Sand and Sea – Unstable Foundations for Education
Sand and Sea – Unstable Foundations for Education

Summary/Abstract: This paper discusses the question of the so-called permissive education. The main point of reference is a short article written by Mara Wolynski (an American journalist). In her article Wolynski describes her school nicknamed “Sand and Sea.” The school is founded on the principle of Rousseau and Dewey’s ideas, i.e. it is content-neutral, without and curriculum, with students who are constantly engaged in the quest after self-realization and authenticity. Such schools, however, end up in personal tragedies because their graduates completely fail as adults. When they arrive at universities, they have no idea how to cope with systematic tuition. Permissive schools do not provide any integral or synthetic approach to education. Excited about the progressive, individual, and original aspect of education, they abandon their curricula. Thus their graduates are totally unprepared to build any systematic and coherent knowledge.

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