Sudbury school

Type of democratic education

Part of the Politics series on

Students' rights

History

* 2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement
* 2021 Boğaziçi University protests
* 2021 Columbia University strike
* 2020 Thai protests
* School strike for climate
* 2018 Bangladesh quota reform movement
* 2018 Bangladesh road safety protests
* 2018 "March for Our Lives"
* 2017–18 Mahatma Gandhi Central University protests
* 2017–18 Iranian protests
* 2017 Jallikattu protests
* 2015 "Fees Must Fall"
* 2015 University of Missouri protests
* 2015 Bangladesh student protests
* 2015 University of Amsterdam Bungehuis and Maagdenhuis Occupations
* 2014 Jadavpur University protests
* 2014 Hong Kong student protest for democracy
* 2014 Sunflower Student Movement
* 2014 Iguala mass kidnapping
* 2013 Bangladesh quota reform movement
* 2012 Quebec student protests
* 2011 student protests in Chile
* 2010 University of Puerto Rico Strike
* 2010 UK student protests
* 2008 Greek riots
* 2007 Dutch pupil strike
* 2006 student protests in Chile
* 2006 student uprising in Iran
* 2005 Quebec student protests
* July 1999 Iran student protests
* 1996–1997 protests in Serbia
* 1996 Quebec student protests
* 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
* 1989 Anti-SAP riots
* 1980 student protests in Kabul
* 1978 "Ali Must Go" protests
* 1976-77 Soweto uprising
* November 1973 Athens Polytechnic uprising
* 1971 Diliman Commune – Philippines
* 1970-1972 Huelga schools, Houston – United States
* 1970 Student Strike
* 1968 Protests
* 1968–69 Japanese university protests
* Third World Liberation Front strikes of 1968-
* 1968 student demonstrations in Yugoslavia
* May 1968 uprisings

*     * Mexican Movement of 1968

*     * 1968 protests in Poland
* 1968 East L.A. walkouts
* 1965 Anti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu
* 1964-65 U.C. Berkeley Free Speech Movement
* 1960 Anpo protests
* 1956 Bucharest student movement
* Września children strike
* Butter rebellion
* 1229 University of Paris strike

Concepts and theory

* Authentic assessment
* Anarchistic free school
* Democratic education
* Democratic schools
* Freedom of speech
* Hidden curriculum
* Minimally invasive education
* Sudbury school
* Student activism
* Student bill of rights
* Student-centred learning
* Student protest
* Student riot
* Students' union
* Student voice
* Unschooling

Issues

* Alternative school
* Censorship of student media
* Compulsory education
* Ordinance of Student Rights
* School corporal punishment
* School discipline
* School district drug policies
* School speech
* School-to-prison pipeline
* Zero tolerance

Organizations

* European Students' Union
* Hong Kong Federation of Students
* Rouge Forum
* RMIT University Student Union
* Scholarism
* Students for a Democratic Society (1960)
* Students for a Democratic Society (2006)
* Student Press Law Center
* Worker Student Alliance
* UP Diliman University Student Council
* PUP SPEAK

Related

* Animal rights
* Anti-racism
* Feminism
* Labor rights
* LGBTQ student movement
* Socialism
* Youth rights

* Society portal

* v
* t
* e

A Sudbury school is a type of school, usually for the K-12 age range, where students have complete responsibility for their own education, and the school is run by a direct democracy in which students and staff are equal citizens.[1] Students use their time however they wish, and learn as a by-product of ordinary experience rather than through coursework. There is no predetermined educational syllabus, prescriptive curriculum or standardized instruction. This is a form of democratic education. Daniel Greenberg, one of the founders of the original Sudbury Model school, writes that the two things that distinguish a Sudbury Model school are that everyone is treated equally (adults and children together) and that there is no authority other than that granted by the consent of the governed.[2]

While each Sudbury Model school operates independently and determines their own policies and procedures, they share a common culture.[3] The intended culture within a Sudbury school has been described with such words as freedom, trust, respect, responsibility and democracy.

The name "Sudbury" originates from the Sudbury Valley School, founded in 1968 in Framingham, Massachusetts, near Sudbury, Massachusetts. Though there is no formal or regulated definition of a Sudbury Model school, there are now more than 60 schools that identify themselves with Sudbury around the world. Some, though not all, include "Sudbury" in their name. These schools operate as independent entities and are not formally associated in any way.[1]

## Underlying beliefs

[edit]

Sudbury schools are based on:[4]

1. The educational belief that children are extremely good at (and therefore do not need to be taught) the main behaviors they will need as adults, such as creativity, imagination, alertness, curiosity, thoughtfulness, responsibility, and judgement. What children lack is experience, which can be gained if adults guide students in open ways.
2. The sociopolitical belief that having full democratic rights in childhood is the best way to become an adult who is comfortable functioning within a democracy.

"The fundamental premises of the school are simple: that all people are curious by nature; that the most efficient, long-lasting, and profound learning takes place when started and pursued by the learner; that all people are creative if they are allowed to develop their unique talents; that age-mixing among students promotes growth in all members of the group; and that freedom is essential to the development of personal responsibility."[5]

## School democracy

[edit]

All aspects of governing a Sudbury school are determined by the weekly school meeting, modeled after the traditional New England town meeting.[6] School Meeting passes, amends and repeals school rules, manages the school's budget, and decides on hiring and firing of staff. Each individual present—including students and staff—has an equal vote, and most decisions are made by simple majority.[1][7]

School rules are normally compiled in a law book, updated repeatedly over time, which forms the school's code of law. Usually, there is a set procedure to handle complaints, and most of the schools follow guidelines that respect the idea of due process of law. There are usually rules requiring an investigation, a hearing, a trial, a sentence, and allowing for an appeal,[8] generally following the philosophy that students face the consequences of their own behavior.[9]

## Learning

[edit]

The Sudbury pedagogical philosophy may be summarized as the following: Learning is a natural by-product of all human activity.[10] Learning is self-initiated and self-motivated.[11]

The educational model states that there are many ways to learn and that learning is a process someone does, not a process that is done to him or her;[12] According to the model the presence and guidance of a teacher is not necessary.

The free exchange of ideas and free conversation and interplay between people provides broad exposure to areas that may prove relevant and interesting to students. Students are of all mixed ages. The older students learn from younger students and vice versa. The presence of older students provides role models, both positive and negative, for younger students. The pervasiveness of play has led to a recurring observation by first-time visitors to a Sudbury school that the students appear to be in perpetual "recess".[10][13]

Implicitly and explicitly, students are given responsibility for their own education: The only person designing what a student will learn is the student. Exceptions are when a student asks for a particular class or arranges an apprenticeship. Sudbury schools do not compare or rank students—the school requires no tests, evaluations, or transcripts.

Reading is treated the same as any other subject: Students learn to read when they choose, or simply by going about their lives.[14]

"Only a few kids seek any help at all when they decide to learn. Each child seems to have their own method. Some learn from being read to, memorizing the stories and then ultimately reading them. Some learn from cereal boxes, others from game instructions, others from street signs. Some teach themselves letter sounds, others syllables, others whole words. To be honest, we rarely know how they do it, and they rarely tell us."[15]

Sudbury Valley School claims that all of their students have learned to read. While students learn to read at a wide variety of ages, there appears to be no drawback to learning to read later: No one who meets their older students could guess the age at which they first learned to read.[15][16]

## Comparison with related models

[edit]

The model differs in some ways from other types of democratic schools and free schools, but there are many similarities:

* De-emphasis of classes: There is no curriculum or set of required courses. Instead learner interest guides things, with students studying what they want to study.[1] There are generally no classrooms, just rooms where people choose to congregate.[17]
* Age mixing: students are not separated into age-groups of any kind and are allowed to mix freely, interacting with those younger and older than themselves; free age-mixing is emphasized as a powerful tool for learning and development in all ages.[18]
* Autonomous democracy: parents have limited involvement or no involvement in the school administration; Sudbury schools are run by a democratic school meeting where the students and staff participate exclusively and equally. Such meetings are also the sole authority on hiring and firing of staff, unlike most other schools.[19]

## See also

[edit]

* List of Sudbury schools

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Ellis, Arthur K. (2004). Exemplars of curriculum theory. Eye on Education. ISBN 1-930556-70-5.
2. ^ Greenberg, Daniel (2016). A Place to Grow. Sudbury Valley School Press. ISBN 978-1-888947-26-7.
3. ^ The 2002 Collection, Sudbury Valley School Press, pp5-14
4. ^ The Birth of a New Paradigm for Education by Dan Greenberg in The Sudbury Valley School Experience, 3rd ed. (Sudbury Valley School Press; Framingham, 1992), p. 81ff
5. ^ Mimsy Sadofsky; Daniel Greenberg (1994). The Kingdom of Childhood: Growing Up at Sudbury Valley School. The Sudbury Valley School Press. ISBN 978-1-888947-02-1. Retrieved 1 May 2013., p. xv
6. ^ "Students revel in free-for-all". Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Massachusetts. 1992-04-19.
7. ^ Rowe, Claudia (2002-02-20). "In Woodstock, a nonschool with nonteachers (Hudson Valley Sudbury School, Woodstock, New York)". The New York Times.
8. ^ Feldman, Jay (2001). The Moral Behavior of Children and Adolescents at a Democratic School. Paper presented at 82nd American Educational Research Association Meeting. Seattle.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
9. ^ Marano, Hara Estroff (2008). A Nation of Wimps: The High Cost of Invasive Parenting. Random House. p. 237. ISBN 978-0-7679-2403-0.
10. ^ a b Holzman, Lois (1997). Schools for Growth: Radical Alternatives To Current Education Models. United Kingdom: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. pp. 97–99. ISBN 0-8058-2357-3.
11. ^ Schugurensky, Daniel (2003). "Self-governed, Sudbury Valley School begins in Massachusetts in History of Education: Selected Moments of the 20th Century". Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
12. ^ Greenberg, D. (1987) The Sudbury Valley School Experience Back to Basics. Retrieved, December 27, 2009.
13. ^ Gray, Peter (2008-09-09). "Why We Should Stop Segregating Children by Age: Part I--The Value of Play in the Zone of Proximal Development". Psychology Today. Retrieved 2009-10-25..
14. ^ Jennifer Harnish (2015). "Will they ever learn to read?" Sudbury Valley School Blog.
15. ^ a b Daniel Greenberg (1 June 1995). Free at Last: The Sudbury Valley School Press. The Sudbury Valley School Press. ISBN 978-1-888947-00-7. Retrieved 1 May 2013., p34
16. ^ John Taylor Gatto (2000-2003) The Underground History of American Education - A Schoolteacher's Intimate Investigation Into The Problem Of Modern Schooling, Chapter Three - Eyeless In Gaza, The Sudbury Valley School Archived 2010-01-02 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved, December 27, 2009.
17. ^ Peramas, Mary (Winter 2007). "The Sudbury School and Influences of Psychoanalytic Theory on Student-Controlled Education". Essays in Education. 19: 119(15).
18. ^ Gray, Peter. "Nature's Powerful Tutors; The Educative Functions of Free Play". The National Honor Society in Psychology. Retrieved 2009-07-25.
19. ^ Gross, Steven J. (2004). Promises Kept. United States: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. p. 140. ISBN 0-87120-973-X.

* v
* t
* e

School types

By educational stage|

| Early childhood|

* Preschool
* Pre-kindergarten
* Kindergarten

|

Primary|

* First school
* Infant school
* Global influence
* Junior school
* Primary school / Elementary school

Secondary|

* Adult high school
* Cadet college
* College-preparatory school
* Collegiate institute
* Comprehensive school
* Comprehensive high school
* Continuation high school
* Grammar school
* Lyceum
* Maths school
* Minor seminary
* Secondary school / High school
* Selective school
* Gymnasium
* Hauptschule
* Sixth form college
* Studio school
* University technical college
* Upper school

Tertiary|

* Professional school
* Technical school
* Vocational school

Higher|

* Academy
* College
* Community college
* Graduate school
* Institute of technology
* Junior college
* Liberal arts college
* Research university
* Residential college
* Seminary
* University
* Collegiate
* Upper division college
* Vocational university

Combined|

* All-through school
* Middle school
* One-room school
* Ranch school

By funding / eligibility|

* Academy (England)
* Charter school
* Community day school
* Comprehensive school
* For-profit education
* Free education
* Free school (England)
* Institute
* Private school
* UK private school
* preparatory
* public
* University
* private
* public
* international
* Selective school
* Separate school
* Sink school
* Specialist school (United Kingdom)
* State or public school
* State-integrated school (New Zealand)

By style / purpose|

* Alternative school
* Democratic education
* Anarchistic free school
* Sudbury school
* International school
* Magnet school
* Music school
* Single-sex education
* Specialist school
* Vocal school

Progressive|

* Free school movement
* Folk high school
* Laboratory school
* Montessori school
* Waldorf school

Religious|

* Bible college
* Catholic school
* Christian school
* Female seminary
* Gurukula
* Parochial school
* Madrasa
* Yeshiva

By location|

* Boarding school
* Day school
* Distance education
* Homeschooling
* Prison education
* Virtual school

By scope|

* College preparatory
* Compensatory education
* Compulsory education
* Continuing education
* Further education
* Gifted education
* Inclusive education
* Remedial education
* Special education

Historical|

* Ancient higher-learning institutions
* Platonic Academy
* Lyceum
* Monastic school
* Cathedral school
* Medieval university

Schools imposed on
indigenous peoples

* in Canada
* in New Zealand
* in South Africa
* in the United States

Informal or illegal|

* in Ireland
* in Greece
* in South Tyrol

Related topics|

* K–12
* Educational institution

* Schools portal
* Category
* Commons

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template