The Alfa Project, Active Learning for Adolescents

The Alfa Project has been successfully educating teenagers aged 13 – 16 for the past 5 years. In this time Alfa has become an accepted alternative to state education for those young people who want it in our East County Clare area. Alfa provides a three year integrated curriculum covering the sciences, arts, languages, crafts and physical education arranged in project blocks (main lesson) of 3 or 4 weeks. Each project block links in with the rest of the curriculum in a unique way and includes an artistic and practical dimension whether it is Mathematics or History or any of the other subjects. This approach works with teenagers because it allows them to be creative, ask and answer questions and find their own relationship to the subject. The Alfa Project has developed to provide an alternative approach to exam led education especially for those students who find mainstream secondary education does not meet their needs. The students are in classes of 15 students and therefore a practical hands-on element can be brought into each lesson. It is clear to us that young people are born into and are growing up in a very different world to the one we grew up in 30 or 40 years ago. They are acutely aware of the environmental and ecological challenges facing them in the future; they also have a global consciousness that reaches out to others across the world. The future is unpredictable, therefore we have to educate young people for the world of tomorrow, not today or yesterday, so they can become active shapers of the future. This is why Alfa emphasises developing the capacities of the students over filling them with information. Capacities such as social ability, to be able to work with others and to reach out to those in need; judgement, to be able to think clearly and discern truth from lies; confidence, to be themselves, to take initiative and act responsibly when needed; global consciousness, to be aware of the connection between themselves and their actions and the needs of the earth, the environment, all fellow human beings and living things.
Alfa is run by a core group of committed parents and teachers, some are parents whose children have been in Alfa and moved on, some whose children are in the present group of 15 students. Over the seven years of setting up and running Alfa the Management Committee, Working Group members and Directors of the Company have gained a wealth of experience in effective management of Alfa, providing the education and working with teenagers.
Alfa intends to expand to 45 students in three classes over the next five years. In order to facilitate this growth Alfa needs to purchase land and build its own workshops and classrooms. Our plans are to build low tech, sustainable, energy efficient buildings involving the students where possible, with enough outside space to build outdoor projects, create
gardens etc. Help with this would be greatly appreciated. We have a
comprehensive Project Plan available which can be requested from info@alfaproject.org or 061 640798. Our website is www.alfaproject.org

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