Reddit mentions of Talking Schools

Education has always been a central concern of anarchists. This is one of my main areas of interest. I don't have a ton of time to write a detailed response at the moment, but this should get you started.

Francisco Ferrer (not to be confused with Paolo Friere) established La Escuela Moderna in Catalonia, Spain in 1901. Ferrer was an anarchist, and aspired to establish a school that would teach people to be rational, autonomous, free thinking beings. The Wikipedia article is, unfortunately, very inadequate and ungenerous. Ferrer commissioned scientists and intellectuals to produce a series of textbooks for the school that would be free from received dogma and would foster the development of rationality and critical skills in students. Ferrer was executed in 1909. His execution shocked people around the world, and inspired many to take up his pedagogical aspirations.

This catalyzed the Modern School movement in the United States, which flourished in the early 20th century. Here Wikipedia does better. There exists also a very wonderful book on the subject by the anarchist historian Paul Avrich. The book is called The Modern School Movement: Anarchism and Education in the United States, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

The Modern School movement died down a bit, but the free school movement picked up where the latter left off. Again, don't have much time, so I'll simply point you in the direction of relevant Wikipedia articles:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudbury_school
  
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudbury_valley_school
  
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summerhill_School
  
  Finally, a really great book on anarchism and education is Colin Ward's Talking Schools. Ward died last week.
  
  I have tons of resources on anarchism and education.. Most of it unfortunately very western-centric. I love discussing the topic. I hope this post generates some interest.