Superschool

Croft, John C.; Falusi, Arnold J.

doi:10.1177/001312456900100406

Cited by 2 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Darling (1992) mentioned that democratic principles were central to the regulation of the social life at Summerhill School, and that Neill considered that students' intrinsic motivation should initiate every learning activity (Darling, 1984). Croft and Falusi (1969), investigating a Canadian free school, concluded that free schools positively affect students' mental health due to the absence of coercion in these schools, and illustrated the efficiency of self-studies. Eriksen and Fiske (1973) identified collaboration and openness as factors favouring teachers' adaptability to working in a newly founded free school.…”

Section: What Research Says About Conflict Resolution and Free Schoolmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Miller (2002), for instance, indicates that, while the free school movement was expanding in the United States of America after the publication of Summerhill School (Neill, 1961), and during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, various groups of individuals started setting up free schools in Toronto. However, I have only found one study about a free school in Canada (Croft &Falusi, 1969). Croft and Falusi (1969) made references to these schools to situate their inquiry.…”

Section: What Research Says About Conflict Resolution and Free Schoolmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, I have only found one study about a free school in Canada (Croft &Falusi, 1969). Croft and Falusi (1969) made references to these schools to situate their inquiry. They described these schools as small in size, seldom attended by more than 30 students.…”

Section: What Research Says About Conflict Resolution and Free Schoolmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Students Doing Conflict Resolution? A Case Study in a Free School

Prud'homme

2012

Citizenship, Social and Economics Education

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While the challenges of improving young people's citizenship skills seem to lie in the hands of schools, studying alternative ways of teaching conflict resolution could benefit current educational systems. Judicial committees-a democratic approach to conflict resolution-like those practiced in free schools-schools where students and teachers are largely entitled to similar rights and obligations-represent such an alternative. The present inquiry is an ethnographic case study that draws upon complexity thinking. It aims at understanding students' experiences during free school judicial committees. It argues that, in a school where students enjoy a significant amount of freedom, students interacted in many ways. This gave rise to some conflicts. To tackle them, students followed various procedures inherent to judicial committees. During these activities, students mostly experienced a combination of feelings while engaging in conflict resolution processes and modifying their conflict resolution skills. The study ends by arguing that conventional schools can draw upon the principles associated to judicial committees to further how they teach conflict resolution. When Marshall Rosenberg went to a Swedish prison to teach nonviolent communication, he met with John, someone incarcerated for murder, who asked him for help to attend a training course in order to get a job once released from jail (Rosenberg, 2003). According to John, if he did not get this training course, he was going to be sent back soon after his release. He told Rosenberg, 'they still haven't responded to my request ... they are a bunch of cold, faceless bureaucrats who don't give a damn about anybody but themselves'. During the conversation, Rosenberg tried to teach John to focus his attention on his needs. At one point, Rosenberg told him: Put yourself in the shoes of the prison official. If I am an inmate, am I more likely to get my needs met if I come to you saying, 'Hey, I really need that training and I am scared of what's going to happen if I don't get it,' or if I approach while seeing you as a faceless bureaucrat. (Rosenberg, 2003, p.128) After hearing those words, John stared at the floor. He did not want to talk anymore. Three hours later, he told Rosenberg: 'I wish you had taught me two years ago what you taught me this morning. I wouldn't have had to kill my best friend' (Rosenberg, 2003, p.128). Obviously, not all training on conflict resolution will give rise to an extreme situation like this. However, developing this citizenship skill could help many in dealing with everyday social interactions, whether they involve conflicts or not. Conflict resolution skills could help two co-workers solve a dispute or could further two siblings' relationship. Standing from the educational viewpoint, I asked myself how we could teach conflict resolution. In my reflection, I learned about free schools-schools largely run democratically by students and teachers together-and the judicial committees that many of these schools support. These judicial commit...

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Section: What Research Says About Conflict Resolution and Free Schoolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: What Research Says About Conflict Resolution and Free Schoolmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Students Doing Conflict Resolution? A Case Study in a Free School

Prud'homme

2012

Citizenship, Social and Economics Education

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“…Several case studies on different free schools (Croft and Falusi 1969;Drews 1968;Firestone 1977;Shuter 1973) present evidence of the challenges and successes that radical schools faced in producing true alternatives to conventional schooling. The authors of these case studies argued that free schools were based on an understanding of children as unique individuals, inherently wanting to learn, altruistic and community-oriented (Drews 1968).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The authors of these case studies argued that free schools were based on an understanding of children as unique individuals, inherently wanting to learn, altruistic and community-oriented (Drews 1968). Drawing upon such a radical view of children, the 1960s free schools created contexts that consciously cultivated feelings of community, investment and cooperation (Croft and Falusi 1969), although Cagan (1978) argues that many radical educational projects in the USA are based on an extreme individualism that undermines solidarity. As the experimental schools matured, they began to face structural and interpersonal problems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radical democratic schooling on the ground: pedagogical ideals and realities in a Sudbury school

Wilson

2014

Ethnography and Education

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Sudbury schools, which originated in the USA in the 1960s, are radical alternatives to traditional public schooling that promote egalitarian relationships between children and adults. Given that the Sudbury model has been largely overlooked in educational anthropology, this paper presents findings from a 1.5-year critical ethnographic study of a Sudbury school in California. In analysing participant interactions within the school's 'democratic' decision-making group, the paper presents evidence of an informal power structure that privileged older age, male gender and greater experience over youth, female gender and novicehood in determining whose voices wielded power. In doing so, the article provides an illustrative example of how theoretically democratic settings are edited to meet realities on the ground.

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Superschool

Cited by 2 publications

References 1 publication

Students Doing Conflict Resolution? A Case Study in a Free School

Students Doing Conflict Resolution? A Case Study in a Free School

Radical democratic schooling on the ground: pedagogical ideals and realities in a Sudbury school

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