Thursday, May 13, 2010

Summerhill is an island...

मांझी रे, अपना किनारा, नदिया कि धारा हैं |


Summerhill is an island. It has to be an island, because its parents live in towns miles apart, in countries overseas. Since it is impossible to collect all the parents together in the town of Leiston, Suffolk, Summerhill cannot be a part of Leiston’s cultural and economic and social life.

I hasten to add that the school is not an island to Leiston town. We have many contacts with local people, and the relationship on both sides is a friendly one. Yet fundamentally, we are not a part of the community. I would never think of asking the editor of the local newspaper to publish success stories about my old pupils. We play games with the town children, but our educational aims are far apart.

Not having any religious affiliation, we have no connection with religious bodies in the town. If Summerhill were part of the town community center, it would be obliged to give religious teaching to its pupils.

[Summerhill A RADICAL APPROACH TO CHILD REARING 1968, A. S. Neill]

No comments: