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Wednesday, December 08, 1999

Sudbury Assimilation

I attended the school and staff meetings today. By the end of the meetings, I was participating and opinionating along with the rest of them as if I'd been here all along, or almost so. I've volunteered to be on the PR committee, and am on schedule to staff a couple of days next week.

One of the staff members, Rochelle, impressed me with her introspective reflections of her own interactions with the children--she caught herself praising the children and realized that in doing so she was really stealing their thunder. It's quite refreshing to be around people who prefer the Real to the Kind (a distinction drawn by one of the main Sudbury authors). It is so unusual, for instance, to hear someone say it is better to leave someone to be their own judge than to praise them for their accomplishments. This is the way I've always felt and behaved, but it's something I've always been chastised for.

My skepticism prevents me from expecting too much of these people, but so far I am very impressed with most of them. We shall see.

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