NEW UKRAINIAN SCHOOL AND WALDORF EDUCATION

Abstract

The article intends to analyze the current situation in the field of educational reforms. The objective taken by the author is comparing the main values and the goals of The New Ukrainian School (Conceptual principles of secondary school reform) issued by Ministry of Education and Science as an answer to the challenges of the modern society and the Waldorf Education as an example of the good practice of an alternative education system. The article reveals the certain similarities of the two conceptual approaches that considered meeting the modern needs of education such as: child-centered ideas; partnerships in the school governance; academic freedom of a teacher; school autonomy etc. Analyzing the methods which could be learnt from the Waldorf Schools good practice to be taken into the consideration, the author draws the attention to the artistic teaching in the sense of originality, imagery and creativity; the structure of lessons when subjects are presented in the Main Lesson, usually over a block of about three weeks; phenomenological approach to science, which means that the teacher sets up an experiment and calls upon the pupils to observe carefully, ponder, and discuss what is happening — thus allowing them to discover the conclusion for themselves; approaches to the assessment and the others. On the example of Waldorf Education approach, the author comes to the conclusion that the different educational alternatives can serve as meaningful models for the renewal of mainstream education in Ukraine. The democratic society should keep the educational pluralism for those who still seek for an alternative.