On Independent Schools

Recently I have heard several parents express concern about having their child train for the rank of Black Belt in a school not affiliated with an umbrella organization. They wonder if the Black Belt will mean anything if it is not accompanied by some kind of official certificate from an association. Personally I think this concern is nonsense.

I've written before about rank (see On Rank and About Rank) but this time I want to address the issue of independence versus affiliation.

Today I happened to hear a radio program about charter schools which, although they operate within the public school system, "operate with freedom from many of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools." (Source: http://www.uscharterschools.org.) This subject resonates with me, since I was fortunate enough to attend Emma Willard School and my husband attended Albany Academy, both of which are highly-respected independent schools in the Capital District of New York State.

An independent school, as defined by NSAIS,

is free to develop and carry out its own philosophy of education, free to choose those students it can serve best, and free to employ as teachers those it deems best fitted to instruct and to lead the young. [Independent schools are] different in that teachers are accorded great freedom to teach in individual styles and to choose materials they deem appropriate to the particular students they teach. ... They are different in that they are each free to seek the most effective ways to educate the particular children in their charge and in so doing to provide for the needs of a diverse population. Different children learn in different ways. Different independent schools provide those ways.

Viewed in this light, independence is hardly a liability.

My alumnae magazine is full of articles about Emma Willard graduates who have made their mark on the world, among them the newly-appointed junior Senator from New York, Kirsten Gillibrand. I am proud to be among them.

So if I were faced with a choice between two schools, one independent and one operating under the auspices of an organization, I would base my decision on the quality of instruction available at each one, which includes facilities, programs, incentives, and school spirit as well as curriculum. This applies to martial arts training as well as education.