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What If Every Day Was a Snow Day? |
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Thinking about snow days is one way to reconsider education. One thing that bothered me about my experiences in traditional school was that school was a place where people told me what to do all day every day, whether or not I was interested in their suggestions. |
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| Author: Brooks Elms |
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A stark contrast to the traditional approach can be seen in an education model used at the Sudbury Valley School in Framingham, Massachusetts. This model supports students in creating their own curricula by allowing them to do whatever they want—within the community school rules—all day long. The school’s philosophy is that any activity initiated by a child has more intrinsic value than imposed activities do. The people at Sudbury Valley deeply respect a person's choice to determine his or her own existence at any age. Based on my research of this school and of other schools with a similar “free-form” model, this approach gives kids an experience in which every day is a snow day.
When children are enthusiastic about going to school every day, they fundamentally shift their value of life itself. Is life about work? Is life about getting the bad stuff done so you can get to the good stuff? Or is it possible, to a great degree, to find the delightful balance in getting what HAS to get done WHILE doing what you love? That's the intrinsically satisfying experience of life, and it's what an education model like that in Sudbury Valley makes more likely to happen. There, passion leads every activity, rather than in the traditional model, where obligation leads activities and where tests and grades are imposed on children regardless of their interest in and readiness for the material.
When I was a kid and felt the snow day euphoria, I had a hunch that school COULD feel this exciting. I had never heard of Sudbury Valley, nor had I heard of anything even remotely close to it. When I came across the free-form education model as an adult, I was profoundly struck by this real-life manifestation of what I’d always craved. I knew kids could and should be treated as equals. I knew kids learned as much about life after school and on summer vacations as they did in school, so it always seemed strange to me that school felt so restrictive, intrusive, and scary.
After coming across and feeling tremendous passion for the Sudbury Valley model, I knew I had to make a film about it. My intent with Schooled was to present an impression of traditional school, and to contrast that by presenting an alternative model based on Sudbury Valley. While viewers follow the story, they're also exploring where their values lie on the spectrum of education. How free form do they think education should be, and why? After seeing the film, they've now moved forward in finding their own answers.
Most people who watch the film have never fathomed that a snow day every day is possible (or perhaps even desirable) because they assume that kids won’t learn anything of significance if they don't have structure imposed on them. They won't learn to read, write, or do math without adults making them. They'll grow up to be lazy, illiterate, and poor. But when people watch the movie, they see that kids pick up these basic life skills organically.
To make the film more accessible, the main character shares the majority opinion that kids need an imposed structure. He is skeptical about a free-form system because it runs contrary to the popular belief that kids CAN'T have a snow day every day. Yet the more the hero of Schooled hangs around this alternative school, the more he learns about the value in giving children more freedom and power. Although the hero ultimately returns to his traditional school, he brings back his newfound lessons. He takes with him the experience of trusting kids beyond what he thought was possible, and he uses that lesson to make a connection with a troubled student on a whole new level.
(c) 2008, Brooks Elms All rights reserved. Reprint rights granted so long as article and by-line are published intact and with all links made live.
About Author
Brooks Elms fiercely writes, directs and produces films, winning awards and thrilling audiences around the globe. His latest film, "Schooled" is like "Kid Nation" meets "Dead Poets Society" and it fundamentally changes the way people think about education: http://www.schooledthefilm.com/
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