Alternative school education: approaches to defining the concept

The world community’s hopes for the formation of new institutional alternatives to existing school education are linked to alternative education. It is considered as a research field for exploring new ways of teaching children in a changing world. The aim of the article is to present approaches to the definition of the concept of alternative education, to show its evolution from the late XX century to the modern stage. The main research methods are the analysis of scientific literature, in-depth interviews, and focus groups. It is emphasized that alternative education differs from public education by the style of interaction between the student and the teacher, the child and his environment. It assumes the subjectivity of the learner, individualization of the content of the educational process, flexible training programs. Parents act as the main clients of education. Alternative educational projects lack a license. Unlike the late XX century, modern alternative practices are implemented not only by education specialists, but also by parents. It is legal and often features a synthesis of different methodologies, programs, and is supported by educational resources and digital tools, along with event-based educational formats. Alternative schools today are created not only by specialists in the field of education.