Mojave Academy - Education Without Force

Education Without Force

Preserving Their Self-Determinism
We recognize that children are individuals and that they come in all shapes and sizes and with as many different ideas and attitudes as adults. We understand that an authoritarian education—one which stuffs information unevaluated into the minds of children and then examines them under stressful conditions—causes harm to the child and impedes a successful education. Furthermore, we recognize that any force used in education, whether through pressure to succeed or by demanding a child study something just because it is made mandatory on some curriculum and without the child’s agreement can be detrimental and can recoil on the educator and parent.

The foundation of our curriculum is to apply no force and to preserve the individual’s self-determinism. Of prime importance is teaching the individual to be able to evaluate data and make his own self-determined decisions about his education. In this way, and only in this way, can you be assured of an education that will increase a child’s potential and not thwart it; and that will increase his emotional tone and responsibility level.

Individualized Programs
Our curriculum and all of our specialized programs are based on providing individualized programs that are designed to remedy areas of weakness and address areas of interest. Each child is interviewed and a program is written that will do the following things for him: a) move him up to a point where he is willing to learn; b) repair any holes or problems in his prior education. This would include skipped gradients, misunderstood words and lack of sufficient mass on subjects; c) give him the study skills he needs to learn successfully and with the emphasis on ability to apply; d) ensure any basics such as math, reading or writing are fully developed to a high level of proficiency; e) develop the subjects he is interested in; and f) introduce him to new areas of interest.

Giving a child’s education a purpose
A significant factor in education is that the student has a purpose for the information he is learning. For example, a student who comes to us with a particular goal (or even no goal at all) might not understand how learning math, reading, penmanship or other subjects could be of possible use to him. Such a child may have had a problem in his schooling as a result of this lack of interest. The wrong thing to do would be to insist, against his self-determinism, that he learn these subjects anyway. At Mojave Academy we resolve this by allowing such a child to pursue his interests without interference and as he does, introduce to him the idea that in order to achieve his goals, he needs to be able to read, do arithmetic and so on. He then begins to study these on his own determinism.

Our teaching methodology
L. Ron Hubbard wrote many articles and recorded many lectures on how to successfully educate so that children gain the ability to succeed in life. This methodology is used throughout the Mojave Academy curriculum.

One of the most important factors in successfully teaching a child is the affinity and understanding that a teacher has with a child; that he cares about the child, and likes him. We have found that this personal factor is vital in successful teaching and we use a combination of checksheets, group and one-on-one teaching. This is necessary for full comprehension, especially to create an interest in a subject and especially for younger students. An alive, interested teacher teaching history, for instance, with a lot of demonstration, is able to create an interest in history in his students.

One of our first objectives is to instruct students on how to study using Study Technology developed by L. Ron Hubbard so that he becomes a student who can study independently and successfully.

Education progresses a lot faster and more successfully when a student doesn’t stay in the classroom for the entire day. Our students are given plenty of opportunity to take part in the many outdoor activities on campus.

Perhaps the point our students appreciate the most, and that often gains us the most academic achievement, is the Mojave Academy’s pleasant and unhurried approach to teaching. We have no ‘grades’ or ‘forms’.

Our Product—a Student Able to Succeed in Life
At Mojave Academy, we set a student up to be able to succeed in life. We do not think this means keeping a teenager in school past the time he is ready to go out into the world, but making sure that, at whatever age he goes out, he has a full command of the academic basics, and an understanding and command of the basics of life—interrelationships with others, ethics, initiative, and the ability to lead; certain in his current goals and certain of his education and training so that he can pursue these goals.

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Tel: 800-576-3866 · 505-772-5260 · Email: info@mojaveacademy.com