Education Revolution

Modern School Graphic by Rockwell Kent

The Modern School Movement started with “La Escuela Moderna” founded September 8th, 1901 by Franciso Ferrer.  La Escuela Moderna aimed to “educate the working class in a rational, secular and non-coercive setting.”  La Escuela Moderna lasted for five years eventually closing in 1906.  On October 13th, 1909 in Barcelona Francisco Ferrer was executed by orders from the King of Spain on charges of Sedition.  La Escuela Moderna and Francisco Ferrer inspired a movement of Modern Schools in the United States in the early 20th century.  The most famous of these schools was The Stelton Modern School in New Jersey (and colony), which lasted until 1953.  The movement, and especially Stelton, has influenced democratic and free schools ever since–especially during the 1960s and 70s when a wave of such schools hit the United States.  Eventually, The Friends of the Modern School (Stelton) began holding annual reunions of graduates, friends, family, and supporters.

Currently, there are many great resources and historical texts on the Modern Schools and colonies.

We suggest online reading at:

http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/libs/scua/modern_school/modern.shtml (Stelton Modern School Archives at Rutgers University)

http://www.talkinghistory.org/stelton/stelton.html (Stelton Audio History Project)

We suggest the following books:

http://www.educationrevolution.org/modernschool.html (The Modern School Movement by Paul Avrich)

http://www.educationrevolution.org/freeedu.html (Freedom in Education by Elizabeth Byrne Ferm)

http://www.educationrevolution.org/modschool.html (The Modern School of Stelton by Joseph J. Cohen and Alexis C. Ferm)

http://www.educationrevolution.org/recollections.html (Recollections from the Modern School Ferrer Colony by Victor Scharoff and others, Edited by Jon Thoreau Scott)

Jon Scott, a long time AERO member and supporter as well as a former student of The Stelton Modern School, is currently in Barcelona, Spain to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Francisco Ferrer’s execution.  He will be reporting back on the events and celebrations.

We will be commemorating this anniversary by posting our entire collection of Modern School related videos for free online viewing all week long!  This includes interviews with long-time members and reunions (which continue to be held annually!).   The first video is, “Nellie Dick and the Modern School Movement.”

This video is a fascinating two-hour interview with a 96-year-old pioneer in the alternative education movement. Born in the Ukraine of Jewish, anarchist parents in 1893, she started anarchist schools in England back in 1908, went to the US in 1917 to teach at the Modern School (based on the work of Francisco Ferrer) in New Jersey, and taught at and ran Modern Schools until 1958. Her son Jim, who was a student at the Modern Schools and is now a 70-year-old pediatrician, is also interviewed. There are also excerpts from the Modern School reunion in 1989 which featured the Spanish Modern Schools.

You can purchase a DVD of this interview at http://www.educationrevolution.org/neldicandmod.html