“No pupil is compelled to attend lessons. But if Jimmy comes to English on Monday and does not make an appearance again until Friday, the others quite rightly object that he is holding back the work, and they may throw him out for impeding progress”
That’s a quote from A S Neill, the late head of a school in Sussex called Summerhill. Ranging from six to seventeen, the students have, effectively, no rules. Or rather, the students propose, discuss and vote on the rules. Think about our school council teams and the role they play in developing Chew Valley – food, décor, environment, and activities. All the aspects that surround school life and make it a rounded experience have some influence from the council. Many things have been accomplished by our school council, but you could hardly claim they have a defining role in the core tenets of school policy.
What if not just the council, but all the students, had the final say in how Chew Valley was run? Summerhill holds tri-weekly meetings where anyone can submit a new rule proposal, bring up an issue or person that needs addressing, or just listen and vote on what other people suggest. Hypothesise briefly that this was the situation here. How many stupid rules would go straight away? How long would it take before those inbuilt ideas we’ve got regarding our education would start to be questioned?
Turning up to lessons on time, regularly or at all, for example. If you don’t fancy turning up today at Summerhill, well, don’t. It’s sheer stupidity to think that every lesson is valued and used productively by students – there’s a lot that can happen at home or wherever that just ruins your ability to concentrate or absorb what you’re studying. That maths lesson, when you’ve had a crap day and just need some peace, how much will you really learn? Well, if we organised like Summerhill, then you’d be free to just go off and do something else. Basically, it’s a school where lessons aren’t compulsory, teachers don’t just fall back on being a teacher to win an argument and everyone involved with the school has an equal say in how it’s run. More schools should follow the idea that, if you treat people like adults, they tend to act like adults.
Which is not to say you’ll get away with anything. If you’re basically being a cretin and holding back other students, then those other students are well within the rules to kick you out of the class. That freedom to decide how the school is run isn’t just your freedom, it’s everyone’s. Otherwise you just end up with the same situation we have now, where students can only fiddle at the edges of school life. Freedom is merely privilege extended unless applied to one and all. Not only that, but Summerhill isn’t just a school, it sees itself as a community. A circle of participation is created, whereby everyone can have a say, so everyone feels part of it, and because they feel part of it, they want a say. See how it works?
And it does work – Summerhill’s results are not exceptional, but they are solid and well above what the government wants. Which, seeing as I cannot think of an education less geared towards passing GCSEs, is pretty damn impressive. Think about it, what’s likely to produce happier, healthier and more rounded people; Rigidly teaching for an exam and skimming over everything else, or a broad, personal and participatory education?
Summerhill relies on students respecting each other and working together. They’re trusted to do this, and it works. It requires adults to believe in young people and young people believing in each other. They should, we do, and let’s see some more Summerhills.
That’s a quote from A S Neill, the late head of a school in Sussex called Summerhill. Ranging from six to seventeen, the students have, effectively, no rules. Or rather, the students propose, discuss and vote on the rules. Think about our school council teams and the role they play in developing Chew Valley – food, décor, environment, and activities. All the aspects that surround school life and make it a rounded experience have some influence from the council. Many things have been accomplished by our school council, but you could hardly claim they have a defining role in the core tenets of school policy.
What if not just the council, but all the students, had the final say in how Chew Valley was run? Summerhill holds tri-weekly meetings where anyone can submit a new rule proposal, bring up an issue or person that needs addressing, or just listen and vote on what other people suggest. Hypothesise briefly that this was the situation here. How many stupid rules would go straight away? How long would it take before those inbuilt ideas we’ve got regarding our education would start to be questioned?
Turning up to lessons on time, regularly or at all, for example. If you don’t fancy turning up today at Summerhill, well, don’t. It’s sheer stupidity to think that every lesson is valued and used productively by students – there’s a lot that can happen at home or wherever that just ruins your ability to concentrate or absorb what you’re studying. That maths lesson, when you’ve had a crap day and just need some peace, how much will you really learn? Well, if we organised like Summerhill, then you’d be free to just go off and do something else. Basically, it’s a school where lessons aren’t compulsory, teachers don’t just fall back on being a teacher to win an argument and everyone involved with the school has an equal say in how it’s run. More schools should follow the idea that, if you treat people like adults, they tend to act like adults.
Which is not to say you’ll get away with anything. If you’re basically being a cretin and holding back other students, then those other students are well within the rules to kick you out of the class. That freedom to decide how the school is run isn’t just your freedom, it’s everyone’s. Otherwise you just end up with the same situation we have now, where students can only fiddle at the edges of school life. Freedom is merely privilege extended unless applied to one and all. Not only that, but Summerhill isn’t just a school, it sees itself as a community. A circle of participation is created, whereby everyone can have a say, so everyone feels part of it, and because they feel part of it, they want a say. See how it works?
And it does work – Summerhill’s results are not exceptional, but they are solid and well above what the government wants. Which, seeing as I cannot think of an education less geared towards passing GCSEs, is pretty damn impressive. Think about it, what’s likely to produce happier, healthier and more rounded people; Rigidly teaching for an exam and skimming over everything else, or a broad, personal and participatory education?
Summerhill relies on students respecting each other and working together. They’re trusted to do this, and it works. It requires adults to believe in young people and young people believing in each other. They should, we do, and let’s see some more Summerhills.
