While most progressive schools have different traditions and differing ways of implementing the philosophy of Progressive Education, most school have a similar approach to teaching and learning. The shared tenets observed among progressive schools are the foundation of the philosophy.

• Progressive schools pay attention to all aspects of a child’s development – social, emotional, cognitive and physical – and see them as interconnected.
• We see humans as natural learners. Children are born with abundant curiosity and an innate desire to find out about the world they inhabit. A key responsibility of the progressive educator is to nurture, support and constructively channel this desire to learn.
• We strive to keep learning relevant and meaningful so students will experience the intrinsic value of learning. We avoid systems that encourage dependence on external rewards. Teachers have sufficient autonomy to be responsive to the real needs and abilities of their students and to emerging interests and themes.
• Our practice is informed by child development. We understand that at various points in their development, children perceive the world in fundamentally different ways. In order to effectively support learning, we must begin with an understanding of the child’s reality.
• We also see students as individuals with unique abilities, challenges and interests, each with their own developmental timetable. We do not rank students. We recognize giftedness in many realms, from academics to the arts.
• We understand that learning involves risk-taking and that in order to take risks, students must feel safe and secure in the classroom. Respectful, caring and trusting relationships between teachers and students are essential. There is never a place for shame, ridicule or humiliation.
• We emphasize the child’s role in the learning process. Children construct knowledge by acting in the real world and reflecting on those actions in a supportive environment. We pay as much attention to the process of learning as to its product, because doing so provides valuable insight into a child’s thinking.
• We believe that school communities are important arenas for practicing democracy and seek ways to integrate democratic decision-making into all areas of institutional operations. We involve students, teachers and other community members in the decisions that affect them. We foster critical thinking and encourage students to have a voice and to speak their mind. We support their developing social conscience and sense of social responsibility.
• We believe that success can best be measured in terms of its relevance to the individual learner. In monitoring student growth and development, we value authentic individual assessment over that which is normative or standardized.