Free Schools, Free People: Education and Democracy After the 1960s - Softcover

Miller, Ronald J

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0791454207 ISBN 13: 9780791454206

Publisher: State University of New York Press, 2002

Synopsis

The first historical account of the free school movement of the 1960s.

This first historical account of the free school movement of the 1960s documents the formation of hundreds of small, independent schools across the United States that marked a turning point in American education. The book revisits and interprets the radical democratic educational vision behind those schools through the works of some of the authors of that time such as John Holt, A. S. Neill, Paul Goodman, and George Dennison. These authors―and the thousands of educators, parents, and young people who took part in the free school movement―passionately advocated for students’ intellectual and psychological freedom, and for their autonomy and individuality in a society they saw as increasingly standardized and corporately managed. Although free school ideology was renounced during the conservative restoration of the 1970s and 1980s, and the once popular literature is now largely forgotten, Miller argues that radical educational critique is especially relevant in today’s educational climate, in light of the standards movement, high stakes testing, school violence and its suppression, and corporate influence over the curriculum.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

This first historical account of the free school movement of the 1960s documents the formation of hundreds of small, independent schools across the United States that marked a turning point in American education. The book revisits and interprets the radical democratic educational vision behind those schools through the works of some of the authors of that time such as John Holt, A. S. Neill, Paul Goodman, and George Dennison. These authors-and the thousands of educators, parents, and young people who took part in the free school movement-passionately advocated for students' intellectual and psychological freedom, and for their autonomy and individuality in a society they saw as increasingly standardized and corporately managed. Although free school ideology was renounced during the conservative restoration of the 1970s and 1980s, and the once popular literature is now largely forgotten, Miller argues that radical educational critique is especially relevant in today's educational climate, in light of the standards movement, high stakes testing, school violence and its suppression, and corporate influence over the curriculum.

About the Author:

Ron Miller is President of the Foundation for Educational Renewal and the editor of Educational Freedom for a Democratic Society: A Critique of National Standards, Goals and Curriculum.

About this edition

• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0791454207
• ISBN 13: 9780791454206
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240