Modern education provides great opportunities for the younger generation to fully realize their interests. This process has become possible by using various forms of training in educational institutions.
What is an elective?
Parents of high school students often ask this question, because each of them wants to help their child in further education, and this often requires in-depth knowledge in many subjects, although they should be taught at a basic level as part of the educational standard.
Translated from English, the meaning of the word "elective" is "selective." That is, if you are inclined to our Russian language, then this is nothing but the opportunity to choose something.
Modern opportunities of the school
The modern school is able to offer its students various additional education that goes beyond the framework of the GEF. The implementation of this activity is through the use of:
- activities at the primary and secondary levels of education;
- electives and electives at the senior level of the educational process.
What is an elective at school? The following adage may serve as an answer to this question: this is the possibility of choosing additional education, offered to students in a number of subjects without interruption from the main learning process. It is held with children united according to their interests and inclinations.
Goal setting for conducting electives
Of course, the use of any innovation should be justified by the solution of a certain kind of tasks and meet the goals. The question about what an elective is at school and what its goals are, you can answer as follows: this is the opportunity for senior students to select items from the list offered by the institution.
The elective must:
- help improve your level of knowledge according to career guidance;
- to fill in the gaps in the existing knowledge in order to successfully pass exams and obtain a certificate with the desired grades.
Who leads the electives at school?
A short course in a particular subject is carried out by a teacher who has good knowledge in this field. Usually these are subject teachers who are assigned two tasks:
- deepen children's knowledge in specific fields of science,
- give students the opportunity to pull up their knowledge of the subject.
What is an elective for a teacher? The teacher, becoming responsible for this form of training, must build a process so that with a minimum of theoretical lessons the student can gain practical skills in the subject. In other words, using the existing knowledge base of the student, the teacher should expand their limits as much as possible.
The difference between elective and elective
Back in the 90s of the last century, such a form of classes as elective was introduced in secondary schools. And today electives have appeared. Both forms relate to the student’s choice.
The question is, what is the difference between elective and elective? In this case, you need to build on their definitions. What is optional? This is an individual form of student learning, in which the child can choose from the list that is interesting to him or not make a choice at all. No one has the right to force to attend one or another elective.
What is an elective? This is an additional form of individual education, in which the child from the list of subjects proposed by the educational institution must make a choice based on his interest. Further, the student is required to attend all classes and perform the tasks offered to him. In other words, this type of activity from the moment of choice becomes an integral part of the student’s main educational process.
What types of electives exist?
In school education, two types of electives are distinguished. It:
- pre-profile content (grades 8–9);
- specialized content (grades 10-11).
Pre-profile electives are designed to assess the situation of the correct choice of a child, the ability to tighten their knowledge in some subjects. Profile electives are aimed at in-depth study of the subject with the goal of successfully passing the exam.
The concept of interdisciplinary courses
Some schools in our country may offer their additional educational services under the name "interdisciplinary electives." The purpose of this type of training is the career guidance of the child. The educational institution provides an opportunity to try their hand, evaluate the correctness of the choice made in the field of further professional education. The following types of electives can be attributed to this occupation:
- chemical and biological;
- socio-economic;
- physical and mathematical;
- physical and chemical;
- information technology;
- physical and biological.
Most often, these classes take place at the stage of preprofile training of the student. This corresponds to grades 8-9.
In this case, electives are distributed according to the interests of the trainees. And if the school has two or more parallel classes, then the curriculum is designed in such a way that all the children who choose this course can attend it.
This condition, of course, is a big problem for the person making the schedule, since a number of factors must be taken into account:
- teacher employment;
- lack of windows in the schedule for students;
- the opportunity for children to attend centers of further education, which most often begin their work at 15:00.
But nothing is impossible. At the moment, there are many schools in Russia that are successfully carrying out the educational process with the inclusion of elective courses in it.
Parents as participants in the educational process
It would seem that two sides are always involved in the educational process - this is the student and teacher. But an important role is played by parents. Starting from the 8th grade, very often they try to impose their will on the child, namely, advise where to go to study. This, of course, is not necessary. After all, a child is an individuality, a personality. And if once parents did not enter the theater school, then this should not be done for them by children.
Everyone must be given the right to choose. Moreover, the modern school provides such opportunities for students. What is an elective for parents? This is an opportunity to give the child to assess their strength for further education according to the chosen specialty without additional financial costs.
Using electives as a specialized education for the child, the following positive aspects can be distinguished:
- no need to hire a tutor;
- classes take place without interruption from the main educational process;
- the child lives at home with his parents;
- classes are conducted by familiar teachers, which allows you to save the psycho-emotional background of the child.
Afterword
Only with a properly constructed learning process can a knowledge base be created for children that will help them throughout their lives. All participants in the educational process need to learn how to properly use the resources that the state offers.
Not every student has heard such a word as "elective." What does this mean, you need to inform children in their school years, so that it is easier for them to adapt in adulthood. Indeed, the conduct of this type of occupation is also provided for at the higher education level. In addition, increasingly, in order to improve the skills of employees, employers choose the form of short-term courses called electives.
Do not be afraid of new forms of education, you should be afraid of the ignorance of the younger generation! The elective is a unique opportunity to reveal the student’s talents, their focus on a particular sphere of life. The correct approach of parents and teachers will help to educate future professionals in their field.