1st Edition
Education, Childhood and Anarchism Talking Colin Ward
As one of Britain's most original thinkers and writers Colin Ward wrote extensively about positive and practical examples from the past and present of the anarchist spirit or the 'social principle' in everyday life. This volume is the first scholarly work dedicated to examining the significance of his distinctive and highly relevant contributions to the areas of education, children and the environment.
In each chapter, international contributors from academic and activist backgrounds offer cross-disciplinary and critical perspectives on Ward's work and its relevance to contemporary debates. The book is divided into four key areas:
- The Sand Box of the City
- Adventures in Education
- Reflections on Practice
- Mobilisations.
This book will appeal to academics and professionals interested in the condition of childhood and youth today. It will prove useful for postgraduates and professionals undertaking further professional development, and is relevant to anyone studying, researching or working in fields relating to children, education and the environment not just in the UK but beyond.
Introduction Catherine Burke and Ken Jones Part 1: The Sand Box of the City The City as Instructor. Pedagogical Avant-Garde and Urban Literacy in Germany Around World War I Håkan Forsell. The City in the Child: Colin Ward, Urban Becoming and the Shift to Experience Simon Sleight. The City as a Classroom and the Street Children of New Dehli, India Pallawi Sinha and Catherine Burke. On The Street Where You Live: Colin Ward and Environmental Education Ken Worpole Part 2: Adventures in Education Education for Participation Eileen Adams. 'A Parable of the Way Things Ought to Be': Colin Ward, the Peckham Health Centre and the Se-Schooling Movement Emily Charkin. ‘Bringing Freedom to Education’ - Colin Ward, Alex Bloom and the Possibility of Radical Democratic Schools Michael Fielding. Playful Voices in Participatory Design: "Education can be a Creative Adventure…" Rosie Parnell and Maria Patsarika Part 3: Reflections on Practice Playwork: The Anarchy Wing of Sociology Marc Armitage. Children, Self-Governance and Citizenship Roger Hart. Design for Urban Play as an Anarchist Parable: Trans-Atlantic Reflections Robin Moore. The photograph as ‘Witness’ Pat Thomson. Part 4: Mobilisations Inciting Desire, Ignoring Boundaries, and Making Space Myrna Margulies Breitbart. The Practice of Radical Education, from the Welfare State to the Neo-Liberal Order Ken Jones. Play as Protest: Clandestine Moments of Disturbance and Hope Stuart Lester. Reclaiming Children’s Participation as an Empowering Social Process Barry Percy-Smith. Appendix: Articles by Colin Ward Published in the Bulletin of Environmental Education.
Biography
Catherine Burke is Reader in History of Childhood and Education at the University of Cambridge, UK.
Ken Jones is Professor of Education at Goldsmiths, University of London, UK.
"There has been much written on the late and great Colin Ward in the last decade. This finely crafted edited volume is one of the few attempts to focus on his interest in education, childhood and anarchism, in some ways the key to his political vision... This book shows that another city and countryside for youth and those young at heart like Colin Ward are possible." - Carl Levy, Anarchist Studies
