A transformation in teaching and learning happens when students move from being consumers to creators of knowledge. While there is a growing body of research available on the use of open education resources by faculty and students, there is comparatively little research available with regards to open pedagogy (OP) in higher education. The few…

This report describes my field visits to Berea and Deep Springs Colleges in the U.S.A. and explores their forms of ownership/control, governance, financing and organisational structure. Berea and Deep Springs are small, liberal arts colleges, distinctive in American higher education, in which students actively participate in a spirit of democracy.…

In a seven-year study of new experimental colleges, Grant and Riesman (1978) report that within those schools "The utopian impulses are strong, representing a search for a more perfect union." One of the most radical of those experiments was Minnesota Metropolitan State College (MMSC). In addition to having no campus, the school had no…

Based on site visits, phone calls, and reviews of descriptive literature, this guide examines more than 250 alternative college and university programs. Each listing provides basic information on affiliation, academic calendar, yearly fees, and enrollment. There is also a brief description of the school's physical environment and facilities,…

The search for the atypical and non-mainstream college has been rather fruitless. The major universities, the graduate schools, and the academic guilds are found to be in almost full command of the system, and practically every other institution seems to be emulating them. (Author)

Directories of free universities and publications produced by such organizations are provided in this brief bibliography. (SJ)

This book catalogues the free university/alternative school movement's exploration of ways education can be organized, directed, evaluated, and modified by its consumers. Emphasis is placed on the purpose of free universities, unlearning, course organizing, credit, the mechanics of organizing courses for credit, publicity, funding, bureaucracy,…

An updated directory of new and innovative schools in the U.S. and Canada lists over 700 schools at all educational levels. The schools are listed by states; information is given about the address, phone number, ages of students, date founded, tuition, ratio of students to teachers, and a phrase or two describes any special quality of the school.…

Presents a first-hand look at the Centro Intercultural de Documentacion, a Mexican experimental college founded by Ivan Illich. Considers the subjects taught, the school organization, types of students, and school philosophy. (Author/DN)

Free schools as an educational form are remarkably similar to the best educational pattern of the culturally more mature countries of the Western world. This similarity should be recognized by U.S. leaders for what it signifies--that free schools are the opposite of disruptive and radical education, and represent the true university. (Editor/LBH)

Western Governors University (WGU) was initiated by 15 western governors in response to perceived needs in the marketplace and as a supplement to traditional institutions. WGU features competency-based credentials (certificates and degrees) rather than course-based programs; distance learning; focus on nontraditional, working students; third-party…

Covers camping out for credit; racing for credit; choosing from the seven "schools" in Quincy (Illinois) High School; and developing the Colorado College block scheduling plan under which students take only one course at a time. (Author)

Article analyzes the impetus for alternative schools' development, their present status, and reactions to their development. (Editor)

This book explores the history and evolution of six innovative colleges, examining how these institutions have adapted and transformed themselves in today's social, political, and economic environments. The book contends that these institutions, which emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, can serve as models today. Case study chapters describe the…

This history of Goddard College (Vermont) and its founder and first president, Royce S. Pitkin, discusses the founding, growth and success of the college. The hypothesis for this experimental college was that the education necessary to a civilized society is a process of dealing with the growth and realization of potential in the context of the…