Autonomy means different things at different ages. At Rainbow School it involves giving students responsibility, respecting opinions and offering choices. We cultivate independence by teaching children to look after themselves and their belongings. This begins in our Nursery program where our students remove their coats and store their backpacks. This is very rewarding for students as well as a useful life tool. Primary students are introduced to agency by curating a program with independent learning built into the curriculum. At appropriate times, students are able to diverge from group learning and continue on individual study projects; all of which are closely supervised by the teacher. We have developed a curriculum of autonomy that highlights 5 important skills:
Responsibility
Confidence
Initiative
Resilience
Curiosity
In our classrooms, autonomy means both the teacher and the students are responsible for learning. Our students are given weekly roles that rotate such as librarian, calendar helper and class assistant. This instills a sense of community and responsibility for our learning environment.
