During this period, his growing discontent could be traced in notes which he later published.

In 1914 he became headmaster of the Gretna Green School in Scotland. After acting as a pupil-teacher for his father, he studied at the University of Edinburgh and obtained an M.A. No one has the right to make a boy learn Latin, because learning is a matter for individual choice but if in a Latin class, a boy fools all the time, the class should throw him out, because he interferes with the freedom of others.Neill was born in Forfar, the son of a schoolteacher.

You fashion them into accepters of the status quo – a good thing for a society that needs obedient sitters at dreary desks, standers in shops, mechanical catchers of the 8:30 suburban train – a society, in short, that is carried on the shabby shoulders of the scared little man – the scared-to- death conformist. You cannot make children learn music or anything else without to some degree converting them into will-less adults.My own criterion of success is the ability to work joyfully and to live positively.Hate breeds hate, and love breeds love.If left to himself without adult suggestion of any kind, he will develop as far as he is capable of developing. A child is innately wise and realistic.Summerhill (1960) A child is innately wise and realistic. If the emotions are free, the intellect will look after itself.The good teacher not only understands the child: he approves of the child. And by love I mean approval, or if you like, friendliness, good nature. A good teacher does not draw out he gives out, and what he gives out is love.The book was a common ancestor to activists in the 60s free school movement.

He wrote 20 books in his lifetime, and his best seller was the 1960 Summerhill, a compilation of four previous books about his school. Neill, was a Scottish educator and author known for his school, Summerhill School, and its philosophies of community self-governance as well as freedom from adult coercion. My own criterion of success is the ability to work joyfully and to live positively.Īlexander Sutherland Neill ( 17 October 1883 – 23 September 1973), known as A.

Alexander sutherland neill summerhill