Courtesy of Prince of Wales School

I had never heard of a school without written tests and homework, except for those few alternative schools that operate outside of the mainstream, until I recently read about the Prince of Wales elementary school in Barrie. This new style of teaching is referred to as transactional, or working together as opposed to the old style of teaching that most of us know, now referred to as transmissional, where teachers simply impart information.

The whole environment of the classroom is transactional and the new style of learning is cooperative and collaborative. The desks are not all in a row with the short kids in the front and the taller kids farther back. The teacher does not sit at a desk in the front of the classroom. Students sit where ever and how ever they please, on the floor or at desks, working alone or in groups. The teacher moves about the room talking to students about their work and giving them instant feedback.

The Canadian Education Association reports that only about 1/3 of 32,000 students across the country, from Grades 5 to 12, are interested in class. That’s a dreadful statistic. These new transactional schools are looking for ways to interest students in learning and are trying things like forgoing the classics in favour of graphic novels and accepting a voice recorded essay instead of a written one. Some schools are even allowing older students to design their own courses. Is this a great idea? I don’t know. Certainly life could be complete if you don’t read Moby Dick, but learning to write an essay is an important skill and will be required in institutes of higher learning.

Is this style of teaching a good idea in the long run? There haven’t been any long term studies to see what happens to these students once they have to transition to a traditional environment in college or university. While I applaud the concept of interesting students in the process of learning, I don’t know if it is a great idea to de-program students for what they will encounter in college and university. The very environment that encourages learning may put these students at a deficit later on. Are we helping them now and hurting them later? What do you think?