Types of Private (Independent) Schools

Programs in private schools depend a great deal on the type of school established. In Canada all private schools are required to meet provincial guidelines in their programs of study.

Traditional-religious private schools have tended to be, "teacher centered and authoritarian, to rely heavily on textbooks, and to emphasize memorization of material."²⁵ They focus on teaching religious, value based beliefs. Since the 1980's however, traditional-religious schools have adopted progressive methods.

Humanistic-progressive schools tend to include whole language approaches, cooperative learning, multi-cultural education, social studies curriculum, developmental education, open classrooms, and multiple assessments.26 Montessori schools focus on individualized learning where students and their teacher work one-on-one so that children can learn at their own pace. Waldorf schools have characteristics of both traditional-religious and progressive-humanistic teaching methods. Waldorf students are educated in three stages: kindergarten (ages 5-6); elementary (ages 7-14); and high school (ages 15-18). Kindergarten students learn through play, imagination, exploration, and imitation. Following kindergarten one teacher remains with a group of children through the eight years of their elementary stage to focus on the academic and intellectual development of each child. Waldorf high school education is intellectually demanding and experientially rich, as students learn directly from experts in various fields of study. Waldorf proponents claim that their system is, "the largest and fastest growing nonsectarian movement in the world." ²⁷