Assistant teacher program/Forum/Allowing for changing interests

Allowing for changing interests
To take changing interests of pupils into account a course system for assistant teachers should allow pupils to start new subjects as advanced courses whenever possible. Advanced courses can use entry phases and entrance examinations to regulate when and how a pupil can start a course late. An individual curriculum can contribute significantly to interest-driven learning. Being denied freedom of choice can contribute to disinterest of pupils (lack of interest, not unselfishness). Allowing pupils to change learning trails within a class or course can also contribute to interest-driven learning.

Mentoring
Mentoring can help to arrange for interest-driven learning if the mentors monitor the interests and learning motivation of protégés. The learning motivation in regular subjects can be assessed with a questionaire but extra-curricular interests may require more individualized assessment, which is often beyond the scope of contemporary schools.

Voluntary year
As an extreme position one can consider to invite pupils to prepare for new advanced topics during a voluntary year after the final exams (a bit like the scottish Advanced Highers qualification, which is a non-compulsory qualification after university entrance qualification), without discouraging very early specialization like school branches or specialized classes (e.g. MINT in Germany). Participants of a voluntary year can make a valuable contribution as head tutors, tutors and assistant teachers in the school, which can also help the participants to maintain their own learning motivation and discipline during self-study modules.

A voluntary year can allow a student to attend the first university semester from his school and to decide for the second semester whether to attend the second university semester or to prepare for university another semester at the school and to start a year later. This would require that universities would accept credit from schools for first semester university courses (as found in the Advanced Placement Program and Advanced Highers) or from their own courses distributed to the schools (as found in SchülerUni).