Alexander Sutherland Neill – Wikipedia

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Alexander Sutherland Neill

Alexander Sutherland Neill (Forfar, 17 October 1883 – Leiston, 23 September 1973) was a Scottish pedagogist.

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Born from a family of elementary masters, last of three children, his childhood was difficult and not very serene due to the family atmosphere, conformist and severe. The austere and not very communicative father, the mother, too taken from the protecting of social conventions, had little time to devote to the children; And the brothers, exemplary students, ignored him as he showed difficulties in school learning.

After some factory work experiences, Neill obtained the qualification of elementary school teacher. He enrolled in the University and followed the Faculty of Agriculture, but graduated in the English literature. In 1919 he met Homer Lane, an American pedagogue then active in England and founder of the Little Commonwealth School in the Dorset. From Lane, Neill learned the Pedagogy of freedom , which would then become the fundamental principle of his thought. Neill taught at the King Alfred School in Hampsted, London.

In 1921 he went to Germany where he founded an international school in Hellerau near Dresden. In 1923 he moved with the whole school to Sonntagberg in Austria, perhaps also following the Saxony Revolution. In 1924 Neill returned to England, to Lyme Regis; The school takes on the name of Summerhill School. A few years later the school moved to Leiston in Suffolk, where Neill continued his educational activity until his death, except for a short period in Wales during the Second World War.

Neill founded his educational conception on faith in the original goodness of human nature . This conception presents various aspects:

  • In the child there is a positive inner energy that supports and directs its development towards a spontaneous, creative, balanced and happy personality;
  • Any punitive and repressive intervention causes the child the onset of feelings as fear and hatred, which destroy the natural development process in a positive sense of the child’s personality.
  • There are no difficult children, but only bad parents and bad masters. The unhappiness of childhood is a product of the incorrect interventions of the adult.
  • The objectives of the child’s education are mainly: self -regulation and self -discipline, happiness and freedom, free expression and spontaneity.
  • Neill believes a lot in the spontaneous and natural development of the child and makes it an important basis on which to build one’s educational thought.
  • His teaching method is not limited to instruct , but it has the main purpose of ensuring the growth of balanced and happy personality in children.
  • Its fundamental methodological principle of teaching falls within the concept of a Non -directive pedagogy , that is, in an education focused on the spontaneity of the child’s interests. The child, therefore, is accepted for what it is.

Neill summarizes his thoughts in two fundamental concepts:

Nor instruct or educate [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

«Children do not need teachings, but of love and understanding. To be naturally good they need to feel approved and free. ”

At any time of the experience of an individual, the fundamental educational principle must remain that of absolute respect for the interests and needs of the subject. The child must not be imposed neither education nor education, because in doing so he would hinder his spontaneity and nature of being.

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Freedom and acceptance [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

“Giving freedom means allowing the child to live his life.”

Freedom for Neill means do what it likes as long as this does not limit the freedom of others . From this follow the principles of self -discipline ed self -regulation .

A Summerhill There is absolute freedom, absolute respect for needs, desires, sexual life, expressive and study. Neill imposed a time of lessons valid only for teachers, the children could choose which lessons to follow and at what time to follow them. Everyone had the same rights and the children took the precautions necessary for the safety of others and of themselves independently.

Feelings constitute the driving force of life, and for this reason Neill founded a school where feelings excel.

Finally, freedom implies a trust in the goodness of human nature and consequently generates an attitude of acceptance and love towards oneself and others.

Neill did not invent anything new. He had the great merit of acquiring existing concepts on spontaneous development and to develop them according to modern educational conceptions related to the psychology of the deep, according to which it is not allowed to hinder the spontaneity and nature of the child without this causing painful conflicts.

To develop the concept of self -regulation Neill draws ideas from the psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud, particularly from the systematic analysis of the human mind, divided into three instances: It , Is It is Super-ego .

Self -regulation in fact consists in the ideal condition in which the It manages to keep the drives of the Is , ensuring the development of all his creativity to personal life.

Alfred Adler’s thought greatly influences Neill’s thought as regards individual interests and needs, enhancement and social approval, as this philosophy is based on individual psychology and the need for self-affirmation.

Neill draws considerably inspiration as regards his pedagogy marked by freedom and personalities balanced by H. Lane, who founded a school for young offenders in which he applies that of freedom and self -government as a method.

Finally Neill in his Autobiography It speaks of a widely cultural influence – and not pedagogical – by Wilhelm Reich:

«He had no influence on my school. But he had a strong influence on me, expanding my way of seeing things and my knowledge of being. ”

  • The difficult child
  • Happy guys from Summerhill
  • A revolutionary educational experience
  • Autobiography
  • The pedagogical experiences of the director of the Summerhill school
  • This terrible school
  • A conscious parent
  • The last man in the world

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