The network characteristics of the PLATO computer-based education system permit students to communicate not only with the computer, but with each other. This capability can be exploited in educationally significant ways. In addition to the social interaction which occurs when students help each other at the terminal and when they work together at…

Academic achievement can be set in a stage of humanistic pupil-teacher relationships. However, humanization is not an easy task, and success may be achieved only by dedication and direction. The first step in this process is the definition of the goal. Humanization is defined in the following manner: (1) Children should enjoy school, want to…

Written in 1966, the author examines the evolution of teaching in relation to the development of the elementary social studies course, Man: A Course of Study. The act of teaching is traced from play practice of primates to teaching-in-context of primitive societies to the more complex abstract teaching in separate schools of contemporary society.…

This report summarizes and draws implications from a two-year pilot program in which 12 elementary school principals received training designed to help them become more effective leaders in their own school settings. The goal of the program was to enable participating principals to define and enact the leadership roles best suited to their…

The Social Encounter and Research Curriculum for Humanization (SEARCH) is an individualized social education curriculum for K-3 being developed at Research for Better Schools, Inc. The SEARCH instructional plan is based on a model of cognitive and social development as well as on a child-centered instructional format. Its content is organized…

Founded in 1969 in an inner-city neighborhood, the Albany Free School is based on real freedom, community, democratic principles, and affection and trust between teachers and students. This book provides an in-depth history of the Free School, including a brief analysis of its place in the broader scheme of things; describes the school with…

Two chapters of a serialized book develop the idea that attention-deficit disorder is created by the conventional school's rigid enforcement of a spirit-deadening "order" that suppresses children's natural behaviors. Anecdotes from Albany's Free School describe incidents in which two very active and intelligent boys developed some…

Introduces the idea that attention deficit disorder is a myth brought about by society's attempts to alter and adapt children's natural behaviors to fit the routines and limits of a flawed educational system. Anecdotes from Albany's Free School describe ways of working with children as unique individuals, based on the faith in every child's inborn…