The depute provost of Angus has launched a bid to ensure the memory of a visionary educationalist is not forgotten in the rural village where the seeds of his innovative teachings were sown.
Alexander Sutherland Neill famously founded the Summerhill School in Sussex on a career path that earned him a reputation as one of the most influential educators of the 20th century.
A. S. Neill’s outlook towards a more liberal approach in the schooling of children previously taught to be “meek and lowly” was formed in the village school at Kingsmuir, near Forfar, where his father was the dominie.
One of 13 children, he acted as a pupil-teacher for his father at Kingsmuir for a decade from 1893.
He studied at Edinburgh University and was headmaster at Gretna Green School during which time he wrote, in A Dominie’s Log, that he was “trying to form minds that will question and destroy and rebuild.”
He left Britain and in Hellerau, near Dresden, took up the opportunity to lead a school based on his own principles.
He established Summerhill at the beginning of the 1920s, and the residential school where pupils decide when and what they will learn remains open today.
Summerhill’s rules are agreed by staff and pupils with equal voting rights and the controversial establishment’s own website (link) claims it continues to be an “influential model for progressive, democratic education around the world.”
Neill’s contribution as a son of Angus was marked in 1983 when, on the centenary of his birth, a plaque was erected on the front of Kingsmuir School.
It ceased to operate as a primary many years ago, but had been Angus Council’s base for the COMPASS project of flexible learning for secondary school youngsters in the district.
The authority has now agreed the disposal of the building after it became surplus to requirements and depute provost Peter Murphy a former rector of Whitfield High School in Dundee said A S Neill’s legacy to Angus and the world of education must not be allowed to slip away.
“I am seeking an assurance that, should the building be sold and converted into a house, the commemorative plaque on the front of the building be retained,” he said.
“It was as a result of his experiences both as a pupil and as a pupil-teacher in Kingsmuir School that Neill began to formulate his vision of an educational system based on the needs of the child and devoid of corporal punishment.
“The plaque also commemorates the fact that he was founder of the world-famous Summerhill School in Sussex, where Neill put his child-centred ideas into practice.
“I think this is the least we can do to commemorate the memory of an outstanding figure in the educational world whose influence is still felt in the way we bring up our children in the present day, now that the building where he first formulated his ideas has outlived its usefulness and is up for disposal.”
Mr Murphy added: “I also hope that the effort to make sure his memory is not forgotten might perhaps rekindle an interest in this remarkable man.
“I would encourage fellow councillors and others to take up the opportunity to read some of his many books, particularly the Dominie’s Logs, all of which are available in Forfar Library.”