Neill, A.S Essay, Research Paper

It could be said that A.S. Neill began the reformation of liberal education when he

founded Summerhill Free School in 1921. The academic nature was opposite of a standard

school where students have a variety of classes that they are expected to attend. The voluntary

attendance and absence of order and adult authority are just a few ethos that characterize

Summerhill. Students are expected to gain more of an educational wealth by learning basic

concepts of self-esteem, tolerance, integrity, fairness, and understanding rather than math

equations and science functions. Because Summerhill is so popular and unique, it has received

enormous amounts of criticism. Consequently, the Free School has been a victim to numerous

attempts of closures.

According to Kristi Ruark from the website Summerhill School, Neill the fourth

of 13 children, grew up under the stern hand of his schoolmaster father who ran his classroom

with an iron hand (Ruark). Neill believed he can expand his pupils minds and horizons by

providing a comfortable learning atmosphere in which students can learn about what they are

interested in, compared to following fixed schedules of classes. At the age of twenty-five, Neill

went to Edinburgh University and took a degree in English. Afterward, he became a journalist,

and, later, head of a small school in Gretna Green, England. There, he began to compose his first

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book, A Dominie’s Log, and form his ideas on freedom for children. After a year in the school,

he wrote:

I have converted a hard-working school into a playground, and I rejoice. These brains have

had a year of happiness and liberty. They have done what they liked; they have sung their

songs while they were working at graphs, they have eaten their sweets while they read

their books, they have hung on my arms as we rambled along in search of artistic corners,

(Neill).

By 1927, Neil had moved to a city in southern England where he, along with the help of his

second wife, Ena, ran Summerhill until Neill s death in 1973 and Ena s retirement in 1985.

Zoe Readhead, daughter of A.S. Neill, was left with no other choice but to continue running

Summerhill Free School.

At this point in her life, Readhead felt that it would be next to impossible to run the entire school by herself. As her voice became louder about independent school benefits and progress, she found herself sorting through dozens of applications to help out and teach the students of Summerhill. As the schools chief administrator, Readhead and her staff set up new and innovated courses and curriculum. The student body soon increased along with the love for independent learning. Mrs. Readhead noted that Education is not just about learning things by rote but about creating a person who can take responsibility for their own actions and who understands about democracy (Ruark).

If you were to take a trip to Leiston, England, you would find Summerhill in the grassy

plain founded by Neill. Its tall, monument like building represents freedom in education and

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the love for kids. Even though, this widely known free school has not always been a part of the

Leiston community. Summerhill was actually founded in 1921 in Hellerau, a suburb of Dresden.

It was part of an International school called the Neue Schule (A.S). Despite the wonderful facilities and friendly students, Neill became progressively disheartened with the school. He felt that it was ran by idealists because they did not like cinemas or foxtrots, and forbid the use of tobacco. At one point during his time at Neue Schule, Neill proclaimed:

I am only just realizing the absolute freedom of my scheme of Etherefore it is necessary when it exists (qtd. In Ruark).

Together with Frau Neustatter (afterwards his first wife), Neill moved his school to Austria. The

setting was pleasing on top of a mountain but the local people, a Catholic community, were

hostile. In 1923 he moved to Lyme Regis, a village in southern England, to a house called

Summerhill. The school continued there until 1927, where it stands in present day Leiston.

If you were to spend a day at Summerhill you would find many things to be different. Lessons are optional and the children can go to them or stay on their swings all day. There is a timetable, but only for teachers. Strangers to this idea of freedom will wonder what sort of madhouse it is where children play all day if they want to. Many adults say, “If I had been sent to a school like that, I’d never have done a thing.” While others argue, “Such children will feel themselves heavily handicapped when they have to compete against children who have been

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made to learn (qtd. In A.S).” Neill argues that neither of these are valid arguments. Instead, he states that when given the choice to learn or not to learn, children will choose to learn (qtd. In A.S). Secondly, some believe that Summerhill is the happiest school in the world. There are no school- skippers and seldom cases of homesickness. Also, there rarely are fights or quarrels because the students have extreme self-discipline. Confidently, Neill declares:

“I seldom hear a child cry, because children when free have much less hate to express than children who are downtrodden. Hate breeds hate. Love breeds love. Love means approving of children, and that is essential in any school. Summerhill is a school in which the child knows that he is approved of” (qtd. In A.S).

Neill and his ducation. I see that all

outside compulsion is wrong, that inner compulsion is the only value. And if Mary or David wants to laze about, lazing about is the one thing necessary for their personalities at the moment. Every moment of a healthy child’s life is a working moment. A child has no time to sit down and laze. Lazing is abnormal, it is a recovery, and staff strongly proposed ten principles that the Summerhill School was

founded upon. The firm faith in the goodness of the child as well as education being both

intellectual and emotional are important. Also, the aim of education, in fact the aim of life, is

to work joyfully and to find happiness (Raurk). Neill s ideas were like concrete set in his mind.

In his book Summerhill, Neill states that “Summerhill does not expound a theory; it relates the

actual experience of almost 40 years. It represents the true principle of education without fear. In

Summerhill School, authority does not mask a system of manipulation (qtd. In A.S).

Basically, Summerhill was designed to be a unique school that did not follow the same teaching

principals as standard institutions.