An anarchistic
free school (also
anarchist free school and
free skool) is a decentralized network in which skills, information, and knowledge are shared without
hierarchyA hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another and with only one "neighbor" above and below each level...
or the institutional environment of formal schooling. This organisational structure is distinct from ones used by
democratic free schoolsDemocratic education is a theory of learning and school governance in which students and staff participate freely and equally in a school democracy...
which permit children's individual initiatives and learning endeavors within the context of a school democracy and from
Free educationFree education is a political term referring to education that is funded through taxation rather than tuition fees. Although primary school and other comprehensive or compulsory education is free in many countries, in the Nordic countries all education is mostly free , including...
where 'traditional' schooling is made available to pupils without charge.
Overview
Anarchist free schools (or free skool), can be a decentralized network in which skills, information, and knowledge are shared without
hierarchyA hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another and with only one "neighbor" above and below each level...
or the institutional environment of formal schooling.
The open structure of this type of free school is intended to encourage self-reliance, critical consciousness, and personal development. These free schools have their roots in the
anarchistAnarchism is a political philosophy which considers the state undesirable, unnecessary and harmful, and instead promotes a stateless society, or anarchy. It seeks to diminish or even abolish authority in the conduct of human relations. Anarchists may widely disagree on what additional criteria are...
Escuela ModernaLa Escuela Moderna was a progressive school that existed briefly at the start of the 20th century in Catalonia ....
of
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española ...]
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They are, at heart, non-institutional, non-authoritarian, and counter-cultural. Generally, these are formed at a
grassrootsA grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
level by a group of individuals acting collectively and autonomously to create educational opportunities and promote skill-
sharingSharing is the joint use of a resource or space. In its narrow sense, it refers to joint or alternating use of an inherently finite good, such as a common pasture or a shared residence. It is also the process of dividing and distributing. Apart from obvious instances, which we can observe in human...
within their communities. These free schools often operate outside the
market economyA market economy is economy based on the power of division of labor in which the prices of goods and services are determined in a free price system set by supply and demand....
in favor of a
gift economyIn the social sciences, a gift economy is a society where valuable goods and services are regularly given without any explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards . Ideally, simultaneous or recurring giving serves to circulate and redistribute valuables within the community...
. Nevertheless, the meaning of the "free" of free schools is not restricted to monetary cost, and can refer to an emphasis on free speech and student-centered education.
History and Philosophy of Anarchist Free schools
Spanish anarchist
Francisco FerrerFrancesc Ferrer i Guàrdia was a Spanish Catalan free-thinker and anarchist....
(1859–1909) established "modern" or progressive schools in Spain in defiance of an educational system controlled by the church. Fiercely anti-clerical, he believed in "freedom in education," education free from the authority of church and state .
Murray BookchinMurray Bookchin was an American libertarian socialist social philosopher, environmentalist/conservationist, speaker, and writer. For much of his life he called himself an anarchist, although as early as 1995 he privately renounced his identification with the anarchist movement...
wrote: "This period [1890s] was the heyday of libertarian schools and pedagogical projects in all areas of the country where Anarchists exercised some degree of influence. Perhaps the best-known effort in this field was Francisco Ferrer's Modern School (
Escuela ModernaLa Escuela Moderna was a progressive school that existed briefly at the start of the 20th century in Catalonia ....
), a project which exercised a considerable influence on
CatalanCatalonia is one of the seventeen Autonomous Communities of the Kingdom of Spain. Its capital city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,504,881...
education and on experimental techniques of teaching generally."
Radical experiments in non-
hierarchicalA hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another and with only one "neighbor" above and below each level...
education with anarchist roots have given rise to temporal and permanent free schools. They are often termed "free skools" to distinguish them from what supporters view as an oppressive and institutional educational industry. Temporal free skools offering skill-shares and training have become a regular part of large radical gatherings and actions. More permanent skools in cities large and small have popped up across North America offering a wide range of workshops, classes, and skill-shares.
Free Skool Santa Cruz in California is perhaps typical of a new batch of free schools that are explicitly rooted in an anarchist tradition of
collectivismCollectivism is a term used to describe any moral, political, or social outlook, that emphasizes the interdependence of every human in some collective group and the priority of group goals over individual goals...
,
autonomyAutonomy is a concept found in moral, political, and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it refers to the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...
, and
self-relianceSelf-Reliance is an essay written by American Transcendentalist philosopher and essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson. It contains the most thorough statement of one of Emerson's repeating themes, the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency, and follow his or her own instincts...
, and feature informal, non-authoritarian learning outside of the
monetary economyThe monetary economy is that part of a society's economic system where products and services are traded in exchange for money.A monetary economy stands in contrast to an economy based on bartering , an economy based on the social exchange of valuable gifts , or an economy where goods are not...
. From the Free Skool Santa Cruz website: "More than just an opportunity to learn, we see Free Skool as a direct challenge to dominant institutions and hierarchical relationships. Part of creating a new world is resistance to the old one, to the relentless
commodificationCommodification is the transformation of goods and services into a commodity....
of everything, including learning and the way we relate to each other."
These are on-going, informal learning networks, that focus on skill-sharing among adults as well as children. The boundaries between students, teachers, and organizers are consciously blurred, with some free skools claiming, "we are all teachers, and we are all students." Free skool "classes" are often autonomous workshops held in informal settings in homes, cafes, and community centers. Free skools typically offer a monthly or quarterly-produced free skool calendar.
Canada
- SEED Alternative School
SEED Alternative School is a small Toronto District School Board alternative high school located in Toronto's east end. Previously, it was located at Yonge and College in downtown Toronto...
- Toronto, ON
- Anarchist Free University/AnarchistU - Toronto, ON - http://www.anarchistu.org/Anarchistu/WebHome
United States
- Ann Arbor Free School - Ann Arbor, MI
- Baltimore Free School http://freeschool.redemmas.org/
- corvid College- Boston, MA
- Experimental College of the Twin Cities - Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN - http://excotc.org
- Free Skool Santa Cruz - Santa Cruz, CA
- Mid-Coast Free School - Chicago, IL
- Mount Pleasant Free School-Mt Pleasant MI
- The Seattle FreeSchool - Seattle, WA
- Village Free School - Portland, OR - http://www.villagefreeschool.org/
See also
- Alternative education
Alternative education, also known as non-traditional education or educational alternative, includes a number of approaches to teaching and learning other than mainstream or traditional education. Educational alternatives are often rooted in various philosophies that are fundamentally different...
- Alternative school
Alternative school is the name used in some parts of the world to describe an institution which provides part of alternative education. It is an educational establishment with a curriculum and methods that are nontraditional...
- Community High School (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
- DIY ethic
The DIY ethic refers to the ethic of being self-reliant by completing tasks oneself as opposed to having others who are more experienced or able complete them for you. It promotes the idea that an ordinary person can learn to do more than he or she thought was possible...
- Direct action
Direct action is activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political, economic, or social goals outside of normal social/political channels. Direct action can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the...
- Democratic education
Democratic education is a theory of learning and school governance in which students and staff participate freely and equally in a school democracy...
- Education Otherwise
Education Otherwise is a registered charity based in England for families whose children are being educated otherwise than at school, and for those who wish to uphold the freedom of families to take responsibility for the education of their children...
- Grassroots democracy
Grassroots democracy is a tendency towards designing political processes where as much decision-making authority as practical is shifted to the organization's lowest geographic level of organization: principle of subsidiarity....
- John Taylor Gatto
John Taylor Gatto is an American retired school teacher of 29 years and 8 months experience in the classroom and author of several books on education...
- Summerhill School
For the school of the same name in Kingswinford, please see Summerhill School Summerhill School is an independent British boarding school that was founded in 1921 by Alexander Sutherland Neill with the belief that the school should be made to fit the child, rather than the other way around...
A democratic free schoolDemocratic education is a theory of learning and school governance in which students and staff participate freely and equally in a school democracy...
established in 1921
- Unschooling
Unschooling is a range of educational philosophies and practices centered on allowing children to learn through their natural life experiences, including child directed play, game play, household responsibilities, work experience and social interaction, rather than through a more traditional school...
External links