THROUGH A DIFFERENT WINDOW: SCHOOL ALLOWS CHILDREN TO BE HEARD

It used to be said that children should be seen and not heard. At Summerhill school, in England, that idea has been thrown right out the window. In fact, if a window is open at Summerhill, you may just hear the voice of a child shouting at the teacher! Children are not just heard, but they are allowed to shout if they want to.

Summerhill is a small boarding school. It was founded in 1921 by A.S. Neill. Today it is run by his daughter, Zoe Readhead.

The school was founded with the idea that, to quote Neill: "Every child has a God inside." Neill felt that if children are allowed free expression, that God inside of them will be expressed. If they are not allowed freedom, that God will turn into a devil.

Summerhill is considered to be more than a school; it is considered to be a community. A community where the votes of the children are as important as the votes of the teachers. In fact, the vote of the students and the teachers carry just as much weight as the vote of the headmistress herself !

A.S. Neill was the fourth of 13 children. His father was a stern schoolmaster of the village school. When A.S. was 15, his father began to train him to follow in his footsteps. A.S. had a different way of seeing things.

At 25, A.S. attended Edinburg University to get a degree. He became a journalist for a time and later became the headmaster of a small school. He had a different idea:

"I am only just realizing the absolute freedom of my scheme of education. I see that all outside compulsion is wrong, and that inner compulsion is the only value. And if Mary or David want to laze about, lazing about is the one thing necessary for their personalities to develop at the moment. Every moment of a healthy child's life is a working moment." Neill moved the school several times. At one time it was moved to Lyme Regis to a house called Summerhill. In 1927 it moved again to Leiston, a town of Suffolk. It retained the name of Summerhill.

The Web site http://first- ask.de/summrhill2000/imagine.htm

has an article by Zoe Readhead that explains the ideas that Summerhill is based on. The school continues to uphold the ideas of her father, A.S. Neill.

Readhead says in her article, "Imagine a school... Where climbing trees and building dens are considered as important as learning decimal fractions. Where you can shout at the teacher if you want to. Where the rules governing everyday life are made democratically by the whole community. Where the children are free to play all day if they want."

At Summerhill meetings are held where the laws that govern the school are voted on. The school has 12 staff members and 70 students. Each one has a vote. Staff members and students get a vote, and no vote carries more weight than another. The vote of the youngest child is just as important as the vote of the headmistress.

A tribunal is held twice weekly to discuss any problems or conflicts that have developed in the community. Students can bring charges against teachers or other students. Staff members, as well, present any problems to the tribunal. These issues are presented, discussed and voted on and punishments are assigned when needed.

At Summerhill, children can attend classes or not as they choose. There are laws that govern what they can do during the hours that are set aside for classes, for instance, they are not free to watch television during the time that is set aside for class attendance.

Again to quote Ms Readhead: "I don't think anybody is good enough or clever enough to tell another person how to live.

"This system (the traditional system) of rearing and schooling will either produce obedient sheep, or rebellious and angry individuals. If people are suppressed and tyrannized, they will live fearfully and harbor huge resentment. We can and have seen throughout history the results of this. ... We believe in freedom, but not license. This means that you are free to go as you like but you must not interfere with somebody else's freedom. You are free to go to lessons or to stay away because that is your personal business and you may make the choice. But you cannot play your drum kit at four in the morning because that would interfere with the freedom of others." At http://www.s-hill.demon.co.uk/qanda.htm

Zoe has a letter that answers some questions about Summerhill. It has traditionally been a boarding and school, and is still mostly run within that framework. However, there are some day students.

There are three full-time house parents, eight full-time teachers and some part-time teachers. All full-time staff members live on campus.

Subjects include, science, math, English, French, German, Japanese, woodwork, art and pottery, drama, history, geography, computing and music (for interested students).

Sports are included, and extracurricular activities include, swimming, computer study rooms, field games, darkroom, pets, skateboarding, tennis and theater.

An article written by an ex-Summerhill houseparent Mathew Appleton can be found at www.flatlandbooks.com/summer.html .

He tells what his expectations were when he joined the staff at Summerhill.

He expected to find a wonderful setting where everyone was happy. Instead he did find that some of the children were anti-social and discontented. He found himself with angry feelings towards the children who were not fitting into to his idealistic version of what Summerhill would be like.

Appleton states that if he had left then, he would have felt disillusioned. But he stayed and he saw these children change. He saw "shy, emotionally withdrawn children, traumatized by their experiences in other schools, turn into confident and open young people. I saw children hardened by what life had thrown at them, soften and relax."

The children who misbehave at Summerhill, are for the most part, the new arrivals that have not yet adjusted to the change of lifestyle and the freedom that is allowed at Summerhill. The older a child is when they enter the Summerhill environment, the slower the adjustment takes.

Some facts about Summerhill, during its 78 years: There has never been a pregnancy at the school. Summerhill does not have a drinking or drug problem. Bullying and harassment http://www.flatlandbooks.com

are dealt with by the whole community in the tribunals, and the punishments are decided by a majority vote.

It could be argued that Summerhill is a small school, a boarding school and a private school and such a concept cannot be applied to larger, public day schools.

I have been in contact with Readhead. Here are her answers concerning the problems of large day schools being run in the manner of Summerhill:

Are their any children enrolled who do not board at the school? In America, boarding schools are not very common. In your opinion, would this system work for a day school?

Readhead: Yes, we have around 13 "day" kids. It works well for them but being a boarder is a much more rewarding and intimate experience. There are many other "day" schools throughout the world run on similar lines -- but Summerhill is almost unique in being a boarding community.

The schools in America are very large. In some there are several hundred students. Do you think that large schools are detrimental to learning?

Readhead: They need not be, but you need to have smaller more personal groups in order to get to know one another this could be achieved if priorities were changed.

Could the format for the running of Summerhill possibly work in an extremely large school?

Readhead: Yes, but it would need to be adapted. Hadera school in Israel has more than 300 pupils and it gets on fine.

It seems that the schools in America are in crisis. We are all wondering what can be done to assure that our children will be safe, happy and productive in their school environment. We are exploring options and opinions. The concepts that are used at Summerhill give us the chance to look through a different window and see what else is out there.