EDUCATION BLOG

In my discussions here about the educational system, I've mentioned that while post-secondary education and especially adult or vocational education tend to be much more flexible than the primary and secondary education. This seems to hold true of teacher certification, and especially of policies that recognize learning that takes place outside the classroom (prior learning, life experience.)

One of the things I don't think I mentioned yet is that these types of education seem to be more flexible when it comes to things like scheduling classes and student progress. Adult students are often given the choice between day and evening classes, in recognition of the fact that most adults either work outside the home during the day, or perhaps have small children to care for. Adult students can also be offered a self-paced program, or a distance program. There are even computer-assisted programs today, in which the "lectures" take the form of a web page or a CD-ROM that may incorporate video or audio, as well as text. An adult can actually complete a professional or vocational certificate, or even a university degree, without ever stepping foot into a classroom!

Just as an example of a professional certification with such flexibility let's take a look at Key Realty School. You can enroll in this real estate school in Las Vegas and attend lectures in their classrooms, but if you prefer to study at home you can do this instead. They also offer a unique program that allows students to combine classroom and home study. The modular design of the program allows prospective students to begin each Monday: the four component courses take five days each, and because each is a standalone unit there is no waiting for a new program to begin. A student can choose to start during the course on Realty and Personal Property, or perhaps during the Finance & Appraisal course.

A highly motivated student may choose to take both day and evening classes, which allows them to complete the program in 2 weeks. Or they can choose just one and take 4 weeks to work on the certification. And for those who are having difficulty or like a little extra review, Key Realty School guarantees they can continue attending classes until they pass the state real estate certification exam. If it takes an extra month, they attend for an extra month. But if it takes longer, it's all still included in the initial fee for the program enrollment.

What high school allows students to self-pace, or to keep attending a class until they feel ready to take the final exam? None that I know of! Public school is all about staying with the class, following the teacher's schedule, and writing state prescribed exams when everyone else writes them. Either you're ready and you pass, or you aren't and you fail. And failure can mean summer school, repeating a class and losing an elective credit, or maybe even repeating a year. If you're lucky. I know of an intelligent young man who was simply told he couldn't enroll in his hifgh school anymore because there was no way he was going to get the requisite number of credits before he turned 18. So they relegated him to a "special" program - one that didn't lead to a high school diploma, in a province that doesn't even recognize the GED.

If you're looking for a flexible program for your homeschooler after high school, you may want to present some schools like Key Realty, that offer a variety of options and not just straight classroom time. Professional certification, such as a real estate license, is also something to discuss vs a traditional college education - particularly if your son or daughter is considering a degree that does not lead directly to a job. A B.A. in English or Political Science may be worthwhile purely as a learning experience, but young people with such degrees are no longer guaranteed a job. Spending tens of thousands of dollars on college, and then ending up in a job at the local fast food restaurant is pretty disappointing. It's a good idea to offer our kids plenty of post-secondary options, rather than teaching them that a university degree is the "only way to go."

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

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