Translator: Yura Ganjalyan
Let’s imagine that a learner of any age has decided to stay in the school building after the compulsory lessons. How many hours will his audacity be tolerated? How will the school regime react to this event? If we try to analyze the employment of school buildings and equipment after the compulsory lessons, what other forms of further education can we come across besides various karate and dancing groups? What kind of clubs of learners’ self government exist beginning with vocal instrument, sport and sport games, country study and educational trips, fine art and technical-scientific? What theatrical and creative, really working and developing clubs are there in today’s schools? How does the learner participate in the formation of his educational order? What kind of media and school websites do schools have? How long is the learner busy in it? How much educational is it?
At our “Mkhitar Sebastatsi” Educomplex we have managed to remove the barrier between the compulsory school work and outer school work. Learners, their parents and teachers can come to the school from 8 am till 8 pm and use all the educational means and facilities. Beginning from the first grade the school has become the center of educational work and interests as an open system in the physical and media environment without a police officer or a guard holding a stick or the key to the entrance door, without an educator on duty, without ringing bells and locked classrooms, without holidays or days off. At the basis of this is:
The learner’s, his teacher’s and the parent’s freedom; the learner’s, his teacher’s and the parent’s real self-government, the partnership formed on this and working out educational programs as a joint creative activity;
Suppressing formality, falsification and artificiality in human relationships; the club activities including all the ways and activities of learners’ of all ages;
Frequent educational country study trips;
All the year round reviews of educational activities, rituals, creative gatherings;
Substituting the lesson-classroom closed and hierarchic system with the open mobile net of lessons, when they are organized by the learners and teachers with groups of learners of the same age or of various ages in the museums, concert halls, exhibitions, in the areas of history and nature monuments, in the military units and scientific manufacturing centers.
Educational creative camps, outdoor drawings, outdoor creative gatherings;
Implementation of the open system of educational exchanges, public educational bridges with the schools of Artsakh and Georgia;
We have created our media environment mskh.am which is as much open and attractive social net with its sub sites, media library, TV radios, pedagogical, juvenile and children’s electronic magazines as well as teachers’ , learners’, individual and class blogs.
Our learners are the participants of media world creation and development. Welcome to mskh.am , get to know it better, make sure, evaluate.
If we consider all this to be achievement, as a measurable educational result, rating, can we set such tasks for a learner?
A learner should:
Do physical exercises every day as part of daily routine and have a preferred sport club beginning from Grade 5:
Conquer the best known ten mountain peaks in Armenia during the school years, be engaged in musical activities every day: vocal, playing musical instruments, beginning from the simple crackers to violin.
Be engaged in technology, fine art, designing activities.
Have his/her tree in the schoolyard and carry responsibility for it.
Have the area of his/her responsibility in the physical and media environment.
Have the activities of developing his/her preference; the preferred club at high school
Have his/her individual educational blog.
Take part in hikings, camps and in the military sport camps in Artsakh and Armenia.
Any young man should serve in the army without any exceptions, granting delays and distinction as his unavoidable and obligatory civil duty.
I am writing down with pleasure that we are approaching these results in the “Mkhitar Sebastatsi” educomplex.
We are open and full of initiative: there is no other way of partnerships and maintaining the achievements of the educational institution for individuals, groups of learners carrying out formal and informal education with all the state bodies in Armenia and Artsakh.
Our expanding connections with the defense system of Armenia, Defense Ministry, are of course a model. We are thankful to You and are ready to expand these connections to the glory of our fatherland and to the horror of our enemy.
A speech made in the conference at the Ministry of Defence of RA “Harmful idols and disgraceful street morals and manners as a threat to defence potential”.