive towards establishing good relationships with learners and creation of a generally good learning environment. The ideal school also has special programs that are geared towards producing all rounded learners.
References
Beyer, B., & Johnson, E. (2005). Special programs & services in schools:Creating Options,Meetig Needs. New York: Pro>Active Publications,.
Blake, J. (2010). Importance of Mission Statements. Web.
Kizlik, B. (2012). Classroom Management. Web.