Charlie V.

Ladrona
ED 501 Philosophies in Education
A.S. Neill
Alexander Sutherland Neill (17 October 1883 23
September 1973), known as A. S. Neill, was a Scottish
educator and author known for his school, Summerhill
School, and its philosophies of freedom from adult coercion
and community self-governance. Neill was raised in
Scotland, where he was a poor student but became a
schoolteacher. He taught in several schools across the
country before attending the University of Edinburgh from
1908 to 1912. He was born in Forfar, Scotland to George
and Mary Neill.
Summerhill School
The Summerhill classroom was popularly assumed to
reflect Neill's anti-authoritarian beliefs, though their
classes were traditional in practice. Neill did not show
outward interest in classroom pedagogy, and was mainly
interested in student happiness.

He did not consider lesson
quality important,

and thus there were no distinctive
Summerhillian classroom methods.
Philosophy
Neill felt that children (and human nature) were
innately good, and that children became virtuous and just
naturally when allowed to grow without adult imposition of
morality. In this way, children did not need to be coaxed
or goaded into desirable behavior, as their natural state
was satisfactory and their natural inclinations "in no way
immoral".

If left alone, children would become self-
regulating, reasonable, and ethical adults.
Together with Homer Lane, Neill supported personal
freedoms for children to live as they please without adult
interference, and called this position "on the side of the
child". Neill's practice is summarized as providing
children with space, time, and empowerment for personal
exploration, and with freedom from adult fear and coercion.
The aim of life, to Neill, was "to find happiness,
which means to find interest." Likewise, the purpose of
Neill's education was to be happy and interested in
Charlie V. Ladrona
ED 501 Philosophies in Education
A.S. Neill
life, and children needed complete freedom to find their
interests. Neill considered happiness an innate
characteristic that deteriorated when children were denied
personal freedom, and that this unhappiness led to
repressed and psychologically disordered adults. He blamed
a "sick and unhappy" society for widespread unhappiness.

Neill claimed that society harbored fears of life,
children, and emotions that were continually bequeathed to
the next generation.
He felt that children turned to self-hate and internal
hostility when denied an outlet for expression in adult
systems of emotional regulation and manipulation. Likewise,
children taught to withhold their sexuality would see view
those feelings negatively and fuel disdain for self. Neill
thought that calls for obedience squelched the natural
needs of children. Moreover, their needs could not be
fulfilled by adults and a society that simultaneously
prolonged their unhappiness, though perhaps a school like
Summerhill could help.
As for "interest", Neill felt it came organically and
spontaneously and that it was a prerequisite for learning.
Neill considered forced instruction (without pupil
interest) to be a destructive waste of time
.

When Neill said children should be free, he did not
mean complete freedom, but freedom without licensethat
everyone can do as they like unless such action encroaches
upon another's freedom. As such, adults could and should
protect children from danger, but not trample their self-
regulation. Neill emphasized that adult removal from child
affairs was distinct from disregard for their security. He
felt that children met their own limits naturally.