Lots of letters, including one from Alan Berger, Director of the Brooklyn Free School, to the editor of the New York Times City Section.
To the Editor:
"I’d build a free school everywhere,"
replied several students to the morning circle question at Brooklyn
Free School. One wonders why they would want such a thing after reading
"Land of the Free" (May 7). Your article missed the joy and investment
that all Brooklyn Free School members have in this learning community.You depicted a school where students seemed bored and unhappy, parents
were nervous and critical, and only students from "well-educated"
families thrive. Nothing could be further from the truth.Students
wake their parents up to go to school and are cajoled into leaving come
dismissal. Parents are brought to tears knowing their children are
finally appreciated for who they are, and are happy and empowered.
Students of all ages, abilities and backgrounds live and learn together
with a real stake in their own education and community. Students have
the gift of time; no bells or tests limit the studies they pursue or
the freedom to ask "why?"Alan P. Berger
Director, Brooklyn Free School
Park Slope, Brooklyn
This letter was also signed by the other staff members of the Brooklyn Free School.•
To the Editor:
We have an 11-year-old daughter at the Brooklyn
Free School and a 14-year-old son applying for the fall. One important
factor never mentioned in your article "Land of the Free" is the
spirit-crushing state of education offered by every other school in the
city.After years of watching our children become increasingly
bored, disillusioned and overworked, all for test prep and busy work,
we’re delighted to see our daughter come home from school excited about
learning, feeling powerful and in charge, and finally having time to be
a child rather than a future middle manager.Sara Bennett
Joseph Holmes
Park Slope, Brooklyn•
To the Editor:
In your article about the Brooklyn Free School,
the founder, Alan Berger, gets it right: "If you learn how to learn,
you can always pick up the content later." Mr. Berger gets several
other things right by allowing students to take ownership of their
curriculum and to allow them to teach one another.In my
practice as an instructor in a graduate program for teachers, I have
been known to say, "If I ran a school, there would be no classes, no
tests and no grades." This leads into a discussion, often heated, about
many current edu-speak buzzwords: alternative assessment,
child-centered curriculum, project-based learning and the like. In Mr.
Berger’s vision, we see the seemingly impossible: a school with none of
the standard-issue approaches to assessment. I applaud his efforts.Al Doyle
Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn•
To the Editor:
Engaged students can and should take a leading
role in both the form and the content of our education. Yet the
Brooklyn Free School takes this goal to an extreme, sacrificing
practical skills and knowledge in the process.The school I attend, Bard High School Early College, provides a more realistic compromise.
It
offers several seminar-style classes in which, at the start of each new
text, portions of the readings are divided up among the students and
each of us then takes on the responsibility of presenting our reading
to the class, taking the text in whatever direction we desire.Give
students engaging subject matter and place them in charge of where they
want to take it. An engaged student body need not come at the expense
of reading, writing and arithmetic.Stephen Kahn Bonnett
Park Slope, Brooklyn•
To the Editor:
As a parent of a student at the Brooklyn Free
School, I have a very simple way of evaluating how well the school is
working for my daughter.I work out of my home, and every
morning at 9 my daughter drags me out of the house with excitement and
enthusiasm so that she won’t be late for the morning meeting.How many parents can say that about their children?
Blake Holden
Park Slope, Brooklyn