Alberta is the first province that has already embraced this model.

In the US specific states have passed legislation permitting their departments of education or local school boards to issue 'charters' directly to individual schools wishing to operate autonomously. The most recent development within alternative education in Canada may be to follow the United States in their “Charter School” movement. They also offered smaller classes, closer and more informal relations with teachers, and greater flexibility in course selection and timetabling.

Most alternative high schools falling under public jurisdiction offered independent study programs, basic-skills programs, and were mini-high schools with a mixture of conventional and nonconventional courses, and schools with an arts focus. It might be considered as a natural evolution of education to offer options and not a regimented one size fits all approach. The 1980s saw a shift to special schools and/or programs for those students that excelled in academia, were artistically talented, or through programs linking schooling with the workplace in a co-operative venture. As noted by Levin “It is rooted in the belief to uphold the individual freedom and the innate goodness of the child against institutional and social conformity and the corrupting influences of modern society.” School Types The Libertarian tradition focuses on the rights of the parents and children to make their own educational and life choices. The sources of stimulus would be from the philosopher John Dewey in the United States, from post WW1 New Schools in Great Britain and the Steiner/Waldorf schools in Europe. Progressive educational tradition places emphasis on both the need to incorporate curriculum and teaching to match the stages of child development and the gradual integration of the child into adult society through planned experiential learning. According to Levin, 2006 the term 'alternative' was adopted partly to distinguish these schools from the independent, parent-student-teacher-run 'free' schools that preceded them (and from which some of the schools actually evolved) and to emphasize the boards' commitment to options within the public school system. Alternative education in Canada stems from two philosophical educational points of view, Progressive and Libertarian.

Alternative the forest game