child oriented education?

What is child oriented education?
· Letting the child do whatever he wants to do?
· Teaching what we (adults ) want children to learn in an interesting manner?
· Or taking the middle path?
I think I would like to take the last approach. It will again vary from child to child depending upon the child’s ability to decide for himself. Some may chalk out the entire path for themselves while others may do so with little help from an adult. In most cases perhaps some boundaries (themes/ topics) are laid out by a teacher but the child should have the freedom to decide what all and how he would like to go about doing it. To keep the child focussed the adult's role may be to make him write the expected learning outcomes at the end of the assignment/ project. And facilitate (by questioning to make him gain better clarity of his approach) him in reaching his milestones one by one. By making the child take the onus of his education he will have more sense of responsibility to give his best.