Free the Children (book)

Free the Children: Radical Reform and the Free School Movement is the first book-length account of the free school movement written by Allen Graubard and published by Pantheon Books in 1972.

Free the Children
AuthorAllen Graubard
SubjectFree school movement
PublisherPantheon Books
Publication date
1972
Pages306

Contents

The "free" in free schools refers to pedagogy and not tuition. In this distinction, he includes both community-controlled schools run by racial minorities and bohemian "vegetarian geodesic dome schools".[1]

The book contains five chapters and covers a range of topics related to free schools including their philosophies, prominent examples, curricular questions, and contemplation of their usefulness to society.[1]

Graubard begins with the premise that American public education had been inadequate, as of the late 1960s, following the arguments of Charles Silberman and Jonathan Kozol but with fewer accusations. He also criticizes A. S. Neill for his beliefs on authority and nature, and George Dennison for his "ahistorical perspective".[1] Still, Graubard believes that free schools need radical political ideology to survive and protect more than a few children.[1]

Graubard then discusses schools through the perspectives of students and teachers—their breakthroughs and breakdowns.[1] The author contends that a school's format alone—such as its emphasis on friendly cooperation, free expression, student initiative—does not ensure an enriching education.[2] He also explores negative aspects of free schools, such as situations in which children received little adult guidance and in which communal, consensus-based governance became overly dramatic and personally vindictive. Graubard also notes how working-class and black parents did not trust consensus governance, preferring instead the clear rules that middle-class parents found too restrictive.[3]

While schools may exhibit social maladies, Graubard believes that the society and not the school is responsible for solving them.[1] Thus, reform efforts should not be limited to schools and pedagogy. Efforts to "humanize the public schools", he holds, will conflict with "the fundamental social realities—the sickness of American society".[4] Graubard also acknowledges that public schools will be resistant to the changes proposed in free schools.[5]

Reception

Harvard Educational Review's reviewer found Graubard's treatment of community–staff conflict to be sparse, and questioned whether the author appreciated the plight of good-intentioned but limited public school teachers.[3]

Notes
  1. White 1973, p. 445.
  2. White 1973, pp. 445–446.
  3. White 1973, p. 446.
  4. White 1973, p. 447.
  5. White 1973, p. 448.

References
  • Buckley Jr., James J. (April 21, 1973). "Free the Children: Radical Reform and the Free School Movement/Facts & Feelings in the Classroom". America. 128 (15): 367–368. ISSN 0002-7049. EBSCOhost 35957996.
  • Burk, Anne M. (December 15, 1972). "Rev. of Free the Children by Allen Graubard". Library Journal. 97: 3986. ISSN 0363-0277.
  • Fantini, Mario D. (March 1973). "Testing Time (Rev. of Free the Children by Allen Graubard)". Saturday Review of Education. 1: 69–70. ISSN 0091-8555 – via EBSCOhost.
  • Gross, Ronald (March 25, 1973). "Rev. of Free the Children by Allen Graubard". The New York Times Book Review. p. 40, 42. ISSN 0362-4331. ProQuest 119640185.
  • Hopkins, Richard. L. (1973). "Rev. of Free the Children by Allen Graubard". Educational Studies. 4 (2): 105. ISSN 0013-1946. EBSCOhost 7563120.
  • Justus, Hope (February 4, 1973). "Following Rousseau to Freer Education (Rev. of Free the Children)". Chicago Tribune. p. f8. ISSN 1085-6706. ProQuest 169256260.
  • Kohl, Herbert R. (December 13, 1973). "Closing Time for Open Ed?". The New York Review of Books. Vol. 20, no. 20. p. 48. ISSN 0028-7504.
  • "Learning from Their Errors (Rev. of Free the Children by Allen Graubard)". American School Board Journal. 160: 21–22. December 1973. ISSN 0003-0953. EBSCOhost 519712706.
  • Lefcourt, Robert (March 1973). "Free the Children: Radical Reform and the Free School Movement, by Allen Graubard (Book Review)". Social Policy. 3 (6): 77–80. ISSN 0037-7783. ProQuest 1295921689.
  • Lister, Ian (May 17, 1973). "Beyond Belief (Rev. of Free the Children by Allen Graubard)". New Society. Vol. 24, no. 554. pp. 381–382. ISSN 0028-6729. ProQuest 1307092505.
  • "Rev. of Free the Children by Allen Graubard". Choice. 10: 1046. 1973. ISSN 0009-4978.
  • "Rev. of Free the Children by Allen Graubard". Education Digest. 38 (5): 69–70. January 1973. ISSN 0013-127X. EBSCOhost 18619562.
  • White, George Abbott (August 1973). "Beyond Reconstruction?". Harvard Educational Review. 43 (3): 442–449. doi:10.17763/haer.43.3.c6407n8707n32032. ISSN 0017-8055. EBSCOhost 519701547.
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