Alexander Sutherland Neil.pptx

8/11/2019 Alexander Sutherland Neil.pptx

1/14


2/14

Alexander Sutherland Neill (17 October 1883 23

September 1973), known as A. S. Neill, was a Scottish

educator and author known for his school, Summerhill

School, and its philosophies of freedom from adultcoercion and community self-governance. Neill was

raised in Scotland, where he was a poor student but

became a schoolteacher. He taught in several schools

across the country before attending the University ofEdinburghfrom 1908 to 1912.


3/14

He was born in Forfar, Scotland to George and Mary

Neill. He was raised in an austere, Calvinisthouse withvalues of fear, guilt, and adult and divine authority,

which he later repudiated. As a child, he was obedient,

quiet, and uninterested in school. His father was the

village dominie (Scottish schoolmaster) of Kingsmuir,near Forfar in eastern Scotland, and his mother had

been a teacher before her marriage. The village

dominie held a position of prestige, hierarchically

beneath that of upper classes, doctors, and clergymen.


4/14

As typical of Scottish methods at the time, the dominie

controlled overcrowded classrooms with his tawse, ascorporal punishment. Neill feared his father, though he

later claimed his father's imagination as a role model

for good teaching. Scholars have interpreted Neill's

harsh childhood as the impetusfor his later philosophy,though his father was not shown to be harsher to Allie

(as he was known) than to anyone else. Neill's mother

(ne Sutherland Sinclair) held high standards for her

family, and demanded comportment to set the family

apart from the townspeople.


5/14

The Summerhill classroom was popularly assumed

to reflect Neill's anti-authoritarian beliefs, though

their classes were traditional in practice. Neill did

not show outward interest in classroom pedagogy,and was mainly interested in student happiness.

He did not consider lesson quality important, and

thus there were no distinctive Summerhillian

classroom methods.


6/14

Neill felt that children (and human nature) were

innately good, and that children became virtuous

and just naturally when allowed to grow without

adult imposition of morality. In this way, childrendid not need to be coaxed or goaded into desirable

behavior, as their natural state was satisfactory

and their natural inclinations "in no way immoral".If

left alone, children would become self-regulating,

reasonable, and ethical adults.


7/14

Together with Homer Lane, Neill supported

personal freedoms for children to live as theyplease without adult interference, and called this

position "on the side of the child". Neill's practice is

summarized as providing children with space, time,

and empowerment for personal exploration, andwith freedom from adult fear and coercion.


8/14

The aim of life, to Neill, was "to find happiness,

which means to find interest." Likewise, the purpose

of Neill's education was to be happyand interested

in life, and children needed complete freedom to

find their interests. Neill considered happiness an

innate characteristic that deteriorated when children

were denied personal freedom, and that thisunhappiness led to repressed and psychologically

disordered adults.He blamed a "sick and unhappy"

society for widespread unhappiness. Neill claimed

that society harbored fears of life, children, and

emotions that were continually bequeathed to the

next generation.


9/14

He felt that children turned to self-hate and internal

hostility when denied an outlet for expression in adultsystems of emotional regulation and manipulation.

Likewise, children taught to withhold their sexuality

would see view those feelings negatively and fuel

disdain for self.Neill thought that calls for obediencesquelched the natural needs of children. Moreover,

their needs could not be fulfilled by adults and a

society that simultaneously prolonged their

unhappiness, though perhaps a school like

Summerhill could help.


10/14

As for "interest", Neill felt it came organically and

spontaneously and that it was a prerequisite forlearning. Neill considered forced instruction (without

pupil interest) to be a destructive waste of time]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._S._Neillhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._S._Neill


11/14

When Neill said children should be free, he did not

mean complete freedom, but freedom without

licensethat everyone can do as they like unless

such action encroaches upon another's freedom.Assuch, adults could and should protect children from

danger, but not trample their self-regulation. Neill

emphasized that adult removal from child affairs was

distinct from disregard for their security. He felt that

children met their own limits naturally.


12/14

Neill believed in equal rights between parents andchildren, and that undesirable "disciplined" or

"spoiled" homes were created when those rights

were imbalanced. He felt it unnecessary to fulfill all of

childhood's requests and had great disdain forspoiled children.Summerhill children were naturally

restricted by the school's limited teaching expertise

and low funds.


13/14

Self-governance was a central idea to Summerhill,

and is perhaps its "most fundamental

feature". Summerhill held a weekly general meeting

that decided the school's rules and settled schooldisputes, where every member of the community

staff and student alikehad a single vote.Almost

everyone in the school attended the meeting, and

children always held the majority. Meetings were

managed by an elected Chairperson. At times, theschool had over 200 rules.


14/14

Alexander Sutherland Neil.pptx

Documents

Transcript of Alexander Sutherland Neil.pptx