How To Start You Own School

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At length someone had the idea of letting the ticket conductor sit down; he had already been stroked several times, albeit with some reserve, because he was an official. No sooner had this idea been expressed when combined forces pushed him down into a seat, and he was stroked with such rapidity that he threatened the many people crowding him if they did not at least let him pull the signal cord for the streetcar to proceed.

They reached the next stop, which was the busiest transfer point in town, and this was where everybody got off. They assembled together outside and waved to the conductor; the elegant gentleman even tossed him a rather large bill. They exchanged addresses, so that finally everybody had everybody else's address.

During all this they continued to stroke one another undisturbed, and the first people who had to leave stroked the strangers they met in the street. But these people did not understand, got angry, said something about liquor and lunatics, and the next passers-by who were stroked by the ex-passengers even blazed into fight with them. This so intimidated the ex-streetcar group that they no longer dared to stroke one another's faces, but only stroked hands, and when Eric did stroke the cheek of the young lady who had sat first next to him and then next to the woman with the bundle, she even slapped his face.

That ended it all. The only things left were a few slips with addresses which people had dropped, as well as a few visiting cards, and even these scattered when a light breeze blew over them.

Ideafor a Sequence

Center yourself, locate your culture, your context. Center your efforts there. Ignoring common premises and values cuts you off from your most basic source of strength, energy and pleasure.

(Such efforts can be abstract bummers—but they needn't be. There are authentic expressions, and phony expressions.)

Get into it all the way. Is your coming together rooted only in rejection of public schools? And the dominant culture as well? Great, but to what extent are you still dependent on it? And so on. (Schools for those who feel their deepest values have been outraged by public schools tend to be the most energetic in exploring—but not necessarily living—alternatives).

Share goals. Merely breaking out is not creating. The goals are so often new, so beyond what we can express—sometimes because of the joy of it, sometimes because of the fear. Sometimes words just don't work.

But what do you really want? For yourself. For your children. Is your coming together for the purpose of finding a secret agenda for the future? Have your goals gone beyond the restraints of how you were taught—how you learned about learning? (It's ok to have wild goals. They'll change anyway if you let them.)

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