Abstract
After more than 50 years, Paul Goodman’s Compulsory Miseducation (1962) has not lost its relevance. Many of his targets – testing, compulsory and/or uniform curricula, over-mighty administrators, an excessive emphasis on classroom-based learning – are still with us, notably here in the UK, notwithstanding several changes of government. However, there are places that Goodman would probably have approved of, such as Moo Baan Dek children’s village in Thailand, and Room 13 at Caol Primary School in Scotland.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes on contributor
After an ultra-conservative education (Eton and Cambridge), David Gribble taught for three years at Repton before escaping to Dartington Hall School, where he learnt the difference between what is conventionally acceptable and what really matters. When it closed, he was one of the joint founders of Sands School. After retiring from teaching, David travelled the world visiting alternative places of education and writing books about them. Until recently, David was the organizer of IDEN (the International Democratic Education Network), and is one of the editors of the Lib Ed website, at http://www.libed.org.uk.