Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
Etymology
The word school derives from Greek σχολή (scholē), originally meaning "leisure" and also "that in which leisure is employed", but later "a group to whom lectures were given, school".[4][5][6]
History and development
Regional terms
Ownership and operation
Many schools are owned or funded by states. Private schools operate independently from the government. Private schools usually rely on fees from families whose children attend the school for funding; however, sometimes such schools also receive government support (for example, through School vouchers). Many private schools are affiliated with a particular religion; these are known as parochial schools.
Components of most schools
See also:
Schools are organized spaces purposed for teaching and learning. The classrooms, where teachers teach and students learn, are of central importance. Classrooms may be specialized for certain subjects, such as laboratory classrooms for science education and workshops for industrial arts education.
Typical schools have many other rooms and areas, which may include:
- Cafeteria (Commons), dining hall or canteen where students eat lunch and often breakfast and snacks.
- Athletic field, playground, gym, and/or track place where students participating in sports or physical education practice
- School yards, that is, all-purpose playfields typically in elementary schools, often made of concrete, although some are being transformed into environmentally friendly teaching gardens by landscape artists such as Sharon Gamson Danks.[14][15]
- Auditorium or hall where student theatrical and musical productions can be staged and where all-school events such as assemblies are held
- Office where the administrative work of the school is done
- Library where students ask librarians reference questions, check out books and magazines, and often use computers
- Computer labs where computer-based work is done and the internet accessed
Education facilities in low-income countries
In low-income countries, only 32% of primary, 43% of lower secondary and 52% of upper secondary schools have access to electricity.[16] This affects access to the internet, which is just 37% in upper secondary schools in low-income countries, as compared to 59% in those in middle-income countries and 93% in those in high-income countries.[16]
Access to basic water, sanitation and hygiene is also far from universal. Among upper secondary schools, only 53% in low-income countries and 84% in middle-income countries have access to basic drinking water. Access to water and sanitation is universal in high-income countries.[16]
Security
Main article:
The safety of staff and students is increasingly becoming an issue for school communities, an issue most schools are addressing through improved security. Some have also taken measures such as installing metal detectors or video surveillance. Others have even taken measures such as having the children swipe identification cards as they board the school bus. For some schools, these plans have included the use of door numbering to aid public safety response.[clarification needed]
Other security concerns faced by schools include bomb threats, gangs, and vandalism.[17] In recognition of these threats, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 advocates for upgrading education facilities to provide a safe, non-violent learning environment.[18]
Health services
Main article:
School health services are services from medical, teaching and other professionals applied in or out of school to improve the health and well-being of children and in some cases whole families. These services have been developed in different ways around the globe but the fundamentals are constant: the early detection, correction, prevention or amelioration of disease, disability and abuse from which school-aged children can suffer.
Online schools and classes
Main article:
Some schools offer remote access to their classes over the Internet. Online schools also can provide support to traditional schools, as in the case of the School Net Namibia. Some online classes also provide experience in a class, so that when people take them, they have already been introduced to the subject and know what to expect, and even more classes provide High School/College credit allowing people to take the classes at their own pace. Many online classes cost money to take but some are offered free.
Internet-based distance learning programs are offered widely through many universities. Instructors teach through online activities and assignments. Online classes are taught the same as physically being in class with the same curriculum. The instructor offers the syllabus with their fixed requirements like any other class. Students can virtually turn their assignments in to their instructors according to deadlines. This being through via email or in the course webpage. This allowing students to work at their own pace, yet meeting the correct deadline. Students taking an online class have more flexibility in their schedules to take their classes at a time that works best for them. Conflicts with taking an online class may include not being face to face with the instructor when learning or being in an environment with other students. Online classes can also make understanding the content difficult, especially when not able to get in quick contact with the instructor. Online students do have the advantage of using other online sources with assignments or exams for that specific class. Online classes also have the advantage of students not needing to leave their house for a morning class or worrying about their attendance for that class. Students can work at their own pace to learn and achieve within that curriculum.[19]
The convenience of learning at home has been a major attractive point for enrolling online. Students can attend class anywhere a computer can go – at home, a library or while traveling internationally. Online school classes are designed to fit your needs, while allowing you to continue working and tending to your other obligations.[20] Online school education is divided into three subcategories: Online Elementary School, Online Middle School, Online High school.
Stress
As a profession, teaching has levels of work-related stress (WRS)[21] that are among the highest of any profession in some countries, such as the United Kingdom and the United States.[22] The degree of this problem is becoming increasingly recognized and support systems are being put into place.[23][24]
Stress sometimes affects students more severely than teachers, up to the point where the students are prescribed stress medication. This stress is claimed to be related to standardized testing, and the pressure on students to score above average.[25][26] See Cram school.
According to a 2008 mental health study by the Associated Press and mtvU,[citation needed] eight in 10 college students[where?] said they had sometimes or frequently experienced stress in their daily lives. This was an increase of 20% from a survey five years previously. 34 percent had felt depressed at some point in the past three months, 13 percent had been diagnosed with a mental health condition such as an anxiety disorder or depression, and 9 percent had seriously considered suicide.[citation needed]
Discipline towards students
Main article:
Schools and their teachers have always been under pressure – for instance, pressure to cover the curriculum, to perform well in comparison to other schools, and to avoid the stigma of being "soft" or "spoiling" toward students. Forms of discipline, such as control over when students may speak, and normalized behaviour, such as raising a hand to speak, are imposed in the name of greater efficiency. Practitioners of critical pedagogy maintain that such disciplinary measures have no positive effect on student learning. Indeed, some argue that disciplinary practices detract from learning, saying that they undermine students' individual dignity and sense of self-worth – the latter occupying a more primary role in students' hierarchy of needs.
See also
Sources
References
Further reading
- Dodge, B. (1962). ‘Muslim Education in the Medieval Times’, The Middle East Institute, Washington D.C.
- Education as Enforcement: The Militarization and Corporatization of Schools, edited by Kenneth J. Saltman and David A. Gabbard, RoutledgeFalmer 2003. Review.
- Makdisi, G. (1980). ‘On the origin and development of the college in Islam and the West’, in Islam and the Medieval West, ed. Khalil I. Semaan, State University of New York Press.
- Nakosteen, M. (1964). ‘History of Islamic origins of Western Education AD 800–1350’, University of Colorado Press, Boulder.
- Ribera, J. (1928). ‘Disertaciones Y Opusculos’, 2 vols., Madrid.
- Spielhofer, Thomas, Tom Benton, Sandie Schagen. "A study of the effects of school size and single-sex education in English schools." Research Papers in Education, June 2004:133 159, 27.
- Toppo, Greg. "High-tech school security is on the rise." USA Today, 9 October 2006.
- Traditions and Encounters, by Jerry H. Bentley and Herb F. Ziegler.
Schoolat Wikipedia's
- Definitions from Wiktionary
- Media from Wikimedia Commons
- News from Wikinews
- Quotations from Wikiquote
- Texts from Wikisource
- Textbooks from Wikibooks
- Resources from Wikiversity
Source en.m.wikipedia.org