A Clearer View

This book shows how the people who struggled to implement this new educational model deepened their understanding of topics such as play, conversation, and democracy. The talks were collected in this wonderful book which packs a big punch in a little volume. It is particularly valuable for parents considering Sudbury model education for their children.

"We always felt that Sudbury Valley was the best place to develop each child's unique potential to the fullest. That was a given for us from day one. The question is, how does this beautiful concept relate to setting up a school? It turns out that, when you think of the notion of developing each child's unique destiny, you realize that it connects directly into the great debate of Nature vs. Nurture. And the fact is that, at least in this juncture in human history, no one has an answer to the question of which of these is the determining factor, or the most important factor, or what relative weight can be given to each one. Both factors seem to play a role. So, for us, the question became, how does the school environment relate to each of these two factors, assuming that they both play a role? How does the school environment help each child to realize their own destiny."

"That idea is the origin of the school's "Art of Doing Nothing" concept. In other words, outsiders—staff, or parents, or other members of the school community—have to take great care not to intervene in this natural unfolding of the child's capabilities. That's very important to us in the school. It has been for a long time. It's become reinforced by our experience over and over again. We have come to understand clearly that any intervention engaged in
by the school will undermine, to a certain extent, the innate natural drives and tendencies of a growing child."