We have to be careful with words. It\u2019s a miracle they ever mean the same thing to any two people. Often, they don\u2019t. Words like \u201clove,\u201d \u201cpeace.\u201d \u201ctrust,\u201d \u201cdemocracy\u201d \u2014 everyone brings to these words a lifetime of experiences, a world view, and we know how rarely we have these in common with anyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take the word \u201cclass.\u201d I don\u2019t know what it means in cultures that don\u2019t have schools. Maybe they don\u2019t even have the word. To most people reading this, the word conveys a wealth of images: a room with a \u201cteacher\u201d and \u201cstudents\u201d in it, the students sitting at desks and receiving \u201cinstruction\u201d from the teacher, who sits or stands before them. it also conveys much more: a \u201cclass period.\u201d the fixed time when the class takes place: homework; a textbook, which is the subject matter of the class clearly laid out for all the students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it conveys more: boredom, frustration, humiliation, achievement, failure, competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Sudbury Valley the word means something quite different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Sudbury Valley, a class is an arrangement between two parties. It starts with someone, or several persons, who decide they want to learn something specific – say, algebra, or French, or physics, or spelling, or pottery. A lot of times, they figure out how to do it on their own. They find a book, or a computer program, or they watch someone else. When that happens, it isn\u2019t a class. It\u2019s just plain learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then there are the times they can\u2019t do it alone. They look for someone to help them, someone who will agree to give them exactly what they want to make the learning happen. When they find that someone, they strike a deal: \u201cWe\u2019ll do this and that, and you\u2019ll do this and that \u2014 OK?\u201d If it\u2019s OK with all the parties, they have just formed a class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those who initiate the deal are called \u201cstudents.\u201d If they don\u2019t start it up, there is no class. Most of the time, kids at school figure out what they want to learn and how to learn it all on their own. They don\u2019t use classes all that much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The someone who strikes the deal with the students is called a \u201cteacher.\u201d Teachers can be other students at the school. Usually, they are people hired to do the job. Teachers at Sudbury Valley have to be ready to make deals, deals that satisfy the students\u2019 needs. We get a lot of people writing the school asking to be hired as teachers. Many of them tell us at length how much they have to \u201cgive\u201d to children. People like that don\u2019t do too well at the school. What\u2019s important to us is what the students want to take, not what the teachers want to give. That\u2019s hard for a lot of professional teachers to grasp. The class deals have all sorts of terms: subject matter, times, obligations of each party. For example to make the deal, the teacher has to agree to be available to meet the students at certain times. These times may be fixed periods: a half hour every Tuesday at 11:00AM. Or they may be flexible: \u201cwhenever we have questions, we\u2019ll get together on Monday mornings at 10:00AM to work them out. If we have no questions, we\u2019ll skip till next week.\u201d Sometimes, a book is chosen to serve as a reference point. The students have their end of the deal to meet. They agree to be on time, for instance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Classes end when either side has had enough of the deal. If the teachers find out they can\u2019t deliver, they can back out \u2014 and the students have to find a new teacher if they still want a class. If the students discover they don\u2019t want to go on, the teachers have to find some other way to occupy themselves at the appointed hour. There is another kind of class at school, from time to time. It happens when people feel they have something new and unique to say that can\u2019t be found in books, and they think others may be interested. They post a notice: \u201cAnyone interested in X can meet me in the Seminar Room at 10:30AM on Thursdays.\u201d Then they wait. If people show up, they go on. If not, that\u2019s life. People can show up the first time and, if there is a second time, decide not to come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n