Rating: Summary: Still going strong after eighty years! Review: Albert Lamb's affectionate and scholarly edition of A.S. Neill's words about his beloved school, Summerhill, sheds new light on the old dominie's wisdom and dedication to the welfare of children and the integrity of childhood. A long-time friend of Wilhelm Reich, psychoanalytically savvy Neill was an admirer of Homer Lane, whose Children's Republic had been such an advocate for children's rights and for what one might call benevolent peerhood in working with children - or, alternatively, telling children your truth, taking responsibility for the benevolence of that "truth." Lamb's edition of this classic brings out new information on the scope of Neill's views omitted by the Cold War edition of the 60s - while keeping - and adding to - Neill's treasured remarks about childhood. Lamb is a wonderful source, having been a pupil at Neill's school while Neill still ran it! Get this book! It will teach you about a lot more than just permissive education!
Rating: Summary: Summerhill: A visionary approach whose time has come. Review: I first read Summerhill in 1968 as a Psychology major. Over the years since, I researched everything that had been written by A.S. Neill or about his school. After doing a research paper on his book, "Summerhill: For and Against", I decided that I would not only raise my children based on his approach to child-rearing, but that I would also start a residential 'Free School' based on his philosophy.Now a child-care consultant, I remain convinced, after all these years, that the veracity of Neill's approach toward child-rearing and Education remain unquestioned under the closest of scrutiny and the test of time. The basic tenets are simple....provide children with an environment offering the optimal opportunities for healthy growth and development and the children will grow into loving, altruistic adults with a coinciding optimal opportunity to find happiness in life. As far as I'm concerned, I've proven A.S. Neill's theories through my own children, who are now in their mid and late twenties. Rather than go on about their personal attributes, I'll just say they would both testify that they're very glad A.S. Neill ever came along.
Rating: Summary: Now this is an education! Review: I had a psychology professor of mine recommend this to me when I asked him how I could better raise my children. WOW! This book was filled with a lot of "different ideas." It certainly got me to look at my approach to child raising. I agreed with a lot of it. The one point that I didn't fully understand was the difference between freedom and license. Since I've read it I've had a lot more respect for my kid's views and opinions and have worked on letting them be themselves no matter how loud or crazy they might seem at the time. I learned that kids know what they need. I think the less afraid they are of me the more real they will be. I've already noticed a change in them since practicing some of these views. One night we had fun throwing rice crispy treats on the wall because I made them too goey and they were making fun of them, so I chucked one on the wall. My 4 year old asked me the other day when we were going to do that again. We had a blast! Before, that would have been taboo. We've always openly talked about sex, so that didn't change. I enjoy talking about things that are considered taboo because the more education I have the less intimidating the subject. I wish someone would have talked to me about sex and some other issues. It's much better learning than guessing. This is one of the most influential books I've read. I don't think the majority of people will agree with it. Many of his ideas rang true for me though. Excellent book!
Rating: Summary: anarcho-syndical-communist, not a socialist Review: I read the original "Summerhill" in 1980 when I was in high school. I was completely blown away by the concepts, despite the fact that I grew up in Sudbury, MA, where there was a similar school. I was lucky enough to be exposed to this environment of freedom and flourished in it. I would not have traded it for anything. But I must disagree with the characterization of A.S. Neill as a socialist. He may have had socialist tendencies, but he was more a Paul Goodman-style anarchist. Socialism is the regulation and limiting of actions by certain parties; anarchism is the opposite -- the deregulation of everything. And this is the environment that A.S. Neill fostered at Summerhill, to his credit. It's really sad that the trend in the United States is towards the very opposite: the complete regulation of children's lives, scheduled down to the minute with safety the being the top priority. This tendency is creating a generation of children who lack spontaneity and creativity. We need more free schools like Summerhill.
Rating: Summary: anarcho-syndical-communist, not a socialist Review: I read the original "Summerhill" in 1980 when I was in high school. I was completely blown away by the concepts, despite the fact that I grew up in Sudbury, MA, where there was a similar school. I was lucky enough to be exposed to this environment of freedom and flourished in it. I would not have traded it for anything. But I must disagree with the characterization of A.S. Neill as a socialist. He may have had socialist tendencies, but he was more a Paul Goodman-style anarchist. Socialism is the regulation and limiting of actions by certain parties; anarchism is the opposite -- the deregulation of everything. And this is the environment that A.S. Neill fostered at Summerhill, to his credit. It's really sad that the trend in the United States is towards the very opposite: the complete regulation of children's lives, scheduled down to the minute with safety the being the top priority. This tendency is creating a generation of children who lack spontaneity and creativity. We need more free schools like Summerhill.
Rating: Summary: Excellent way to cope with daily problems of child rearing Review: I read this book many years ago while a pediatrician. I recommended it to my parents but few were able to put aside their own entrenched feelings of child rearing for those recommended by Neill. The book should be read as a manual for the use of Neill's "Freedom without liscence" doctrine, which merely gives parents a method of evauating the right course of proceedure when they come into conflict with their children. The schooling methods are obviously not practical in today's environment. "Freedom without license" is the message of the book. It is a fine message and it works when applied by parents willing to adhere to it..
Rating: Summary: "Summerhill" Ideas to Think About Review: In my reading of Summerhill, I found myself doing some hard thinking about what A.S. Neill's philosophy of education is really about. I do not agree with his philosophy of children being able to establish their own rules and changing them as they go along to fit the way that they live. However, I do feel that children should have an input into setting up rules. In reading this book, it is hard to believe that the ideas A.S. Neill had were 75 years ago. I will admit that I was not overly thrill with the independence the children are given at Summerhill, but as I continue to research for the education class I am taking, I begin to rethink some of my ideas of education and what type of independence children might have. There may be something to Neill's philosophy regarding children and their right to free thinking. Summerhill's success in providing a happy environment for kids, producing happy, well-balanced men and women, stands as continuing proof of Neill's idea that "The absence of fear is the finest thing that can happen to a child". Summerhill has survived 75 years and a lawsuit, yet as the world has changed their fundamental principals have remained. Again, I do not agree with his total philosophy, but Neill does give one something to think about regarding children in the classroom and at home. I recommend the book for reading especially for those who are already in the field of education or plans to make education part of their career. Summerhill gives a person another view of education and ideas of what may or may not work.
Rating: Summary: Review of Summerhill Review: Summerhill is a good book for anyone that deals with children because the author gives several stories of expereince in dealing with kids. The Summerhill method of dealing with kids is based on psychology. The basic teaching philosophy of A.S. Neill is undeniably true: All people will respond to the most basic human emotion - love. If you give children love and acceptance, they will return it, if it is genuine. This book would be good to use as a model for setting up a student government. How would student government be effective you ask? Neill states that students show amazing loyalty to their own democracy. This book was easy to read and had plenty of stories to keep me interested. From time to time, the author would ramble on and get completely off the subject, which he admits that he does. However, this book is not for people who are easily offended by open-mindedness. Neill allows the students at his school to have a lot (A LOT) of freedom. Swearing, sexual activity, nudity, and smoking are just some of the extra-curricular activities that Summerhill students are allowed to participate in. I think Neill allows this stuff to take away the glamour behind it, and teaches the kids why its stupid to smoke, etc. instead of just saying its off limits. Every one knows that the off limits activities are the ones you want to do most, because it is off limits. The whole idea behind Summerhill is release, allowing children to live out their natural interests, and encouraging them to find out who they really are and to be comfortable with that. I recommend Summerhill because, well, you just have to read it. Some of it is absolutley insane, and some of it is absoultley ingenuis!
Rating: Summary: Review of Summerhill Review: Summerhill is a good book for anyone that deals with children because the author gives several stories of expereince in dealing with kids. The Summerhill method of dealing with kids is based on psychology. The basic teaching philosophy of A.S. Neill is undeniably true: All people will respond to the most basic human emotion - love. If you give children love and acceptance, they will return it, if it is genuine. This book would be good to use as a model for setting up a student government. How would student government be effective you ask? Neill states that students show amazing loyalty to their own democracy. This book was easy to read and had plenty of stories to keep me interested. From time to time, the author would ramble on and get completely off the subject, which he admits that he does. However, this book is not for people who are easily offended by open-mindedness. Neill allows the students at his school to have a lot (A LOT) of freedom. Swearing, sexual activity, nudity, and smoking are just some of the extra-curricular activities that Summerhill students are allowed to participate in. I think Neill allows this stuff to take away the glamour behind it, and teaches the kids why its stupid to smoke, etc. instead of just saying its off limits. Every one knows that the off limits activities are the ones you want to do most, because it is off limits. The whole idea behind Summerhill is release, allowing children to live out their natural interests, and encouraging them to find out who they really are and to be comfortable with that. I recommend Summerhill because, well, you just have to read it. Some of it is absolutley insane, and some of it is absoultley ingenuis!
Rating: Summary: Worthwhile ruminations? Review: The original publication by Harold Hart in 1960 of A. S. Neill's Summerhill turned out to be a totally unexpected bestseller. I don't know how many editions it went through before the original furore it had created finally died down with the passing of educational fashions away from "freedom" toward curriculum, testing, discipline and lots of homework as a prescription for educational success. I guess the turning point came in the mid-eighties, along with the demise of some of the numerous small educational experiments that had sprung up all over the country which (as Neill warns can easily happen) had misidentified "license" with true freedom - which involves learning responsibility. With the current epidemic of school violence and the airing of information about the actual frequency of bullying - in the schoolyard and elsewhere - opinions wax hot over whether an authentic response ought to be to introduce more relaxed humanism toward students - or to tighten up with even more discipline and objective testing than now exists! The jury is still out on this one, but the verdict doesn't look good for the humanists! It's high time dear old Neill was allowed to have his say in the discussion once again! Albert Lamb's new edition of Summerhill allows Neill to speak with even more of his own voice than was included in the original. Neill's views on several issues thought to be too controversial to be included in a book published in an America just beginning to emerge from an era of McCarthyism have been restored to their proper place by Lamb. They sound far less controversial now than they did during the sixties. Neill's friendship with Wilhelm Reich takes its place alongside many of his autobiographical writings, as well as his views on a number of subjects like sexuality, discipline, fairness, respect for privacy and property, and governance in general. This new edition of Summerhill is both a treasure of history and a timeless celebration of authentic childhood as recounted by the greatest advocate and respecter of childhood of them all! Its editor, Albert Lamb, is a Summerhill alumnus, and knows the value of Neill's beliefs and practices at firsthand, and on a daily basis. As he tells us, Neill's influence lives on in his daughter Zoƫ, the school's present Head, who governs in her own unique style, not a copy of her father's - and who thereby carries forward his tradition of authenticity in being with children.
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