Why I Started a Small School
A nurturing, human scale, approach to education and parenting
by Rosalyn Spencer
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Pub Date 27 Mar 2013 | Archive Date 28 Apr 2013
Troubador Publishing Ltd | Matador
Description
At the start of Why I Started a Small School: A nurturing, human scale, approach to education and parenting, we see the emotional turmoil Rosalyn experienced when she received a letter indicating that her son’s difficulties in school were more likely to be the result of her parenting skills, and life at home, rather than having anything to do with the way he was being educated.
Her own school days were filled with feelings of failure and low self-esteem, but she overcame many hurdles to become a teacher herself. In this time, she witnessed again and again the damage that the education system was inflicting, not only on some children, but also on their parents. Driven by a desire to ensure that her son should suffer no longer than he had to, and in an effort to help others in a similar situation, she was determined to find a solution.
After months of hard work, a new parent-run school opened with 12 children aged from four-11 years. It had seemed that the impossible had come true, for at the time the school opened, there was virtually no funding! Lives were changed forever. Within weeks of the school opening, some of the children became almost unrecognisable as their grim outlook on life was replaced by a confident stature. The learning difficulties that some of them had experienced were far less of a problem in this new nurturing environment.
As well as the children changing, their parents became more confident and outgoing too – for many of them had been made to feel inadequate before the project started. Why I Started a Small School: A nurturing, human scale, approach to education and parenting tells the amazing true story of what Rosalyn achieved, and how that dreadful letter was proved to be utterly and totally wrong.
Her own school days were filled with feelings of failure and low self-esteem, but she overcame many hurdles to become a teacher herself. In this time, she witnessed again and again the damage that the education system was inflicting, not only on some children, but also on their parents. Driven by a desire to ensure that her son should suffer no longer than he had to, and in an effort to help others in a similar situation, she was determined to find a solution.
After months of hard work, a new parent-run school opened with 12 children aged from four-11 years. It had seemed that the impossible had come true, for at the time the school opened, there was virtually no funding! Lives were changed forever. Within weeks of the school opening, some of the children became almost unrecognisable as their grim outlook on life was replaced by a confident stature. The learning difficulties that some of them had experienced were far less of a problem in this new nurturing environment.
As well as the children changing, their parents became more confident and outgoing too – for many of them had been made to feel inadequate before the project started. Why I Started a Small School: A nurturing, human scale, approach to education and parenting tells the amazing true story of what Rosalyn achieved, and how that dreadful letter was proved to be utterly and totally wrong.
A Note From the Publisher
Rosalyn Spencer has an MA in Education by Research. Her lifetime's work has involved finding ways of helping individuals to succeed ranging from young children struggling to survive in mainstream education and teenagers in care, to setting up and running a children's nursery and then a non-fee paying "alternative" small school.
Advance Praise
'Rosalyn Spencer's courageous establishment, in 1993, of an inclusive, nurturing, human-scale Small School, was a much-needed exemplar of change in education-provision, in what is now, a socio-ecologically fragmenting Britain. Were such qualities used, to inform the development of Government-funded, parent- and teacher-instigated Free Schools, this would greatly benefit future, UK social cohesion.'Stuart McBurney: Freelance Lecturer and Author of Ecology into Economics Won't Go
'In this book Rosalyn Spencer narrates a powerful story of transformation in education. In the age when schools have lost their way this book shows that great ideals of education can be put in practice by parents, teachers and pupils joining hands and working together. I recommend this book to all educators wholeheartedly.'Satish Kumar: Editor-in-Chief of Resurgence & Ecologist; Founder of The Small School, Hartland
'This account of Rosalyn Spencer’s struggle with the education system, on her own and on her children’s behalf, leads her to take positive action. Today the government has at last come round to supporting groups of parents who want to start their own schools. That is in great part due to people like Rosalyn who were not prepared to accept a second-rate education. I am gratified to have played some small part in her inspirational story.'Colin Hodgetts: Former Headteacher of The Small School, Hartland
'"Looking back now," writes Rosalyn, "the story is hard to believe." And it is, but it’s true, and written by someone who lived the idea that ordinary people can do extraordinary things - not just for themselves, but for others as well.'Kevin Holloway: Senior Lecturer in Education (retired)
“In Rosalyn Spencer's first book of her planned series of three, she takes the reader through the process of setting up a new school with the flair of a natural storyteller. Why I Started a Small School is an informative and entertaining read.”Martin Ouvry, Novelist and Editor
“Whatever position one takes in debates about parental choice, school structures and home schooling, or on controversial initiatives such as the introduction of Free Schools and Academies, Rosalyn Spencer’s intensely personal and compelling narrative about her battle to establish a new type of school two decades ago marks her out as an innovator ahead of her time. She reminds us of the importance of building schools and learning communities that embrace and engage parents and students as active partners and engaged citizens, rather than as distanced clients and complaining customers; this is the essence of any education (and any education system) that aspires to be human in scale and spirit.”Tony Breslin, Chair, Human Scale Education
'In this book Rosalyn Spencer narrates a powerful story of transformation in education. In the age when schools have lost their way this book shows that great ideals of education can be put in practice by parents, teachers and pupils joining hands and working together. I recommend this book to all educators wholeheartedly.'Satish Kumar: Editor-in-Chief of Resurgence & Ecologist; Founder of The Small School, Hartland
'This account of Rosalyn Spencer’s struggle with the education system, on her own and on her children’s behalf, leads her to take positive action. Today the government has at last come round to supporting groups of parents who want to start their own schools. That is in great part due to people like Rosalyn who were not prepared to accept a second-rate education. I am gratified to have played some small part in her inspirational story.'Colin Hodgetts: Former Headteacher of The Small School, Hartland
'"Looking back now," writes Rosalyn, "the story is hard to believe." And it is, but it’s true, and written by someone who lived the idea that ordinary people can do extraordinary things - not just for themselves, but for others as well.'Kevin Holloway: Senior Lecturer in Education (retired)
“In Rosalyn Spencer's first book of her planned series of three, she takes the reader through the process of setting up a new school with the flair of a natural storyteller. Why I Started a Small School is an informative and entertaining read.”Martin Ouvry, Novelist and Editor
“Whatever position one takes in debates about parental choice, school structures and home schooling, or on controversial initiatives such as the introduction of Free Schools and Academies, Rosalyn Spencer’s intensely personal and compelling narrative about her battle to establish a new type of school two decades ago marks her out as an innovator ahead of her time. She reminds us of the importance of building schools and learning communities that embrace and engage parents and students as active partners and engaged citizens, rather than as distanced clients and complaining customers; this is the essence of any education (and any education system) that aspires to be human in scale and spirit.”Tony Breslin, Chair, Human Scale Education
Available Editions
| EDITION | Ebook |
| ISBN | 9781783069620 |
| PRICE | £5.99 (GBP) |
