“Though neither of us realized it, I had been in school all that time. I had loosened up in every joint and expanded in every direction. I had done some reading…and then there was the music…Anyways, it was perfectly glorious for me. Though I am sure no one thought of it that way. I just happened to be there while they released their inside dreams.”

-Zora Neale Hurston, on her 18 months on the road with a traveling opera company

What experiments in alternative schools and alternatives-to-schools sound most interesting to you?

What perspectives or practices would you consider adapting from some of these models? What concerns or questions would you have for advocates of these philosophies?

Find someone you know who had or has experience in an alternative school — and maybe you have experience yourself to reflect on — and ask about that experience. What parts were different that in a conventional school and felt helpful or inspiring? What parts were difficult, concerning, or not actually so different from the norm?