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''Fifty Years of Freedom: A Study of the Development of the Ideas of A. S. Neill'' is a 1972 intellectual biography of the British pedagogue A. S. Neill by Ray Hemmings. It traces how Homer Lane, Wilhelm Reich, Sigmund Freud and others influenced Neill as he developed the "Summerhill idea", the philosophy of child autonomy behind his Summerhill School. The book follows Neill's early life and career in rural, Calvinist Scotland and continues through the influence of his mentors, Lane and Reich, and the origins of Summerhill after World War I. Written fifty years from Summerhill's founding, ''Fifty Years'' is a sociological and historical analysis of Neill's ideas in the context of intellectual and educational trends both during Neill's life and at the time of publication. Hemmings also surveyed progressive school leaders about Neill's impact on the field, and reported their perception of influence on teacher–pupil relations. ''Fifty Years'' was first published in England in 1972 by George Allen and Unwin, and was later renamed ''Children's Freedom: A. S. Neill and the Evolution of the Summerhill Idea'' for its 1973 American publication by Schocken Books. Contemporary reviewers considered ''Fifty Years'' to be the best available biography of Neill. They largely praised its clarity and biographical detail and insight, but found the book's philosophical sections comparatively weak and the author biased, as a former teacher from the school. == Overview== ''Fifty Years of Freedom'' is an intellectual biography of the British pedagogue A. S. Neill that traces the influence of Homer Lane, Wilhelm Reich, Sigmund Freud and others on his thought. Released fifty years after the school's founding, the book is a sociological and historical analysis that presents the development of Neill's "Summerhill idea"—the philosophy of his Summerhill School—in context of related social, political, educational, and intellectual trends. Hemmings himself saw the work as less of a biography than an analysis of Neill's ideas in development and of the outward reception of these ideas. The book was first published in England in 1972 by George Allen and Unwin as ''Fifty Years of Freedom: A Study of the Development of the Ideas of A. S. Neill'', and was later renamed ''Children's Freedom: A. S. Neill and the Evolution of the Summerhill Idea'' for its 1973 American publication by Schocken Books. The book includes photographs. The book follows the course of Neill's life sequentially from his youth in "rural, Calvinist Scotland" to the start of Summerhill between the two World Wars. Hemmings focuses on Neill's relation to education but also minds other biographical detail: the influence of Freudian psychoanalysis and Homer Lane's theories in the 1920s, and of Wilhelm Reich's psychological theories in the 1930s. Hemmings compares Neill's thought with that of Maria Montessori, Bertrand Russell, Fred Clarke, Erich Fromm, Susan Sutherland Isaacs, Benjamin Spock, and contemporaries Paul Goodman, Ivan Illich, R. D. Laing, and Herbert Marcuse. Compared to pedagogues such as Russell, who advocated for the inculcation of certain virtues in a child's education, Neill instead insisted that the child be left to make its own values and decisions apart from adult influence and manipulation. Hemmings also reviews the roles of freedom, authority, and anarchy throughout the maturation of Neill's thought. The final sections explain Summerhill's internal processes, philosophy, and position in both British and global social order. Hemmings contends that Summerhill has remained consistent to its principles while it cycled through roles as one of many 1920s educational experiments, a bastion in the 1930s, and an advocate for "children's freedom" throughout the post-World War II movement for informal' education". Hemmings conducted a study that surveyed 102 progressive heads—broadly defined—of infant, elementary, and secondary schools about Neill's influence. Their responses indicated that Neill had significant impact on how the profession perceived teacher–pupil relations. The respondents also reported significant influence from Neill on moral and sex education. Contrarily, Neill had little impact on school curriculum and classroom teaching methods. Hemmings received little response from heads of state comprehensive schools. Hemmings had previously taught at Summerhill. In 1973, he was Lecturer in Education at the University of Leicester. Other contemporaneous and significant biographies of Neill include Neill's autobiography (''Neill! Neill! Orange Peel!'', 1972) and Robert Skidelsky's Part Three of ''English Progressive Schools'' (1969). Jonathan Croall's ''Neill of Summerhill'' (1983) later cited Hemmings's book. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fifty Years of Freedom」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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