Atlanta Teachers Defend Open Class Approach

The ideas of open education and freedom to learn captured the imaginations of people concerned with social change and better living in the early 1960s, and a vital era in the history of American education began. It was an exciting time for parents, students and educators, who felt they were on the brink of a great breakthrough in educational theory and practice. "Can open education and free, spontaneous learning really be done in schools" became the question that has endured over a dozen years.

Now, at last, we have a book that tells in a practical way how open education can be put into practice. Equally important, it deals with the most neglected of all student groups: the pre-teen and early teenager, how and why he/she learns in an open situation.

Written by two of Atlanta's most experienced open classroom teachers, this book will be of interest to any parent, educator or student who wants to find out how learning becomes an integrated and dynamic experience in open schools. Bernie and Martha Schein write: "Because the objective of an open school is the happiness, the joy and satisfaction one derives through learning, it is necessary that students be expected to learn in such a school. They will not achieve this joy through avoiding learning — except perhaps as an interim stage in which the overcome past experiences."

A school of students learning joyfully may sound like pie in the sky to education cynics, but the Scheins tell in step-by-step descriptions how it can be done. By relating actual experiences in several schools, they show how discipline problems can be radically reduced in the open school; how the basic skills can be taught and learned; how a student-centered curriculum based on individual interests can be developed; how parents can support their children in such a school; how the school can support parents and keep them informed about their children's learning — and much more.

Questions and doubts surrounding open education are dealt with, and the Scheins give practical advice and suggestions in each area. For example, they make it clear that adults must not abdicate their authority, knowledge or ability to guide, but neither should they be arbitrary rulers. Then they show ways to do this. Parents will find these chapters on supportive discipline and learning especially helpful, as will teachers.

Bernie and Martha Schein teach at the Paideia School in Atlanta, and many of their examples come from their work here. Others are from the Riverton Intermediate School in Mississippi, where Bernie was principal for several years, and from schools and projects where the Scheins have worked as teachers, administrators or consultants.

The experiences ring true, and by sharing them the Scheins have made a needed contribution to education literature. While their writing is sometimes heavy or awkward, their information more than compensates. Anyone interested in making education a richer and more satisfying experience can benefit from the work of these searching and capable teachers.

—Wanda Gray, Atlanta Journal-Constitution