"Sudbury Valley School, a living embodiment of democracy in school No better than a teacher who did not allow the educational system of pedagogy disenchant to describe a school very "different." Adriana was very excited with his visit and now we can live with it.
Adriana Bertran Ania. Barcelona, \u200b\u200b1985. Degree in English and English. Working as a high school teacher has led him to question deeply the education system and move to discover and implement alternatives. Currently, travel planning expertise and support groups of teachers.
Sudbury Valley School was established in 1968 in Framingham (Massachusetts, USA) on basis of total trust that the child can learn by itself all that really needs to learn. Its approximately 200 students between 5 and 18 engages in activities chosen by them knowing that the responsibility for learning is yours and yours alone. Can move freely through the huge house, gardens and barn by the area of \u200b\u200bschool gossip and learn from what others are doing, or ask for adult help when needed. The rooms have been accommodating to the interests that arose in student groups: for example, where 70 is the tanned skin there is now a recording studio and music publishing. Younger usually play outdoors, use the mud around, catch bugs or fish in the lake while the adults read, talk, play instruments, make cakes to raise funds for their projects, they use Internet, games or be taught prepare for the entrance exam this or that university.
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| Freedom to choose what you learn |
Students are not only responsible for own learning, so are the workings of the school. In this small but complex democracy, the central body is the School Meeting, a weekly meeting where they decide about anything: where to invest the budget, which re-hire teachers next year, amendments to the Book of Laws, etc. In this session, moderated by a student all members of the community have a say: no matter whether it is a 5 year old girl, a 13 or a teacher of 55. When there are functions that exceed the School Meeting, committees are elected.
Such commissions highlights the Judicial Com-mittee, which is responsible for investigating violations and problems coexistence between members (with the Book of Law School at hand) and propose sanctions. Consists of 5 student volunteers, plus a teacher who changes every day, so that those who really know what's going on is the students. Thus, a student who has been eating in the library may receive the sanction of not being able to enter it for two weeks, for example. What in other call centers "discipline problems" of adults to children becomes the eternal question of where my freedom ends and the other begins, a dilemma much closer to how life works out of the community school.
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| Decisions taken by consensus |
; A school like that, without testing, without notes, without timetables or materials or curriculum, could hardly be approved or even legal in most European countries (starting with our own). However, the laws of the state of Massachusetts delegate to the municipal level educational competition, and the council of the city of Framingham at the time allowed this experiment bore the name of "School" and granted a certificate of approved studies. To graduate, students must write a thesis explaining what they learned and why they believe they are ready to leave school, and defend it before a panel of teachers from other schools following the Sudbury model (now about 40 worldwide).
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| Learn enjoying |
however, this freedom is not free of contradiction. This is a private school, funded solely through contributions from the families and individual donations. Therefore, there is a school that everyone can afford. When asked separately on this issue, the response of parents and teachers was the same: "we are the cheapest private schools throughout Massachusetts or out of state would not let us do what we do." A very American contradiction, that liberty is paired with a certain economic strength.
During my visit, I had the chance to chat at length with Daniel Greenberg, a former professor Harvard and a founder of the school. Listened to my interest in educational alternatives, and said: "There is something substantially different proposal from another educational alternative. One thing that either have or do not. O trust and trial skills of the student, and therefore you grant freedom and responsibility, or distrust, and therefore you do everything in its place, you decide what to learn, how, when, and how he did it. Or empower or disempower. And trust is very, very difficult. I know that if we offered one hour a day for the subjects 'core', language and math, students would triple. But then it would be pointless, would not be confident that all of that, our kids already learning just by itself alone. "
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| No segregation by age |
A while later, I saw Daniel Greenberg chat with a 5 year old said he had three strips, one in each hand, and another in the elbow. He was paying the same level of concentration and attention that I had given to me sensibly philosophizing about education. Simply take seriously the issue of the three strips, not the girl laughed thinking "how cute" or "how heavy" or "what things have." The girl was quiet, and his eyes could see he was important, he was noteworthy for the way it was and what I was going to live.
Viewing this simple interaction, something in me cried with rage and joy. Rabies, for all those times in which adults pour our unconsciousness on children in limiting relations, incomprehensible feeling them inferior people to be molded. Joy, see this simple example that we are able to do things differently. Adriana Bertran
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