When considering three major movements in world civilization and history; Romanticism, the Enlightenment, and the Renaissance,

one theme that runs throughout is that of rebellion. More specifically, this rebellion in all three movements was against past traditions and each of these periods in history was geared toward eradicating old ways of thinking. While the reasons for rebelling against the old social and artistic order vary for each of these movements, the fact remains that all three were successful at changing many aspects of society and all each movement has had an enormous impact on history and artistic expression. Romanticism was a movement that took place in Europe throughout the latter part of the 18th century. This period in history was a direct rebellion against many of the artistic and societal values of the previous era, which was the Enlightenment. While the Enlightenment movement focused on ideas of reason, rationality, and empiricism, romanticism went the complete opposite direction and explored new ideas about emotions and beauty. The main part of this rebellion was centered around the notion that not everything could be coldly rationalized and that beauty and aesthetics were important parts of existence. Although it was in direct opposition to the Enlightenment, romanticism as a movement did also build off of some of the new ideas that were part of that period such as a renewed interest in the individual. Romanticism was a movement in history that went one step further and began to focus on individual experience as well as the human brainmostly as it related to feelings and personal thoughts. In general, however, it could be easily argued that without the Enlightenment movement there would not have been romanticism, mostly because the former had to exist for the rebellion in ideas to take place. The Enlightenment, a movement in Western history that came just before romanticism, was itself a rebellious movement that developed out of a prior period that emphasized ideas such as religion. In addition, before this period, there was more weight given to speculations about god and the natural order of things whereas with the Enlightenment empiricism became one of the core ideas. During the Enlightenment movement new rebellious ideas about the nature of mans connection to the universe as well as the concept of the individual with natural rights emerged. These were rebellious notions, especially since before this time people viewed themselves as part of a hierarchy based on many religious and social notions such as class. Science and observation were at the forefront of this movement and many thinkers of the time wished to know the truth through their own experience and process of experimentation and hypothesis. This period in artistic history was a rebellion against the old order because before many people were content to believe in disprovable truths, such as the nature of the heavens or of things such as weather or medical phenomena. Although the Enlightenment sought to keep people rational, this would not be enough for later rebellious movements such as Romanticism, where people began to look behind facts and closer into the individual experience. The Renaissance was a rebellious movement as well but not in the reactionary sense that the previous two movements in history discussed here were. This is because the Renaissance was more like an explosion in knowledge and learning that caused a huge intellectual shift throughout Europe, especially since it came on the heels of the advent of printing processes. What is, however, rebellious about this period is that it saw so many new ways of thinking and doing things. Artists, writers and philosophers were breaking out of the dark ages and allowing themselves to experiment with new ideas. Men such as da Vinci were engaging with topics such as art, medicine and technology just as writers were finding new ways to tell stories or represent truths about their time period. What is most interesting about this movement is that it is in many ways the most rebellious since it saw so much change yet much of this change seems almost organic. It was rebelling against anything in particular but the changes were so vast and sweeping that it was the ultimate rebellious movement in Western civilization. Without the many new developments that arose out the of the Renaissance the world might never have experienced successive movements such as those discussed here. Without rebellion there can be no history; time would just go on without anything to mark off significant or important periods. In these three movements it is possible to detect a string of rebellions that led to major intellectual shifts. It all started with the ultimate rebellion in thinkingthe Renaissance. After the Renaissance, new ideas, particularly about science and experimentation, went on to inform the events of the Enlightenment. After this, thinkers during the era of romanticism picked and chose some of the ideas of these previous movements and developed their own new, rebellious, and unique understanding of the world. In sum, all intellectual movements that influence history are part of a grand chain of rebellion and it seems that this will always be the case if history is any teacher.

Let me briefly review the philosophical history of alternative education in Europe and the U.S. During the early years of modern schooling nearly two centuries ago, humanist educators such as Johann Pestalozzi in Switzerland, Friedrich Froebel in Germany, and Bronson Alcott in the U.S. resisted the rising impulse to mechanize learning and instead practiced pedagogies based on authentic, caring relationships, freedom of inquiry, and the innate human quest for meaning and purpose. In the early twentieth century, educators such as Maria Montessori in Italy, Rudolf Steiner in central Europe, Celestin Freinet in France, and John Dewey in the U.S. developed sophisticated approaches to teaching and learningall very different from each other, but all based on deep respect for the organic growth process of the young human being. After World War Two, educators in the Italian city of Reggio Emilia, led by Loris Malaguzzi, wove many of these ideas into a model of early childhood education that has inspired numerous schools in many parts of the world. Meanwhile, libertarian (anarchist) thinkers, such as the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, a Spanish radical educator named Francisco Ferrer, and the British educator A.S. Neill, insisted that freedom is the essential element of genuine learning; this idea was particularly expressed in the anarchist modern school movement of the early twentieth century and the countercultural free school movement of the 1960s. In the 1970s, inspired by the writings of Ivan Illich and John Holt, a new movement, called homeschooling or unschooling, began to attract thousands of families, especially in the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain, who came to believe that authentic community and meaningful learning simply could not occur within the formal and artificial institutions of schools. There are also educational alternatives rooted in spiritual or religious teachings. One example that comes to mind are schools founded by the Quakersa small but influential group of liberal Christiansthat place a strong emphasis on equality, justice, and personal discovery of truth. Other examples are schools based on the teachings of certain yoga masters from India, or schools founded by the respected Indian philosopher Krishnamurti. For such alternatives, an education rooted in spirituality does not mean indoctrination into a specific religious sect; rather, it means that the teaching process holds a deep respect for the mysterious, unseen potentials within the soul of each child, and aims to cultivate the basic goodness, intelligence, compassion and love that are believed to exist at the very core of our human identity. Whether or not we call the source of this goodness God or Allah or some other identifiable Being, when an educational approach is concerned with spirituality, it holds a deep reverence for students and seeks to nourish what is highest, most sacred, in the human soul. Instead of standards and efficiency and management, such an education is concerned with compassion, kindness, service, respect, community, and above all love. It is difficult to fully practice this kind of education in a modernistic culture. It is also difficult to explain such spirituality outside of conventional religious understandings. In the U.S., these kinds of educational alternatives tend to arouse suspicion among conservative Christian believers; I wonder how such ideas would be received in the Islamic world. This is something I hope to discuss with you here. Around 1980, a perspective known as holistic education began to explore the common foundational elements of these different strands of radical educational thought. Holism is a worldview that tries to understand the interconnections and relationships among all phenomena in the cosmos. Rather than solving isolated problems, pursuing narrow goals, or holding to rigid ideologies, a holistic perspective looks at the larger contexts that give meaning to any situation. From a holistic point of view, the human being is not merely a worker or manager in the economic system, and not merely a citizen of the state. The human being is a marvelously complex organism engaged in many layers of meaning, many connections to the living world. So a holistic education is concerned with more than vocational training or moral discipline or intellectual development; it aims to cultivate the emotional and spiritual life of the growing human being, and to deepen the young persons awareness of his or her place in nature, as a member of the biotic community of all living beings. With such complexity, we must be able to accept the paradoxes and tensions of human existence. So, a holistic education is concerned with freedom and community, with practical intelligence and intuitive insight, with moral and cultural traditions that keep us grounded and the unknown possibilities and new visions that arise from some mysterious source within us. Above all, a holistic approach to education calls upon us to respond sensitively, with our nimble minds and our feeling hearts, to the authentic needs of our students, our community, and our world as we can best identify these needs in a particular time and place. Whenever I write about educational alternatives or speak to groups such as this, I try to make the point that no single method of teaching, no single model of school or non-school is the best or correct one. Because I am a holistic thinker, I strive to view educational alternatives in the context of psychological, social, historical, political, cultural, ecological and, to the humble extent I can, spiritual realities. So, for example, when an anarchist declares that individual freedom is the single most important element to consider in educating young people, I am likely to respond that while more freedom is indeed greatly needed in modern education, we must not ignore the natural limitations on personal freedom: The individual is, necessarily, shaped to some extent by history and culture, and humanity does live within ecological limits, as modern civilization is just beginning to realize; the earth cannot support our wish for complete freedom to satisfy our desires. Moreover, deeply spiritual people, such as the American Christian mystic Thomas Merton, have suggested that the surface of the personality, comprised of the roles we take on in relation to family, society, and the mass media, is a false self and we need to learn to be skeptical of its whims and desires; we must instead cultivate the deeper dimensions of ourselves, and this requires disciplinea measure of self-restraint and self-sacrifice. A paradox: We achieve spiritual freedom by relinquishing some of what, on the surface, feels like our personal freedom. So I would ask the anarchist, the radical unschooler, whether a totally free, self-guided person (if there is such a person) can respond intelligently or compassionately to the complex challenges and demands of our deeply troubled world. But on the other hand, when I am discussing a more structured and teacher-guided alternative such as Rudolf Steiners Waldorf approach, I want to know why every student in such a school must follow the established curriculum and cannot have more freedom to pursue inquiry into questions of genuine personal interest. How can one curriculum, even one as creative and psychologically insightful as Steiners, fully address the personal experiences and individual destiny of every child in the classroom? I have great respect for Steiner education, just as I do for free schoolers and homeschoolers and Montessori educators and nearly all the other alternatives, because it takes great vision and courage to challenge the modernist worldview that shapes dominant educational beliefs and practices.

Defying the oppressive monoculture of modern schooling, we need to explore the many different facets of human development and discover how we can nourish the fullness of our humanness. We have important things to learn from all these alternatives. My point is that we must be careful not to become obsessed with any one of them to the exclusion of others. Why not? Because the world is complex and dynamic, not simple or static. Holism is informed by the work of leading edge scientists in fields such as quantum physics, chaos theory, systems theory, autopoiesis (self-organization), and theories of dissipative structures and morphogenetic fields, among others; these scientists strongly emphasize theemergent nature of reality. Our lives, and our civilization, are engaged in a grand process of cosmic evolution, and therefore we need to be alert and open minded in order to respond to new structures, new meanings, new manifestations of reality. I believe that the creative forces emerging in the human spirit promise a more hopeful future. If we want to support the further evolution of consciousness and civilization, we need to pay careful attention to these forces, and integrate them into our social and educational practices. From a holistic perspective, it is the dynamic interplay between freedom and structure that best educates a young person as he or she grows into this evolving world. If education is a response to a dynamic world, to the dynamic process of growth, discovery, evolution, and development, then teaching methods must not be rigidly fixed or prescribed. Education itself must become dynamic, spontaneous, selforganizing and emergent. I believe that at its best, this is what alternative education strives to be. As long as the culture of modernity dominates the world, educators who attempt to nourish the most sacred and creative aspects of our humanity will be considered alternative educators. Schools that emphasize human relationships, a caring community of learners, and sensitive responsiveness to the emergent personalities of young people will exist on the margins of society, often struggling to survive. The fundamental question, as I asked in the title of my first book 15 years ago, is what are schools for? The modern world, the world of global corporations, technocratic management, social efficiency and the ominous power of the national state, gives one answer to this question, and alternative educators propose a radically different answer. Ask this question of yourselves. Ask your colleagues in the university and in the schools. Ask parents of the students in your classrooms, and the young people as well. Ask those who determine educational policies for your country. What are schools for? And then look deeply within your heart and wonder, what could schools be for, if we truly wished to cultivate the sacred creative spirit that guides the evolution of humanity?

Lifelong learning is the development of human potential through a continuously supportive process which stimulates and empowers individuals to acquire all the knowledge, values, skills, and understanding they will require throughout their lifetimes and to apply them with confidence, creativity and enjoyment in all roles, circumstances and environments. Alternative Education Today Some characteristics of Alternative Education as practiced today are the following: 1. Allowing flexibility in structure and emphasis on student-decision-making 2. Allowing opportunities to student success relevant to the students future 3. Creating a supportive environment 4. Emphasizing on one-on-one interaction 5. Maintaining a small size of learners. Alternative Education Strategies Some alternative education strategies which can be applied in nonformal education are the following: 1. Schools without walls community based learning 2. School within a school - Individual groups for educational needs and interests of the students 3. Multicultural school integration of culture and ethnicity into the curriculum 4. Continuation school an option for those who are failing in the regular school 5. Learning Centers inclusion of vocational education in the school setting 6. Fundamental Schools back to basics approach 7. Magnet schools response to the needs for racial integration GUIDELINES FOR ALTERNATIVE LEARNING SYSTEM 1. Alternative learning should be learning by doing. 2. Alternative learning depends on feedback to learners. 3. Alternative learning needs to address learners want to learn. 4. Alternative learning needs to satisfy well-articulated needs. 5. Alternative learning needs to give learners every opportunity to make sense of they are learning. 6. Alternative learning should be designed to help people to learn at their own pace. 7. Alternative learning is open designed to allow people to learn at their own choices of place. 8. Alternative learning is sometimes designed without specific needs for prerequisite knowledge or experience. 9. Most alternative learning packages are backed up by some form of tutor support. 10. Increasingly, open learning packages use a variety of learning media.

The Alternative Learning System for Manny Pacquiao After having carved a name for himself in the early days of his boxing career, Manny had the urge to go back and complete one of the basic elements an individual needs to succeed in life, his education. This is where he discovered the Alternative Learning System Program of the Department of Education, Philippines. Specifically designed for people who are unable to complete their basic formal education due to poverty and the lack of support. The program aims to integrate these individuals back to formal education and to make them productive citizens of society. Having gone through the process of his studies in the said program, Manny took the high school equivalency test in February 2007 and passed making him eligible for college education. He was given a high school diploma for making the grade. Since then and in between his busy schedules, Manny enrolled for a college degree in business management at Notre Dame of Dadiangas University (NDDU) in his hometown in General Santos City. He was also conferred with the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humanities on February 18, 2009, by Southwestern University (SWU) in Cebu City in recognition of his boxing achievements and humanitarian work. Read more: http://sportales.com/sports/manny-pacquiao-boxing-politics-and-the-alternative-learning-system/#ixzz1yNreAqi6

Here's a man who pursued education for education's sake...His desire to complete his high school education despite his age and stature through alternative forms of education and learning is truly very admirable," he said. Last year, 50,000 persons took the A & E test but "only 20 percent of examinees" passed, according to Lapus. This year, the same number took the test in various parts of the country. Test results are processed and analyzed by the Center for Educational Measurement or CEM, a non-government organization specializing in testing and evaluation. In a briefing paper furnished the Philippine Daily Inquirer, DepEd states it has been providing various alternative education interventions for out-of-school children and young adults, including indigenous peoples and those living in conflict areas. The agency's alternative delivery modes or ADM include distance education and multi-grade schools in the elementary level and open high school and the Easy and Affordable Secondary Education (EASE) program in the secondary level. DepEd's Alternative Learning System or ALS, meanwhile, includes what it calls "Strong Republic School" distance learning package for children in conflict areas, basic literacy program, Balik-Paaralan for Out-of-School Adults (BP-OSA), a "modular learning package that provides education through mobile teachers or community-based instructional managers for those living in unique or difficult situations."

MANILA, Philippines Pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao hit back at people who have been criticizing his grammar on the social networking site Twitter. Pacquiao was apparently unhappy over criticisms regarding his usage of the English language. "Its doesn't matter of the grammar as long they understand the message thanks," he tweeted. Pacquiao, also a lawmaker, said that English is not his native tongue. "Tyong lhat pinoy ang slita ntin ay tgalog we should use our language we're nt american, jpan,chna,atbp. They're using there own language," he tweeted. He stressed: "We should proud in our language that's the real pinoy yan ang tama thank you God Bless everyone." Pacquiao opened an official Twitter account last month. However, Pacquiao received criticism over his grammar, which almost prompted the boxer to close the account. Pacquiao has thought of a way to shield himself from his critics. "Now I know how to block those haters hehe," he said.

Bibliography: Carnie, F. (2003), Alternatives in Education A Guide, Routledge Falmer, London. Dewey, J. (1916), Democracy and Education; an Introduction to the Philosophy of Education, Macmillan, New York. Gribble, D. (1998), Real Education Varieties of Freedom, Libertarian Education, Bristol Kellmayer, J. (1995), How to Establish an Alternative School, Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks, California. Raywid, M.A. (1988), Alternative Schools: What Makes Them Alternative?, The Education Digest, Vol. 54, No. 3, pp. 11-12. Raywid, M.A. (1999), History and Issues of Alternative Schools, The Education Digest, May, pp. 47-51. Websites: Democratic Schools www.educationrevolution.org Rules and Regulation of Republic Act No. 9155 http://www.deped.gov.ph