Making Schools That Are Good For Kids: Creating a Democratic Society

MAKING SCHOOLS THAT ARE GOOD FOR KIDS: CREATING A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY

How can we make a democratic society when our kids are subjected to the authoritarian dictatorship of school?

Isn't it time we thought of something completely new?

This book is about a school that has no classes, no grades, no tests, no marks, and no teachers. Decisions regarding conduct, behaviour, and community relations will be made by democratic assembly in which each person, regardless of age or position, has one vote. Is this a school that is good for kids? Would it be good for society? Obviously I think so or I wouldn't be writing this book. And, also obviously, I believe that schools as they now exist are not good for kids-or anyone else.

In this book I will address what might replace the schools that have dominated the lives of the young for the past 150 years or so, and are now, with the growth of institutional daycare and preschool, insinuating their ideals of child management into our daily lives, especially the lives of our children.

The school system cannot be "reformed." Only a radical transformation can make a difference.

Tom Durrie has degrees in music history, opera, and psychology. After spending ten years as a teacher, in the 1960s, he developed a fixation on school and what's wrong with it. Aside from that, a long life has led him down many paths. Besides teaching, he has been a vocal coach and accompanist, piano technician, actor and director, arts administrator, psychotherapist, university lecturer, caterer, handyman, community activist and organizer, father of three grown children and grandfather of six. He now lives in the small community of Boston Bar, in British Columbia, where he gives piano lessons and is active in community affairs.