by Robb Johnson
PM Press
10/1/2020, paperback
SKU: 9781629637952
There once was a time when teachers and communities were able to exercise democratic control over their schools. Now that power has been taken away, both centralized and privatized, under the guise of "reform." Robb Johnson entered the classroom as a new teacher in the 1980s and has spent a lifetime alongside his pupils encouraging both creativity and a healthy distrust of authority. In The People's Republic of Neverland, Robb Johnson details how we ended up with the contemporary mass education systems and explains why they continually fail to give our children what they need. Combining practical experience as a teacher with detailed pedagogical knowledge and a characteristic playful style, Johnson is both court chronicler and jester, imparting information and creatively admonishing the self-important figureheads of the reform agenda. This book shows that schools and education are contested spaces that need to be reclaimed from the state and turned into places where people can grow not up or old, but as individuals.
Reviews:
“I have rarely seen a book that is so embedded in what education is for and that then directs the reader to how to pursue the goals, in practice and at all levels of school infrastructure so that the way schools are structured adds to the goodness of society.” —Marcelo Staricoff, author of Start Thinking, fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching, and former headteacher
“The People’s Republic of Neverland: The Child versus the State by Robb Johnson shows the stark reality of the current situation for education. Education is at a crossroads, and this book comes at an important time raising awareness and exposing the flaws in our current system. Read this, and then join the campaign to fight for a fairer, fully funded, comprehensive education system!” —Louise Regan, ex-president of National Education Union (UK)
About the Author:
Robb Johnson has worked as a classroom teacher by day and a songwriter by night since 1980.