Utopian Schooling
Utopian Schooling

Summary/Abstract: Clive Harber said that “all too often the hallmarks of conventional schooling are authoritarianism, boredom, irrelevance, frustration and alienation. Authoritarian schools are schools that reproduce and perpetuate not only the socio-economic and political inequalities of the surrounding society, but also the violent relationships that often go with them.” In Talleyrand’s words: “the end of instruction is politics. The child is an apprentice citizen.” The paper analyzes several negative perceptions associated with conventional schooling and a few alternative or utopian projects meant to improve education. The text starts from the assumption that a few forms of schooling today (see École 42, in Paris, for instance) resemble what yesterday was called utopia. It is also true that practical school regulators do not like utopias…

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