Strangest Village in Britain.

[Suze]

Bit late bit v.interesting.

[bid]

I was going to post about this programme too! I only caught the last 10 mins or so, but what I saw looked really interesting.

 

If anyone saw it all, what did you think?

 

Bid

[elainem]

well I saw quite a bit. I am finding it a bit hard to analyse my own thoughts!! I know this kind of idea has fallen out of favour. However, to me it seemed a really lovely place and in many ways was probably quite representative of most workplaces in terms of the politics, except the folks were much more vocal about what they were thinking. There didn't seem to be any of the usual back-stabbing, game playing malarkey. Would love to know what others thought.

Elaine

[smallworld]

I thought it seemed a lovely place,very accepting of everyone. A much more positive place, perhaps the rural idyll feel added to this.

[mossgrove]

Only saw parts of it, but in some ways it seems to mirror the inclusion/specialist debate in education. The current fashion seems to be that everyone must integrate into mainstream sociaety, but the village seemed to be presenting a pretty good case for a kind of separation.

 

Simon

[smallworld]

We have a 'village' on the outskirts of our town, not quite so remote but still in a rural setting. After seeing this doc I'd really like to have a look to see if there is a similar atmosphere. The narrator said Botton is a Steiner village and I wonder if it's this approach that works rather than the setting ?

[Viper]

I watched it all with great interest. I think it is a wonderful place where people can live without fear or prejudice. People who have been cared for by their parents for all their lives and are now alone or who's parents can no longer cope can feel useful and live a fullfilling life in the knowledge that they are safe and loved. what more could we wish for for our children?

 

The carers are such good people and I just wish I could be half as good as them.

 

Viper.

[jools]

i live near botton and have to say that the village is even better than portrayed on tv.

 

i have been visiting the village at least once a year (they have an open day on the first sunday in july each year) since i was about 15, so 21 years and i have always loved the fact that the villagers and co workers work along side each other and i have only ever had a feeling of happiness when there.

anyone can visit the village centre anytime the shops are open.

the school for the co workers children is well equipped and always seems so relaxed........the whole place is so relaxed.

 

i've been taking my children since they were babies and they love going......and they have never queried why some of the people they talk to are a bit 'quirky' or different.......and thats something else i love.......the children accept everything as it is.

 

i believe the open day this year in on july 3rd for anyone who lives close enough

[AmyNelson]

I saw the show. I would have liked to see more of how it was ran and funded, as it seemed to be working well.

I agree that inclusion is not always the best way. I don't think exclusion is good, ie from society, but if people wish to have their own community that suits their needs, and they can create and run it, good luck to them.

 

Maybe there are more of these places, but we hear little of them. I used to live in North Yorkshire and never heard of Botton at all.

 

Steiner is an approach to education and life, there are Steiner schools. Here is some more info-

http://www.freedom-in-education.co.uk/Steiner.htm

[jools]

botton is part of the camphill communities which are run up and down the country

 

their website address is

 

www.camphill.org.uk

[karin]

HI ALL WATCHED MOST OF THE PROGRAMME AND WAS VERY IMPRESSED THE TV GUY IN THE MAIL DID A COLUMN TODAY IN THE MAIL AND SAID IT HAD BEEN GOING FOR 50YEARS HE FELT PEOPLE WOULD RIDICULE THE PEOPLE WHO WERE BEING FILMED BUT IM SURE IF ONE OF MY BOYS ENDED UP LIKE THIS THERE WOULD BE NO BETTER PLACE TO PUT HIM TO KNOW WHEN I GOT OLDER HE WOULD BE SAFE THERE NOT TO HIDE HIM FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD OR ANYTHING JUST TO KNOW HE WOULD BE SAFE FROM SOCIETY IN GENERAL KEEP SMILIN LUV KARIN XX

[Zemanski]

rudolf steiner was an educationalist in germany (where steiner-waldorf schools are very popular) in the first half of this century.

 

his ideas were, and still are to some extent, fairly radical.

 

initially he set out a program for 'pedagogy' (teaching to you and me) for all children based on various theories he held.

 

these include some quite sensible stuff and some pretty wacky stuff.

 

in steiner schools children are taught together by the same teacher for about 8years (nursery through primary - I'm not sure what happens at secondary).

 

lots of teaching is done through multisensory programmes - eg when learning letter shapes they start by making them with their bodies before moving on to make them in sand and dough and then on paper.

Steiner also believed that there were physical signs of development that indicated when a child is ready for particular types of learning - eg a child is only ready to start formal reading and writing when the milk teeth start to drop out so in steiner schools children don't start this till much later than in state primaries. Many people think reading and writing are pushed on children too soon anyway so whether or not it's anything to do with teeth is not that important. In some european countries children don't start till 7 or 8 and there is no evidence of any delay in the development of skills by secondary age.

 

Art is very important as is geometry so quite a lot of maths and science combine art and geometry.

 

lots of work is based on myths and legends with lots of music and acting and ritual; at one point steiner schools did not allow children to watch TV so they would not be corrupted by modern influences that would interfer with their natural development but I think at least some may have relaxed this now.

 

overall it is a gentler approach to learning and very creative (although quite rigid in what is taught when and how it is taught) that suits some children very well.

 

Their nurseries are beautiful places - the buildings are not allowed right angles and are decorated in subtle colours that don't over stimulate, some have stained glass and one I've seen reminded me of a hobbit hole! The toys and materials are mostly natural and simple eg sets of rough rounds of logs that can be used for plates and cups, towers, etc, cloth screens that can be arranged to make puppet theatres or buildings, squares of cloth for dressing up, top quality paints and crayons that blend superbly (no black though as this encourages negativity)....

 

steiner would not suit my kids and I have some issues with some of the wacky notions - I was told quite forcibly that Com should not have eggs at 2 years as they were symbols of fertility and children were not ready for them till 3. When I asked what indicated readiness I was told that a child needed a proper concept of self which you could tell when they started to use the word 'I' correctly. I pointed out that Com did use it correctly ( and he promptly came into the room and proved it:wub: ) but I was then told that he couldn't possibly at 2 so he must be just copying

needless to say the woman got my back up just a bit.

 

look at steiner schools as an alternative to mainstream but do be careful that the teaching style will suit your child.

The only ones I know are in Edinburgh and York but I know there are more around the country.

 

Steiner special schools followed on from the 'mainstream' and again are gentle peaceful places. On hearsay evidence they seem to have a good level of success with autism and use music and art therapy extensively. You will need to look at them for yourself but I don't think there are many and I think there is more provision for adults rather than children in terms of special needs.

 

There's a steiner community at Beeswing near Castle Douglas in SW Scotland which is a lovely place to visit and has it's own school

 

happy hunting

 

Zemanski

[elaine1]

yes i thought in theory it is a good idea, and i dont know how those families give up their homes and time to look after another group of adults as well as their own kids.

But, i thought they had quite a bullying problem there, ie Pamela who was a real nasty piece of work.

 

good and bad i think!