This document discusses Sudbury education, an alternative educational model that emphasizes freedom, equality, and self-directed learning for students. Key aspects of Sudbury schools include having no set curriculum or hierarchy, with students being fully responsible for their own learning and actions. Traditional school systems are described as outdated and designed for the industrial age, focusing more on extrinsic motivation and predetermined learning goals rather than intrinsic motivation and individual interests. While the Sudbury model aims to reshape education based on human capacity for learning, the document notes that true freedom-based schools cannot currently exist under the legislation and practices of inspection in the Netherlands.
18. The paradox of freedom
in the Netherlands
A Sudbury school based on true freedom
cannot exist under the current legislation
and inspectorate practices, despite the
long evidence-based tradition of this
educational concept.
Constitution – Freedom of
Education
I am Christel Hartkamp
Happy to give a talk about the Sudbury education, a model based on freedom for children.
Not many think about freedom for childern – society accepts that life starts at 18, before that you go to school. Netherlands, compulsory schooling, no alternative, no home schooling accepted.
is modeled after the Sudbury Valley School in Massachussetts, U.S.A. started in 1968.
System is Outdated
most schools, even schools like Montessori, or Waldorf, were built on the same principles.
It was built upon the principles of the need for a commonly developed person that could be universally deployable. ... But this time is already gone.
Age groups, Learning in prescribed places, Learning dictated by roster, Teacher-centered classroom, Isolated classrooms, Hierarchical organizations, No voice , No choice
All children at a certain age should learn the same stuff, in the same time, in a same manner.
We started to Question
Forced to learn reading oppressive way.
What if we trust them in the way they learn, the moment they learn and if they learn. Become effective adults. To be good in their talents and to know what they are worth.
Education isn’t the same as schooling
Education is the universal development of skills and knowledge, any time, any place, anywhere.
And never confuse education with intelligence.
Learning is an inborn capacity. And it happens everywhere, in any situation.
Like here for example.
You may not notice it, but by listening to me you may be learning (and I am not dictating it). Who is interested in what I am saying? (Audience)I am not forcing you to sit here. (Audience)
Realize that a lot of the students in schools are experiencing the same feeling. Maybe a fraction of the students will be really intrinsically motivated.
Horizontal axis is the relation axis. Right – the hierarchical organization, top-down vs. Network organization, based on equality.
Vertical axis is the value axis. Above, the collective value or goal, Degree/exams pre-fixed curriculum vs. a school based on individual talents and curriculum.
Most schools still are in the upper right quadrant, the whole thinking is based on the upper right quadrant. A Sudbury school can be found on the opposite side, in the left lower quadrant. The expectation is that schools in the future will move more towards this lower left quadrant.
Formal” learning can be characterized by “Structured, sequential, supply-driven learning from a pre-set curriculum in which learning is the responsibility of the teacher.
Whereas Natural learning can be characterized by “Random, demand-driven learning with a personalized curriculum in which learning is the responsibility of the learner.”
In which the emphasis shifts from What to learn to How to learn.
Sudbury Schools based on Constructivism
Dewey, Piaget, Vygotsky
Learning by doing, social learning, entrepreneurial learning
Where the context is most important for learning.
Doing is the objective
–
not learning
The context in the school is real, and sets the boundaries for exploration and all kind of activities.
Learning unfolds organically, through exploring and doing interesting things or work, and as a consequence, the necessary knowledge and skills are learned.
Extrinsic versus intrinsic motivated learning.
Extrinsic motivation is lead by control.
sit in a classroom not motivated to learn, you will not learn (or only for passing tests). (Internalize goals not set by them … may motivate you to learn things that others want you to learn.
Learning should be fun, should be something rewarding. Learning should happen in connection with the person’s own needs and interests.
For realistic situations in life, certain knowledge is required. This is learned in a self-directed way. Intrinsically motivated learning is deep learning and understanding, and it demands trust.
Another key element in a Sudbury school is that students are fully responsibility for their choices and actions, for the community and untimely for their lives.
In order to come to this in depth responsibility, true freedom is needed. People must be able to make action choices, which means that you also may say ‘no’.
Versus Option choices. Option choices gives a child the illusion of free choice. So. Like this cow, it can choose to go left or right, but inevitable it will end in the slaughterhouse.
Emile – Rousseau.
Lot of schools are built on basis of Option choices – conditional freedom. Traditional renewal. Even within the realm of Democratic Schools.
Trust , freedom and equality are key elements for a self-determination motive.
In order to come to this self-determination motive an environment should support Competence, Autonomy and Relatedness.
Key element are Trust – to feel competent.
True Freedom – to foster autonomy
And an society based on equal rights – to foster genuine relatedness.
Those are the key elements coming together in a Sudbury school
A school that is built on basis of responsibility, equality, respect and freedom.
Here, individual freedom is fostered, and students can develop their own talents accordingly.
How does it work?
Absence of hiërarchie
Students and staf have an equal vote in the whole organization of the school – Democracy is a means to make decisions and rules are applied to protect the individual rights. Together we decide what we do when people break rules, a whole system is in place for the school to function as a small society, in which everybode has a same responsibility.
Apart form that, students are responsible for their life and actions.
Natural learning environment – Building itself has a purpose. Rooms have different purposes.
In a community of children of all ages from 4 to 19, together with caring and knowledgeable adults;
knowledge is constructed by networking (physically and/or digitally) and the ability to seek your own knowledge source is developed.
It is a lively community, where people can interact freely and where people are engaged in conversations, carrying out tasks that are essential for the school, following one’s own interests or join activities set out by others, reading, playing, making use of computers and internet etc. etc.
The future of learning …
We are in a period of transition from the society based on sequential order and hierarchy, and moving towards a network-society in which individual talents and competences become more important.
The Institute for the Future in Paolo Alto envisions learning to change from Educational institutions to learning flows (It is a kind of community learning).
New technologies, new ecologies, and new practices are changing HOW we learn, WHAT we learn and WHERE we learn.
The definition of a teacher or student becomes indistinct.
Learning is living together, constructing knowledge in an interactive environment and learning institutions will make place for socially connected environments.
The reason so many adults find the situation tolerable may stem from the fact that they experience little control over their own lives. Additionally, they themselves are products of the system and, as such, find it difficult to envision an alternative.
Only by doing, we can create credibility in this type of schooling.
Private schools are forced to use traditional methods, not based on law, but on personal preference of
inspectorate.
A Sudbury school based on true freedom cannot exist under the current legislation and inspectorate practices.
Strange, because this school has a record of success already for more then 45 years now, and there are more
schools anywhere in the world to learn from.
With our Newschool, which we started in September, we were forced to bring in elements that is against the philosophy of freedom, respect and responsibility.
We had to compromise, and yet we managed to do this in a way that we think we can still keep the true responsibility with the student. But inevitable, this makes us do things that we rather would not be doing as they might have an effect in the school. And we are not certain yet if this effect is going to undermine the basics of the school.
If you want to visit us: look for open days on our website.