The following publications are available from HSE; postage and packing is £2.50 for the first book and £1.00 for each subsequent one (unless otherwise stated):
Alternative Approaches to Education:
A Guide For Parents and Teachers by Fiona Carnie
This book gives parents and teachers information about the alternative education options within the UK. Different educational philosophies such as Steiner and Montessori are explored as well as alternative approaches within the state system.
There is also a section on how to set up a school or educate children at home.
Fiona Carnie is the former National Co-ordinator of Human Scale Education.
Brave Hearts, Rebel Spirits:
A Spiritual Activists Handbook by Anita Roddick and Brooke Shelby Biggs
The spiritual activists in this book are environmentalists and activists, peace workers, land reformers and child advocates. They are from all faiths. The stories of these modern-day prophets of positive change aim to inspire you and the resources provided in each chapter help you put your own beliefs to work in the world.
Democratic Schools: Lessons from the Chalk Face by Michael Apple (Ed)
Four schools in the USA which overcame the challenge of limited budgets, bureaucratic controls and demands for higher standards to become learning communities that are democratic and socially critical.
Publisher: Open University Press ISBN: 0-335-20387-6 Publication Date: 1999 Pages: 123
Children in the USA are schooled to obey orders and become smoothly functioning cogs in the industrial machine. Between schoooling and television they have little time to learn about the community they live in or the lives they might lead. John Taylor Gatto, Teacher of the Year, recommends independent study, community service and solitude as ways of breaking out of our conforming society.
Publisher: New Society Publishers ISBN: 0-86571-448-7 Publication Date: 2002 Pages: 103
Early Years Education in Reggio Emilia:
A Publicly Funded Alternative by Jenny Brain
A network of remarkable pre-school and infant/toddler centres developed in this North Italian City in the last sixty years. Characterised by a strong emphasis on art and creativity, collaborative learning and problem solving, they involve parents in the day to day activities of the school.
Educating on a Human Scale:
Visions for a Sustainable World by Conference Report
Speakers: Anita Roddick on Values and Vision in Business; Satish Kumar on The Ecology of Learning; Richard Pring on Education for Citizenship. Workshop reports include:
- Education for sustainability.
- Changing places: young people's participation in shaping their environment.
- Partners in Change.
- How small schools can meet the challenge of sustainability (UK).
Education For A Change - Transforming The Way We Teach Our Children by Eds. Titus Alexander and John Potter
Instead of asking "What have we got and how might we improve it?" this book asks "What do we need, and how do we achieve it?"
This challenging, hard-hitting book is about making schooling relevant to modern society. It starts from the premise that our present education system is not equipped to serve students and society in the 21st Century. In a series of positive, provocative and powerful chapters, the authors look at the critical issues shaping schools today.
Contributors include: Tim Brighouse, Jonathon Porritt, Anita Roddick, Charles Handy and Jonathan Sachs.
This is a book for school leaders, teachers, policy-makers, parents and all education professionals.
This report is a case study of 15 Small Schools in the UK. The schools are all very different, reflecting the priorities of the people who have set them up. But there are common strands to them all - parental involvement, democratic processes, environmentally sustainable values, spiritual values,links with the local community, an emphasis on co-operation rather than competition and mixed age learning.The one characteristic that links them all is that they are SMALL.
A practical guide for achieving part-time schooling for your child in the UK. School becomes one of the many resources, such as libraries and computers, to be used when the child and the parents choose, according to a contract drawn up between them and the local school.
Horace's Hope:
What Works for the American High School by Theodore R. Sizer
Drawing from his experiences on education's frontlines in the USA, Ted Sizer acknowledges such on-going dilemmas as inadequate funding and burgeoning class size, but foremost he gives us reason to be hopeful - in the enthusiasm of teachers, parents and adolescents, as well as in the myriad ideas, such as school choice and interdisciplinary learning, taking shape in many quarters today. Ted Sizer ranks amongst the most important thinkers and doers in the world of education.
Human Scale Education in Secondary Schools by Jane Thomas
This publication offers advice on how to put into practice some of the aims and values of Human Scale Education. It has come from direct experience of working closely with a number of schools and offers an insight into how teachers can feel confident about altering their practice within the current 'teach and test' system.
Jane Thomas is the Secondary School Project Officer for Human Scale Education.
Less is More - The Move to Educate on a Human Scale by Mike Davies
This booklet, written by Mike Davies, headteacher of Bishops Park College and published by Human Scale Education, explores the background to the movement against the 'one-size-fits-all' principle in education. Mike outlines the research, the organisations and individuals that have so profoundly influenced recent developments to educate young people on a human scale. He also explores the principles that informed the building, the organisational structure and the curriculum at Bishops Park. He concludes that 'Bishops Park' embodies the move to educate on a human scale... it will end the isolation of the teacher and the taught and bring a sense of community and belonging as the foundation for dignity, challenge and excellence.
Pathways to Child Friendly Schools -
A Guide for Parents by Fiona Carnie
Many parents have concerns about their children's schools. They have ideas about how the school might do better but do not know how they might put their ideas into practice. This guide helps parents become actively involved in their children's education. It is based on the premise that where there is a genuine partnership between parents and schools this brings many benefits, particularly to the children.
Mildred Masheder believes that young children can be taught skills of problem solving, dialogue and negotiation in the hope that they will grow up to have their say as adult citizens in making the world a safer place. It includes many practical ideas for teachers and parents who wish to resolve conflicts peacefully.
Publisher: Green Print ISBN: 1-85425-094-9 Publication Date: 2004 Pages: 124
Real Education: Varieties of Freedom by Gribble, David
Gribble describes a variety of international schools ranging from inner city Harlem to an Indian Ashram where the central concerns for the child are care, respect and freedom.
Richer Futures: Fashioning A New Politics by Ed. Ken Worpole
This book is a timely response to the growing interest in community-based, self-help action. It introduces new forms of communication and decision-making and sets out a programme for sustainable politics. Includes contributions from George Monbiot, Nicola Baird, Jonathan Croall and Fiona Carnie.
Seeing Through the Spin - Public Relations in a Global Economy by Dave Richards
Schools are increasingly being targetted by companies keen to market their brand and image. This teachers pack provides the information needed about major world corporations so that children can make up their own minds about what is on offer. It encourages thought and discussion.
Setting up a Small School - Information Pack by Fiona Carnie
A compendium of practical advice for parents, teachers, home educators and anyone else interested in setting up their own educational project. The pack includes sections on applying for charitable status, finding premises, funding, registration with the DfES, working with parents, finding teachers, creating a curriculum and more. The author was the National Co-ordinator of Human Scale Education.
Smaller Structures in Secondary Education:
A Research Digest by Mary Tasker
The digest provides a comprehensive survey of the small schools movement, the educational theories upon which it is based and the everyday realities for students in these small schools.
There are extensive references to research studies related to these issues, many of which can be downloaded from the Internet. This digest will be of interest to policy makers, teachers, teacher educators and students, as well as those in local communities interested in improving the quality of school life.
Sustainable Education - Re-visioning Learning and Change by Stephen Sterling
How will we move towards sustainability? By learning through crisis or by design? Sterling points out that progress towards a more sustainable future critically depends on learning, yet most schools take little account of sustainability. Stephen Sterling argues that an ecological view of educational theory, practice and policy is necessary. The briefing also includes action suggestions for both policy-makers and practitioners.
Publisher: Green Books ISBN: 1-870098-99-4 Publication Date: 2001 Pages: 94
The Creative School: A Framework For Success, Quality and Effectiveness. by Bob Jeffrey and Peter Woods
This is an inspirational book about an inspirational school. The educational values it stands for can be summarised as 'reconstructed progressivism'. The experience at Coombes shows that it is possible for a school community, committed to a particular vision, to accomodate the prescriptive pressures of the National Curriculum, while retaining its creative and child-centred ethos.Provides both educational theory and practical examples to inspire other teachers.
This booklet is about a rather small, but very influential, part of the Danish school system: the 'friskoler', or free schools.
Underlying the freeschools is the idea that it is families and not central governernment who usually know best for their children.
This ambitious and imaginative book addresses the reform of education in new terms. It focusses on how to make education more relevant to the problems of global society and how it can contribute to personal change (USA)