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Resources
Collection
The Sudbury Idea
The Sudbury model rests on a small number of simple assumptions about children, learning, and human development — assumptions that often run counter to conventional schooling. The essays in this section explore why the model exists, what it is (and is not), and how it compares to other educational approaches. Together, they articulate a coherent philosophy: that young people, when trusted with real freedom and responsibility, are capable of directing their own lives and learning.
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Aren’t Children “People”?
“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” – the three cornerstones of this country, and the reason it was founded in the first place. These…
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Assuming Excellence: The Key to the Sudbury Valley Experience
Prologue Ever since the school was first conceived, we have been searching for a way to express in clear and concise form its essential philosophy…
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Banishing Fear
Some unrelated problems that are linked after all. I don’t know why this came together for me just now, but it did. Everything simply fell…
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Banishing Fear: A New Look, Two Decades Later
In 1992, I wrote an essay under the title “Banishing Fear”. Since I wrote that, there has been a tragic resurgence of fear permeating western…
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But I Digress . . .
The Hidden Power of Conversation I We have always stressed the central role conversation plays in the way people learn – and, in particular, in…
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Can You Trust Children To Design Their Own Education?
What is the justification for trying to guide children and tell them what they need to be successful adults? Does anyone have a right to…
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Celebrate the Diversity of Children
Note: This article appeared in the November 25, 2005 issue of the Metrowest Daily News. One of the many things we as Americans can be…
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Children Must Be Allowed to Grow up Empowered
It’s amazing that anybody considers that what’s called “a school” in the traditional meaning of the term has anything to do with preparing children for…
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Constructing Reality
What human beings have been endowed with, and children exhibit in its purest form, is every person’s constant companion through life…
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David Greenberg: Interviewed by Daniel Greenberg
Danny: I’m interested in finding out what’s going on now at Abundant Acres, David and Jen’s entrepreneurial enterprise. David: It’s a multi-layered thing. The outer,…
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Debriefing
Shortly after the oral thesis defenses were completed one of the students who participated in this new procedure suggested to me that I should sit…
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Democracy and Culture
I Democracy has always been a central concept for Sudbury Valley School. In fact, one can properly say that liberal democracy defines the school: a…
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Developing Each Child’s Unique Destiny
A Clearer View(opens in new tab), Chapter 5, pp. 92-116 Age Mixing, Positive and Negative Role Models, and Personal Independence1 We always felt that Sudbury…
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Does Anyone Really Care About Child Abuse? The Blind Eye of Modern Western Culture
I. The question I pose in the title may seem outrageous: of course someone cares! Everyone cares, don’t they? When media outlets feature a story…
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Education and the Issue of Control
This is what we are like. …There are only two questions that human beings have ever fought over, all through history. How much do you…
Is Sudbury Valley Right For You?
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