Making It Up as We Go Along: The Story of the Albany Free School

By Chris Mercogliano

Book Overview

Grades K - 5 Making It Up as We Go Along is the story of the Albany Free School, a school based on real freedom, real community, real democratic principles, and real affection between teachers and students. There, for over twenty-five years Chris Mercogliano has taught a never-ending variety of children-kids of all ages from every race and social class, from those with developmental and behavioral problems to the so-called "gifted." Thanks to this ongoing experiment in education, one of the longest running of its kind in America, Mercogliano has come to understand how children learn and above all, how important autonomy and authenticity are to the learning process. There is no preset methodology to describe because Mercogliano and his students make it up as they go along. What the author does do is render into words some of the possibilities that abound when teachers and students learn together in an atmosphere of freedom, personal responsibility, and mutual respect. His book debunks many of the misconceptions about teaching and learning, including the belief that education requires a lot of money, sophisticated technology, and extensive specialized teacher training. Mercogliano wrote this book with three broad goals in mind: to provide an in-depth history of the Free School, including a brief analysis of its place in the broader scheme of things; to describe the school in a way that is meaningful to both those who have some point of reference to the various alternatives to conventional schooling and those who do ? and to address certain fundamental subjects that are too often neglected in our national thinking about children: aggression, sexuality, race/class, and spirituality. In the process, he proves that teachers can help all students pursue their genius and their dreams through the union of self-direction, excitement, joy, and emotional honesty.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0325000433
• ISBN13: 9780325000435
• Release Date: April 1998
• Publisher: Heinemann Educational Books
• Length: 136 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.1" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 5 to 10 years
• Grade Range: Kindergarten to Grade 5

Customer Reviews

Every parent and teacher should read this!

This is a fascinating and inspiring book. It leads you to question the education system as a whole and specifically the classrooms you or your children enter every day. Mercogliano writes in an easy style and tells the story in an engaging way. Give a copy of this to your local administrators and your state legislators.

Inspirational...

This book has inspired many in the free school movement. I work at a democratic school in brazil, and all the educators have read this book, it is also being used in pedagogcial studies in the University of Sao Paulo. This is a must read for all educators and people interested in allowing children to be free!

Inspiring Alternative Education brilliantly depicted

This book takes you into the heart and soul of an inner city free school. It's a beautiful human story about love and courage. It's also an excellent example of an ongoing experiment in real living and learning, real in the sense of actual, effective and happening. The school is free in two ways. You can go there without paying and rules are not prescribed. Chris Mercogliano does an excellent job of showing us both sides of this coin. If you're a parent, grandparent or soon to be a parent read this book!