A. S. Neill

Profile

Alexander Sutherland Neill was a Scottish author and educator. After a short period of time as the headteacher of Gretna Green School in Scotland, he worked to establish an educational experience for children, which was aligned with his passionate belief that the happiness of the child should be the foremost consideration in decisions about the child’s upbringing, and that happiness grows from a sense of personal freedom. He founded Summerhill School and his philosophy of progressive education, considered by some to be controversial, continues to influence educational thinking today.

Links

• How Children Learn 1

Susan Isaacs

• How Children Learn 4

Rousseau

Key dates

1883 – Born in Forfar, Scotland

1899 – Began as pupil-teacher in his father’s school

1914–1918 – Headteacher of Gretna Green School

1921 – The earliest manifestation of the Summerhill ethos was founded at the Dalcroze School, part of an international school in a suburb of Dresden in Germany

1923 – The school moved to Summerhill in Lyme Regis, England

1927 – Summerhill moved to its present site at Leiston in Suffolk, England

1973 – Died in Aldeburgh, England

His life

Alexander S. Neill, one of thirteen children, received his early education in his father’s one-room, five-class village school where he later became a pupil-teacher. Neill described his initial experience of teaching as ‘wretched’ due to problems with discipline. (1) In the 1910s Neill’s experience and his acquaintance with the educator Homer Lane led him to advocate progressive education. Following difficulties establishing his own progressive school in Dresden and Sonntagsberg, Neil established a school in his family home, ‘Summerhill’, in Lyme Regis. After four years the school moved to Leiston in Suffolk and formed the first ‘self-governing’ boarding school, Summerhill School. (2)

His writing

Neill was prolific and also wrote fiction based on his school experiences. The titles below outline his key ideas on progressive education:

• The Problem Child (1926) Neill clarified his thoughts about freedom in protest against his experiences as a child and as a pupil teacher.
• The Problem Parent (1932) When Neill was correcting the proofs of The Problem Child, he realized suddenly that he had written the wrong book. ‘There isn’t a problem child,’ he said, ‘there is only a problem parent.’
• The Free Child (1953) A series of chapters on Neill’s philosophy for educating children.
• Summerhill (1960) A collection of extracts from That Dreadful School and Other Papers produced by Neill.

His theory

Neill’s ideas are based primarily on his own experiences and observations, supplemented with some study of psychological (especially psychoanalytic) theory. This sets him apart from many educational theorists who start with an idea and then ‘test’ it in practice afterwards.

In his 1960 book Summerhill, Neill noted that he and his first wife, Ada, wanted ‘to make the school fit the child instead of making the child fit the school.’ In order to achieve this, he wrote, they would forsake ‘all discipline, all direction, all suggestion, all moral training, all religious training.’ (3)

Shortly before leaving Dresden, Neill said ‘I am only just realising the absolute freedom of my scheme of Education. I see that all outside compulsion is wrong, that inner compulsion is the only value.’ (2) He felt that children had intrinsic motivation and that it was appropriate for them to choose what they wanted to do, even if they chose to do nothing.

Neill believed many of the children’s problems resulted from poor sex education. He argued that adults should answer the questions a child asks, neither more nor less. He also believed that prohibiting masturbation causes problems for children and that if children were allowed to discuss sexual matters openly, pornography, homosexuality and promiscuity would not arise.

Neill was against the notion that children should have everything they wanted or that they should be allowed to violate the rights of others, but he argued against adults making moral judgments. Neill believed that traditional methods of education, such as the imposition of authority and sanctions, compulsory attendance and moralising simply force children into a neurotic image of their elders.

Neill held what he termed ‘private lessons’ with pupils, which included discussions of personal issues and equated to psychotherapy. These ‘PLs’ were discontinued as Neill found that those children who didn’t have them also seemed to find they could change any unacceptable behaviour. He came to the conclusion that it was the sense of freedom which was the decisive factor in changing behaviour, and not the psychotherapy.

Putting the theory into practice

The Neill approach has much relevance for today’s early years provision in general and also for children with special needs. There is a strong emphasis on children exercising personal choices through self-regulation. Neill stated that this freedom can only be exercised by children as long as they are not infringing on the freedom of others. At Summerhill students took part in Schulgemeinde, or weekly community meetings, designed to help them define limits and establish community rules. Involving children in the set up of school and class rules is common practice in many schools today.

Children should also not be expected to make decisions they are not ready to make. So, for instance, a secure framework should be provided within which children can choose what they want to do. For example, Neill said:

A child should not be asked to face responsibilities for which he is not ready, nor be saddled with decisions he is not yet ready to make. The watchword must be common sense. (4)

Neil’s concept of ‘self-direction’ is reflected in one of the key tenets of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) (5), which states that adults should be responsive to child-initiated activities. This child-initiated approach has particular relevance for children with special needs as in ensuring children’s interests are followed, rather than always led by the adult, it enables their ideas and achievements to be valued, and their personal interests to be developed.

Neill considered that school was not just about educating children, but rather that children’s happiness is paramount. He identified physical, mental and emotional well-being as important contributors to this sense of contentment. Neill felt that school should be about more than just education in its narrow sense, and that it should encompass the role of the child’s family. Achieving this holistic approach to children’s education could be seen as suggesting the input of a variety of specialist provision. Today in the UK, a multi-agency approach which includes the health and family support service is seen as key to supporting children with special needs. In her 2011 review of the Early Years Foundation Stage Dame Clare Tickell says that for those with specific needs:

‘Ensuring a close working relationship between those people in health, early years and education alongside parents and carers is an absolute pre-requisite to this.’ (6)

Neill also promoted the idea of humour and a sense of fun. He gives an example of how he introduced the children to visitors as ‘pigs’ and the children would grunt accordingly, until on one occasion an eight year old girl said ‘Isn’t that joke rather stale now?’ He said, ‘Perhaps children like to be treated with humour because humour involves friendliness and laughter. … Much of the success of Summerhill is due to its sense of fun.’ (7)

His influence

Neill encouraged educators to listen to children and respect their rights. His ideas were influential in the formulation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. (8) These are based on the notion that children have human rights, that they are not owned by parents or anyone else and that the physical assault of children is a crime. For example, Article 13.1 of the Conventions states that, ‘The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers …’ (9)

Listening to children and involving them in decision-making has also become a fundamental expectation within schools, for example through the formation of pupil-led school councils, and feedback on learning. Whitty (2007) states that well over 90% of schools in England and Wales have a school council. (10)

Comment

Neill was heavily influenced by Freud’s ideas that sexual repression underpins the psyche and that children can be freed from this ‘diseased attitude’ by adults being open and non-judgemental with children on sexual matters. Current safeguarding practices make it difficult for adults to be open with children in the way Neill advocates, in case such openness is misconstrued. His ideas on homosexuality as a form of sexual deviance are also outdated.

The Summerhill School has had a stormy relationship with the English school inspectorate Ofsted. In 1999 the inspectorate issued a scathing report saying that Summerhill had been ‘mistaking idleness for personal liberty’. (11) The school fought back, mounting a successful legal action against Ofsted. The 2007 Ofsted report was much more favourable, ‘Students are ‘courteous, polite and considerate’, make ‘good progress’ and are ‘well-rounded, confident and mature’ when they leave.’ (12)

Critics of Neill’s ideas feel that he lacks a systematic, considered philosophy of education; that his view of moral and religious education was outdated and simplistic; and that he had an anti-intellectual bias. It is not surprising that much of the true nature of Neill’s ideas is still shocking in a world where it is mostly assumed that adults know best what is good for children.

References

1. Freedman, D. Marshall, J.Neill, A. S. (1883–1973) Early Life and Career, Significance to Education. [Internet]. Available from: <http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2292/Neill-S-1883-1973.html>.
2. Summerhill School (2004) Summerhill: The Early Days. [Internet]. Available from: <http://www.summerhillschool.co.uk/pages/history.html>.
3. Neill, A.S (1962) Summerhill. London, Victor Gollancz, p. 4.
4. Neill, A.S (1972) Summerhill. Harmondsworth: Penguin, pp. 141–143.
5. DCSF (2008) The Early Years Foundation Stage Framework. Nottingham: DCSF.
6. Tickell, C. (2011) The Early Years: Foundations for Life, Health and Learning: An Independent Report on the Early Years Foundation Stage to Her Majesty’s Government. HMSO, p. 3.
7. Neill, A.S (1972) Summerhill. Harmondsworth: Penguin, p. 179.
8. Summerhill School (2004) A.S.Neill [Internet]. Available from: <http://www.summerhillschool.co.uk/pages/asneill.html>.
9. Office of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR) (2002) Convention on the Rights of the Child. [Internet]. Available from: <http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm>.
10. Whitty, G. (2007) ‘Twenty Years of Progress? English Education Policy 1988 to the Present’ in Educational Management Administration & Leadership. April 2008 (36), pp. 165–184.
11. Shepherd, J. (2007) So, Kids, Anyone for Double Physics? (But no worries if you don’t fancy it). The Guardian. [Internet]. Available from: <http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/dec/01/ofsted.schools>.
12. Ofsted (2007) Inspection Report: Summerhill School, 8 November 2007. London, Ofsted. [Internet]. Available from: <http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/oxedu_reports/download/(id)/90088/(as)/124870_301621.pdf>.

Where to find out more

Jonathan Croall (1983) Neill of Summerhill, The Permanent Rebel. Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Ray Hemmings (1972) Fifty Years of Freedom, A.S. Neill and the Evolution of the Summerhill Idea. Allen & Unwin.

Harold Hart (ed.) (1973) Summerhill: For and Against: Assessments of A.S. Neill. Angus & Robertson.

Matthew Appleton (2000) Free Range Childhood. Solomon Press.

http://www.childrenwebmag.com/articles/key-child-care-texts/summerhill-by-as-neill