The Self-organizing Revolution

Book excerpt: Ron Miller has been involved with diverse educational alternatives for more than 25 years, as a teacher, researcher, activist, editor and author. In The Self-Organizing Revolution, he reflects deeply on his experiences and observations. He identifies five core principles that are shared by various groups of educational dissidents, and explains how a grassroots movement for educational transformation, grounded in these principles, is spontaneously emerging. The Self-Organizing Revolution explores the transition from the modern institution of mass schooling to a postmodern network of diverse learning options available to all young people. Miller wrestles with the philosophical, moral, and political questions that arise with the radical proposition that public schooling as we know it has become obsolete. He cautions against simplistic models of privatization and lays out an egalitarian, democratic, socially responsible program of decentralized education. This book is a manifesto for the educational alternatives movement. Transcending the specific methodologies used by different educational approaches, and bridging the divide between conventional "liberal" and "conservative" educational policies, Miller offers a unique, powerful vision of educational transformation.