Summerhill School
Overview
Summerhill was founded in 1921 as part of the International School known as the Neue Schule. The school has great facilities and full of enthusiasm but eventually A.S Neill became less happy with it. He felt it was run by idealists and believed that children should be allowed to live their own lives. Consequently, Neill moved his school with Frau Neustatter to Sonntagsber Austria. The location was ideal but the hostilities of the local residents caused them to move. In 1923, they moved to a house called Summerhill in the South England. The school continued there until the next four years but it moved to its present location at Suffolk taking the name of Summerhill with it (‘’, 2004).
The intake of pupils varied over the years until it took the final dive by the late 1950s. Neill published a book called the ‘Summerhill-radical approach to child rearing’ and became a hit in the United States. Soon after it was published in UK and other countries making things become better at Summerhill. The number of pupils increased mainly from the US and the interest in the school flourished. After some time, Neill withdrew into a quiet time. He became less active in the school but constantly keeping in touch with what is going on. When he died in 1973, his wives Ena Neill run the school until she retired in 1985. Today, their daughter Zoe serves as the head teacher (‘’, 2004).
The school has been running from then and has not changed since it was started. Its success in providing a positive and happy environment for children and producing well balanced men and women serves as a proof of A.S Neill’s idea that a child’s function is to live his own life – not the life that his parents believed he should live nor the life which the educators think they know best.
Philosophy
Summerhill is considered to be the parent of the democratic school movement. Its philosophy has impacted many educators since it was started. It is probably the most famous form of alternative schooling committed with the idea of ‘making the school fit the child – instead of making the child fit the school’.
A.S Neill set out the school min which children are given the freedom to be themselves. In order to achieve this, they renounced all discipline, direction, suggestion, moral teaching and religious instruction. What Neill has to do is to have a complete belief in the inherent goodness of the child (, 1960, ). Over the years, this belief has never wavered and became the final faith.
Neill’s view is that a child is naturally wise and realistic. If he is left out without any adult authority, he will develop as he is capable of doing do. Summerhill is a place in which individuals who have the innate ability to become scholars can be scholars; and those fit to sweep the streets will sweep the streets (, 1960, ).
The primary objective of the school is to allow children develop in their own pace and realize their own interests. Its definition of success is different from most schools which focus on academic success as the main goal. Success in Summerhill includes academic success only if the child wants to develop in that area. Children are allowed to realize their potentials free from adult authority. The lessons are not imposed and children can attend only of they wish to. Summerhill emphasize the role of play in children as part of their development as any intellectual feeding imposed to them. The main motivation to learn depends on the readiness of the child.
Current trends in education are focused on the attainment of academic standards but these are not applied in a school which has set out an alternative education based on its values and beliefs. This alternative has remained over the years and continues to attract student as well as the interest of academic philosophers. Summerhill continues to offer a challenging approach to education.
Pupil Intake
Children go to Summerhill at the age of five years and others ass late as fifteen. The pupils remain in school until they reached sixteen. The children are divided into three age groups: the youngest ranging from five to seven, the intermediates from eight to ten and the oldest from eleven to fifteen. They have racially integrated children from United States, Scandinavia, Holland, Germany and Japan (, 1960, ).
Children are housed according to their age group with a house mother for every group. The intermediates live in a stone building while the adults stay in huts. Few older pupils have their own rooms while boys and girls live two to four in a room. Pupils do not undergo room inspection are left free. No one imposes anything to them and they are free to put any kind of costume they please.
Learning Practices
Summerhill is a boarding school where children take lessons as they pleased. They have classes according to their age but most of the time based on their interests. There are no methods of teaching because teaching is not considered to matter very much. Children can learn something if they want to regardless if they are taught or not. They take exams but do so as a matter of choice. According to Neill, a child will be academically successful if she is inclined to in spite of his education (, 1960, ).
The school maintains a democratic community in which the opinion of every person and child matters in the school operation. Children attend weekly school meetings where they are allowed to vote on community rules. This approach fosters social responsibility among them. They also learn the value of community authority which in the long run can effect change in them. The principle of freedom and self governance builds the foundation of honesty, sincerity and self confidence among children.
Neill believed that children are inherently good and when left to make their own decisions will develop on their own way. When students enter the school, they may not go to lessons for several weeks, months or at some instances years. But this does not mean that they do not learn. There are important lessons that can be learned beyond those in classroom and Neill believed that Summerhill children can develop their personality in a greater extent than those in conventional schools (, 2003, ).
If a child chooses a particular course but attends irregularly, he may be reprimanded by other children. Afternoons are free sessions where children can do whatever they please. Some play with their friends while others engaged in projects in arts or workshops. There are also other activities in the evening where the children can choose from. Younger kids are assisted by bigger kids in their democratic roles as bedtime officers. They ensure that the younger ones are changed before they go to bed and fine them for any transgressions. Instead of the adult authority, older students take the responsibility and are able to do it effectively.
Adult students also learn by attending lessons although they are optional. Their twice week meetings also reflect the student’s growth, responsibility and maturity. Headed by the older students, the meetings provide opportunities for anyone to change the rules and the chance to bring up someone who violated another student’s personal rights. Another chance to take responsibility is the role of students to act as Ombudsmen in resolving disputes (, 2003, ). The community is also racially integrated with students coming from different countries.
Ofsted Controversy
Summerhill has been threatened for closure by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) after alleging non compliance to health and safety requirements. The real issue though was on the curriculum and the freedom of children to take lessons only if they choose to. Ofsted required the school to make the lessons compulsory which the latter refused to since the children’s freedom is the school’s main principle. Another worrying aspect of the official insistence towards standardization is that it reduces the scope of research on the alternative mode of learning.
The Ofsted report compels the school to ensure that all students are engaged in the curriculum throughout their stay in Summerhill, a demand which is in directly conflicted with the school’s philosophy. The implications of the Secretary of State’s recognition of A.S Neill’s principle and of the principle that ‘learning is not confined to lessons’ did not solve the ominous feature of Ofsted policies. Despite the undertaking to review Summerhill and the intensive inspections, the agreement between the Secretary of State and the school left Ofsted’s role unchanged (, 2002, ).
An independent report conducted by well-known academics and business people emphasized some issues which are relevant to the rights included in Article 2 of the European Convention and the British government’s reservation in relation to it. In terms of ‘efficient instruction and training’, the report stated that Summerhill children achieved better than the average results in public examinations. It also argued that the school is achieving faster than the average rate for improvement. This indicates a significant accomplishment since majority of the students came from overseas and has little knowledge of English when they came. The report also pointed out that children are transferred to Summerhill because they fail to thrive in traditional schools (, 2002, ).
Moreover, children and parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school’s philosophy and practice. A more significant aspect of the Summerhill case is the issue of the children and parent’s rights manifested in the school’s commitment to uphold democratic procedures which the Ofsted inspectors have undervalued. Ultimately, the 1999 High Court Decision ordered the school to be left alone but the possibility of inspectors pitching in gain in the future remains to be seen (, 2003, ). This case was the first time the government has become so involved in the affairs of an independent school.
Conclusion
Summerhill is a radical school which offers a different mode of learning for children. Since it was started, the school has remained committed to its philosophy of making a school that will fit the students. These values are consistently lived out with the learning practices of the students. They are provided with the opportunity to grow and develop their potential on their own pace and without adult authoritative role. This approach has proven to be effective as many students manifest growth and social responsibility. In terms of academic achievement, Summerhill students are not left behind with conventional schools. Indeed, the school has been able to illustrate efficient training and justify its very existence.
Summerhill has served valuable purposes and inspiration to many. Over the years, much has been written about it and there appears to be a lot of successful alumni in different fields. In Neil’s philosophy that is not the point but the happiness of people in their chosen career. The school had significant successes and children attending Summerhill say the environment is perfect for them.
References
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Internet Sources
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