Boarding Schools and Summerhill


Alexander Sutherland Neill founded the Summerhill school in 1921. Neill believed that schools should fit the students and not the other way around. The Summerhill School is an independent British boarding school. The school is run as a democratic community. All school affairs are handled in school meetings in which everyone has a say.


The school is based on the basic philosophy that children learn best when free from coercion. All lessons are child-centered. The school operates under three basic principles: democracy, equality, and freedom. Neill wrote in one of his books that children who choose their own education will be more successful.


One of the things that really interests me in the program is that the students are not put in grades by age but are grouped by interests.


I would also think that being a teacher at Summerhill would be somewhat of a challenge. Perhaps that is an understatement. Teachers would have to be personable and congenial. They would have to participate in the democratic community. The teacher would have to always deliver an excellent learning program for those who choose to attend the class.


Some students will choose not to attend a specific class. I wonder if this ever hurts a teacher's feelings. Does it put more pressure on a teacher? The teacher must value play and classroom activities equally. Children get to make the preference between play and work. 


Boarding schools are schools in which the students live while they are in school. The word "boarding" means lodging and meals. Some boarding schools have day students who attend the institution by day and go home to their families in the evenings.







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Scout's Honor" by Avi

Image
I've created a learning resource to go along with the short story that you can find in my shop. My students have been telling me that it's quite difficult. We've done two pages per day as part of our reading workshop minilessons. They're writing the notes and responses in their journals. The grammar connection on infinitives really threw them for a loop~it was the first time that they've encountered this verbal. Melissa
Read more

Back to School Bumper Sticker Activity and Printable

Image
Here in Middle Tennessee, we go back to school in two weeks, so it's the perfect time to begin thinking about icebreaker activities.  My Back to school Bumper Sticker Printable and Activity includes 20 different bumper stickers, 10 color and 10 black and white. There are 2 bumper stickers per page. Use this as an icebreaker in the following way: Students brainstorm some bumper stickers that they've seen and what those bumper stickers say about the person driving the car. Then, the students will write down several bumper sticker sayings that represent them and their ideas or beliefs. Show students some examples of completed bumper stickers. Afterwards, give each student a copy of the bumper sticker template. Each student designs and creates a bumper sticker that represents him or her. After students have created their bumper stickers, they walk around the room reading each other's bumper stickers. This activity is a fun and creati...
Read more

The Forms of Personal Pronouns

Image
The form of a personal pronoun shows how it can be used in a sentence. Pronouns used as subjects and predicate nominatives are in the subject form. Examples:  He and I went to the post office. The winner of the marathon is she. Pronouns used as direct objects and indirect objects of verbs and objects of the preposition are in the object form. Examples: Mr. Garcia helped him and me with yesterday's homework. The clerk gave us the package. when is Theo going to give the flowers to her? Possessive forms (my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, their, theirs, our, ours) are used to show ownership or possession. Examples: My sister had to turn the box on its end to get it through the door. A mother bear is very protective of her cubs. Personal Pronouns: Singular Subject: I, you, he, she, it Plural Subject: we, you, they Singular object: me, you, him, her, it Plural object: us, you, them Singular possessive: my, mine, you...
Read more