James Herndon
(1926-1990)
The Ovid of that generation of teacher-writer-activists (Kohl, Dennison, Holt, Kozal, Goodman, etc.) who began in the 60's and into the present decade to bring the practices and principles of "open education" to America's public schools. Like Ovid, his irreverence and wit is subversive which made him a great teacher and an engaging writer. How to Survive in Your Native Land and The Way it's Spoozed to Be are two books written with a humor that understands the tragic nature of life lived honorably. They are important books that matter because good teaching will always matter; especially how we celebrate the work of bringing joy and understanding into the lives of children.
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The real question is: what that school that he and Kohl speculated on opening would have been like... Or in the realm of the social imagination: what it could be.