Doing things differently

I'll never forget walking into the free school where I work here in Switzerland, going downstairs to the CDT workshop and seeing about 10 children crafting bows and arrows in wood. Jobsworths would never sanction the supervision or manufacture of such weapons by children in the UK! However, the children's pride in their work and the subsequent – safe – archery competition in a nearby field spoke volumes about the activity-based learning that free schools encourage.

From 2014 in the UK, 102 free schools will offer an alternative way of learning to children. I'm sure schools will still be required to cover national curriculum material – if only so that leavers are able to continue with different forms of education later. My hope for the UK is that people begin to recognise that a man or woman standing in front of a board lecturing young minds does not work for everyone. People often say that the most rewarding part of teaching is that moment when a child finally understands a concept for themselves. In cross-subject, activity-based learning where teachers are guides rather than all-knowing lecturers, these moments occur regularly.

During our weekly 'language morning' at school – where all students make plans and set goals for their own language learning – hearing a six-year-old say he wants to "learn all the languages in the world" makes me, as a teacher, want to work harder on his behalf. One seven-year-old is counting a million grains of rice simply because she wants to understand what one million looks like. According to a recent radio factoid, counting to one million, uninterrupted by sleep or eating, would take a person four months. But we patronise these youngsters and their efforts if we remain entrenched in the test-oriented, league-tabled sausage factory of the state school system. If we allow children the freedom, with guidance, to pursue their goals, even if these are overambitious; they will engage with learning on their own terms and will learn better.

Even the perceived lack of structure or rules at Summerhill in the UK is no longer true, if indeed it ever was. The children have a say in the running of their school. This tradition of direct democracy is also alive and well where I work – and includes agreeing rules for lessons, breaks and other activities. During my teenage years, the demands of our School Council for girls to wear trousers and for us to be allowed to remove our ties in hot weather (usually vetoed by teachers) seem laughable in comparison.

Students do succeed and go on to do apprenticeships, public language exams and/or university entrance exams. But I would argue that the goal-oriented, holistic approach to learning pupils and students experience at a free school makes them more independent and more responsible for their own learning – two skills which are vital to their future progress. The state system worked for me, though it doesn't work for everyone. So I think we should all at least have the courage to do things differently.