The case against Summer Hill        

            School is often considered an institution where people of all ages go to seek knowledge that helps to create a better understanding of the world we live in. for children, school is a place where the young learn basic skills like writing, reading, counting and various social skills. For adults, school serves the purpose of improving the skills they already possess and even learning new ones. For whatever purpose, schools act as the criteria for determining the level of knowledge and skills one possesses and all schools must therefore follow a similar teaching pattern so as to ensure that the students learn information and adopt skills that they can use in their daily lives. While the approach taken by Summer Hill to give control to the students is a move towards the right direction, their approach is flawed in that it makes it difficult for teachers to educate the students and therefore limits learning.

            One major reason not to attend Summer Hill School is A.S Neil’s decision to completely scrape out the common methods of teaching and replace them with his own. The teaching method used at the school is one where the administration has renounced discipline, all direction, all suggestion, all moral training, and all religious instruction” (Neill 4). Although there are some issues with the current teaching methods, they are methods that have taught various generations. Instead of scraping them off, Neill should have sought to identify areas that are flawed and then rectify them so as to implement an improved education system in his school. Furthermore, the decision to abandon the traditional teaching methods and adopt new ones is an approach based on personal opinions and full of bias as they are a reflection of one person experience in the education sector.

            When starting Summer Hill School, Neill was of the opinion that the traditional method of teaching used in schools was wrong in that it followed the concept adults have towards learning and how teaching should occur. He also believed that the standard for success used in society is money and that schools only focus on teaching children what they need to do in order to get rich rather than equipping them with skills they need in their daily lives (Neill 4). His dissatisfaction with the traditional methods is the main reason behind using his own method of teaching at the school. The method is however flawed as it does not give teachers enough authority to control and discipline the students in a way that is constructive and helpful to the children. A good example of this is where children get to decide whether or not they will come to school, what subjects they will attend and how long the stay in class (Neill 4). Since the basis of the teaching approach is to make the school fit what the students want, the basically do as they please as there are no forms of punishments or repercussions for not attending classes, making noise during lessons or any other devious acts that students choose to engage in during class.

            Other than being detrimental to the learning process, a school where students determine what to learn has lesser chances of being helpful to them in future because they have no basic understanding of how society functions and what they need to study in order to become successful adults. Students are in no position to determine what they learn because they have no idea of how education helps prepare one for the future. The responsibility is reserved for teachers who; other than being mature adults and knowing what skills are important; also have the brain capacity to evaluate the education system and come up with teaching methods that are designed to help prepare children for the future through education. The method used at Summer Hill is therefore ineffective and is a major reason why I will not pursue my education there.

            In addition, Summer Hill School does not offer exams to students and therefore does not have a system to evaluate their level of understanding of what they have learnt (Neill 4). For any organization, there needs to be a system in place to evaluate the effectiveness of the processes undertaken. In the case of schools, exams are an important tool as they help students to identify areas that are a challenge to them at a personal level and what they can do to improve their performance. Exams are also helpful to teachers because they help to identify areas where students have difficulty understanding and can therefore choose to spend more time on such topics or try other methods when teaching (Neill 5). Exams are therefore important because they help both the teachers and the students to assess what they have learnt and what needs to be improved on.

            On a more personal reason, the lack of exams would make it difficult for me to improve my knowledge as I rely on exams to determine my earning. When in class, it is easy to recall things that have been taught recently since they are fresh in my mind. However, some topics require more attention and reevaluation which may not be easy to identify without exams. When preparing for an exam, I have the opportunity to go through all my notes and refresh on any topic I may have forgotten. Other than preparing me for the exam, going over notes also makes topics clearer and I am able to develop a better understanding of the topics discussed and thus increase my knowledge. Exams are therefore an important part of my learning and I would not be comfortable attending a school that does not use exams as a way of testing what the students have learnt.

            Schools play an important role in a person’s development as they help students to not only gain knowledge but also learn how to coexist with others. My ideal school would therefore be one where teachers have the authority and the capability to not only educate but also influence the lives of their students and guide them towards the right direction. While Summer Hill has the right idea of making students part of the school system by handing control over to them, they exceed the acceptable limitations as they make it difficult for the teachers to be seen as the form of authority. Students need as much guidance while at school as they do at homes. Furthermore, the policies that the school follows are based on the personal and biased opinion of Neill therefore making them inapplicable in today’s society. It is for these reasons that I am against attending Summer Hill School.