What did the children who went to school WITHOUT homework or tests do next? Students of free-spirited experiment 40 years later

One of the trailblazers of alternative education methods was the Toronto ALPHA Alternative School that opened its doors in 1972.

The acronym comes from 'A Lot of Parents Hoping for an Alternative', and they banished many of the traditional markings of school - insisting that their children not be given any homework, tests or grades.

Instead, they were taught in individual or small group sessions, both with children their own age but also much older students.

Express yourself: The ALPHA Alternative School first opened its doors to an elementary class in 1972 and they chose not to give students any grades, homework or tests

Then and now: Maggie Marelli attended the school from the age of four to 12. She studied fine art as a mature student after dropping out of high school and works in home improvement. Mrs Marelli fondly remembered the parents who taught them cook­ing, sewing, car­pen­try and singing. She said: 'At my mainstream high school I was quite shocked by the students v teachers mentality, which seemed like such a barrier to learning'



Putting things together panned out: Jamie Leonard studied journalism and works in information technology support, but spends his free time riding and writing about motorcycles. He said ALPHA made him fearless, joking: ' I even order the soup of the day with­out ask­ing what it is. That’s the kind of non­con­formist rebel that ALPHA made of me. That and often wear­ing mis­matched socks'



'Multi-age grouping cultivates a cooperative learning environment where peers learn from one another and look after one another,' the school's website claims.

It comes as little surprise that much of the lessons were based around more creative concepts, like photography and the construction of snow sculptures.

Now, as part of an anniversary project, photographer Michael Barker took photos of some members of the inaugural class.

Looking forward at their life paths, it shows that many of them followed more right-side-of-the-brain routes.

In addition to the heart-warming diptychs of then-and-now portraits of the former students also shows how an elementary education truly influences someone’s life-path.

Continuing education: Jennifer Ferrari left the school at 14 but went on to Trent University and now works as an automotive technician. She now tries to get more women involved in her industry. She said: 'I learned to care about all the peo­ple I am with, no mat­ter what age, no mat­ter what dif­fer­ences we have'



Creative approach: Crawford 'Crocky' Teasdale studied music at the Royal Conservatory and works as a graphic designer. He learned piano and guitar at ALPHA and was able to access the internet and learn BASIC programming in 1977 thanks to his teacher getting him on a scheme for high school students. He said: 'I just thought this was amaz­ing - I couldn’t believe it - and when I told peo­ple they didn’t believe me. I was nine, and most of the peo­ple who were doing the course were much older than me. I just went and did it'



Kept her smile: Flannery Fielding works as a nurse practitioner for palliative care patients but pursues her creative interests - art, singing and playing the ukelele - in her free time. She said she and her school friends had a sense of dread of how they would cope in the 'real world' post-ALPHA, but her passion for learning returned once she decided to become a nurse. 'It was a rev­e­la­tion for me when I sat down to write papers on cholera and thalido­mide (for OAC Biol­ogy and OAC Chem­istry, respec­tively) and found myself com­pletely fas­ci­nated and inspired,' she said



Both sides of the brain: Morgan Jones-Phillips studied French at university, is a paramedic and performs stand-up comedy. He said: 'There were so many oppor­tu­ni­ties to orga­nize things that inter­ested you that it gave me a fun­da­men­tal feel­ing that if I wanted some­thing to hap­pen, I should just make it happen'

Quite a collection: Kether Graham studied law enforcement and took another degree in baking and pastry. She works for police after a stint as a pastry chef and said: 'I find that even now as an adult I have to remind peo­ple that chil­dren should be lis­tened to and that bosses or other author­ity fig­ures are peo­ple too, and can be spo­ken to as well as chal­lenged when necessary'

