School Is Dead - Chapter 8

Education for freedom

I think the opening paragraph speaks volumes. I've broken it up into sentences so that you can ponder each and consider their meaning.

"Alternatives to schools must be more economical than schools: cheap enough so that everyone can share them."

"They must also be more effective so that lower costs do not imply less education."

"Monopoly must be avoided."

"The school system must not be replaces by another dominant system: alternatives must be plural."

"There should be competition between alternatives, but some of them, at least, should not involve competition between students, especially for lifetime prizes."

"One student should not learn at the expense of another, nor should success for one student imply failure for another."

"Alternatives to schools should not manipulate individuals but, on the contrary, should prepare individuals to direct and re-create institutions, including their governments."

"Education should not be separated from work and the rest of life, but integrated with them."

"Educational environments should be protective only to an unavoidable degree."

"Education should not, primarily, prepare for something else nor be a by-product of something else."

"It should be a self-justified activity designed to help man gain and maintain control of himself, his society and his environment."