When Kids Rule the School , livre ebook

Advance Praise for
When Kids Rule the School
Written with passion, depth, yet ease of style, When Kids Rule the School is an inspiring affirmation of the natural greatness of children and humanity. A treat that combines explicit details about all facets of democratic education with practical applications and the shared philosophy of all members of the school community, When Kids Rule the School invites us to an education future of dignity, intelligence, and wisdom.
- Ba Luvmour, MA and Josette Luvmour, PhD, authors, Everyone Wins, 3 rd ed ., and cohosts, Meetings with Remarkable Educators www.remarkable-educators.com
This book reads in one breath. I highly recommend it for teachers, parents, prospective students, all kind of educators, and general public.
- Eugene Matusov, PhD, Professor of Education, University of Delaware
This book is the clearest, most complete explanation of self-directed democratic schooling that I have seen. Whether you are brand new to the idea of democratic education or have long been immersed in it, you will find much to think about here. I recommend this book to everyone interested in education and child development, whether that interest comes from concern for their own children or all the children of the world.
- Peter Gray, research professor, Boston College, and author, Free to Learn
If you re not keen on sending your kids to a regular school, but don t feel homeschooling is the answer either, relax - and gear up. You ve got another potential path right here.
- Lenore Skenazy, president, Let Grow, and founder, Free-Range Kids
When Kids Rule the School is an in-depth look at the nuances of democratic education. Jim Reitmulder peppers his beautiful personal stories among the history and exploration of what it is to REALLY trust children and their school communities. As a fellow school founder, I am proud to say that Jim s descriptions are a thoughtful and honest look at what could be possible if we gave all of our children an opportunity to thrive in democratic self-directed environments.
- Dr. Jen Schwartz PhD, CFLE, Founder, Sego Lily School
This is a fresh look at how learning works at The Circle School, and how it could be applied to education everywhere. No matter where you are on the education spectrum - student, parent, teacher or school founder - you will find important new insights from this book.
- Jerry Mintz, Director, Alternative Education Resource Organization
When Kids Rule the School makes an important contribution to the field of education. Jim Rietmulder s advocacy of self-directed education and democratic schooling is compelling, and his skillful application of integral philosophy to education makes this book a must-read for every educator.
- Steve McIntosh, author, Integral Consciousness and the Future of Evolution, and cofounder, Institute for Cultural Evolution
This wonderful book vividly captures what life is like within our self-directed democratic schools - funny, passionate, profoundly serious, mischievous, compassionate, just, full of intense conversations, a lot of voting, and endless learning.
- Lisa Lyons, co-founder, Evergreen Sudbury School

Copyright 2019 by Jim Rietmulder.
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Diane McIntosh.
Cover images: iStock; Digital composite: Diane McIntosh
Printed in Canada. First printing May 2019.
This book is intended to be educational and informative. It is not intended to serve as a guide. The author and publisher disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss or risk that may be associated with the application of any of the contents of this book.
Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of When Kids Rule the School should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below. To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America) 1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com
Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:
New Society Publishers
P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada
(250) 247-9737
L IBRARY AND A RCHIVES C ANADA C ATALOGUING IN P UBLICATION
Title: When kids rule the school : the power and promise of democratic education / Jim Rietmulder.
Names: Rietmulder, Jim, 1953- author.
Description: Includes index.
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20190057084 | Canadiana (ebook) 20190057157 | ISBN 9780865719040
(softcover) | ISBN 9781550926972 (PDF) | ISBN 9781771422932 (EPUB) Subjects: LCSH: Democracy and education. | LCSH: Student-centered learning. | LCSH: Active
learning. | LCSH: Education-Aims and objectives. | LCSH: Education-Philosophy.
Classification: LCC LB14.7 .R54 2019 | DDC 370.1-dc23

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Contents
Stories
Prologue: Taming the Wild
Introduction
Part One: Self-directed Democratic Schools
1. What s a Democratic School?
Small-scale Democracy
Sudbury Schools
Summerhill School
Integral Education
Free Schools
2. The Circle School
Scaled-down World
Foundation Principles
Part Two: A Case for Democratic Schooling
3. Integral Education: An Emerging Era
Traditional to Modern to Integral
Fill a Bucket, Light a Fire, Fan a Flame
The Radical Difference
4. Democratic Schools: A Better Fit
Aligning School with Society s Ideals
Alignments Within the School
Aligning School with Children s Lives
Bliss It Isn t
Human Development and Democratic Schooling
And Finally There s This
5. Seven Ideas
Democratic Schooling in a Nutshell
Community: Less Obvious, More Important?
Intrinsic Motivation and Autonomy
Optimal Challenge: Children Reaching Higher
Embodied Cognition and Deep Learning
Coercive Curriculum Harms Children
Practicing Life
Part Three: Thinking about Thinking
6. How and What Do They Learn?
Worldviews, Culture Wars, Concerts, and Railroads
Expanding the Scope of Education in School
Old Ways
Integral Learning Patterns Enabled by Democratic Schooling
7. Critical Thinking
Capable Cognition
Provocations
Culture of Critical Thinking
Deep Play and Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking in Perspective
Part Four: In Practice
8. Jargon
School Meeting
Ends We Seek
School Meeting Committees
School Meeting Officials
Corporations
Certification
Lawbook
Judicial Committee
Board of Trustees
9. A Typical Day?
Walking Tour
Bulletin Board
Room Reservations
Daily Schedule
What You See and What You Don t
10. School Government
Elections
School Meeting
Corporations
Staff
Management Manual
Laws
Enforcement and Empowerment
Judicial Committee
Formal Governance
Legal Structure
11. The Chore System
12. Safety, Safety, Safety
Standards
Laws
Safety Practices
13. Moving On: College and the World
High School Diplomas
College Admissions
Not Going
College and Degrees
Part Five: Frequently Asked Questions
Basics
Curriculum
Assessment and Reporting to Parents
Getting into a Democratic School
Epilogue: Seeking Infinity
Acknowledgments
Appendix A: Management Manual Table of Contents
Appendix B: The Circle School Corporation Bylaws
Appendix C: Colleges Attended by Circle School Graduates
Index
About the Author
A Note about the Publisher
Stories
Jyles
Sense and No Sense
The Most Wonderful Thing
Astronomical Planning
Homework
I Want to Fly
Arnie s First Paper
Making Things Go Boom
Angela s Speed Painting YouTube Channel
Latin? Really?
Too Busy for Math
The Screen Gene
Preoccupied with Vocabulary
Avery s Hot Dogs
Minecraft
Mickey s Cookie and Critical Thinking
The Hour Of No Rules
Playroom Restaurant
What s Big and Gray, Fits in a Briefcase, and Provokes Critical Thinking?
My Worst and Favorite Walk-through Story
Uncapped Glue
Come Take a Picture
Debating Energy Drinks
Is It Still My Fort Tomorrow?
How Do You Spell Sex Videos ?
A Mock JC
No More Chores?
Die for Extra Chores
Lisa s First Semester at College
Prologue: Taming the Wild
M AYBE WE ARE A BIT WISER NOW , 500 years into science, reason, and the modern era. After the first few hundred years, we started getting giddy. Who could blame us after so many miracles of medicine and technology? And after the Industrial Revolution - well, there was no limit to what we thought science and engineering would do to improve on nature. In the age of machines, we even thought to engineer children s minds in mass education factories.
Human beings are afraid of the dark, so it s no wonder we welcomed electric light and all that followed. It s not just darkness we fear. By nature, we fear nature itself: wildness, disorder, chaos. To this day, you can evoke a subtle fear response in human beings if you show them pictures of nature in the wild, or even an unkempt suburban lawn. It s true, a human thing. Our genes encode the dangers of our primordial home in raw nature. It s a jungle out there.
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