Free Schools, Free People: Education and Democracy after the 1960s

by Ronald J. Miller

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.

Genres: Education, History, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2002

Reviews

[Gea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ron Miller Ph.D. is the founder of Holistic Education Review and editor of AERO magazine. He has written and edited many books on holistic education and education reform and has taught at several universities and colleges. Free Schools examines the ideology behind the original free school movement and highlights how this movement sought to decentralize education so that more communal and personalized forms of education could take form. Miller shows how the free school movement of the 1960’s created a consciousness that encouraged educators and parents to begin to question the role of education and start to experiment with new forms and methods of learning. An excellent resource for anyone interested in the history of alternative education and why alternatives to traditional public schooling began to take shape.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author spent a little too much time rehashing the well-known events of the 1960s and not as much time as I would have liked on data about free and Democratic schools, but overall it was an interesting read, especially as there are so few books on this topic. Worth a read if you're interested in this movement.