{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/90627"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/90627","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"A libertarian approach to teaching reading","abstract":"As schooling becomes increasingly regulated, we often hear complaints to the effect that if only students and teachers had fewer constraints and requirements, they would be free to learn and to teach. In this thesis, I revisit an educational movement that attempted to abolish all constraints on children and students: libertarian educational theory. I consider the strengths and weaknesses of the libertarian approaches to education that were voiced in the 1960s and '70s, focusing on the writings of three representative libertarian educators: A. S. Neill, John Holt, and Ivan Illich. I then reframe the question of children's freedom in a non-dichotomous way by proposing that we think of freedom as agency-within-structure. This modified conception of freedom helps us recognize that freedom is not the mere absence of constraints, and in fact certain constraints are actually necessary to promote freedom. I argue that requiring all children to learn to read is just such a constraint, because in our society it is a prerequisite for the possibility of self-directed education. At the same time, even if it is not possible for all areas of learning to be optional, we can still teach those that are required in a way that is consistent with the goals of libertarian education. I close by exploring practical principles for a libertarian pedagogy of reading.","abstract_html":"As schooling becomes increasingly regulated, we often hear complaints to the effect that if only students and teachers had fewer constraints and requirements, they would be free to learn and to teach. In this thesis, I revisit an educational movement that attempted to abolish all constraints on children and students: libertarian educational theory. I consider the strengths and weaknesses of the libertarian approaches to education that were voiced in the 1960s and '70s, focusing on the writings of three representative libertarian educators: A. S. Neill, John Holt, and Ivan Illich. I then reframe the question of children's freedom in a non-dichotomous way by proposing that we think of freedom as agency-within-structure. This modified conception of freedom helps us recognize that freedom is not the mere absence of constraints, and in fact certain constraints are actually necessary to promote freedom. I argue that requiring all children to learn to read is just such a constraint, because in our society it is a prerequisite for the possibility of self-directed education. At the same time, even if it is not possible for all areas of learning to be optional, we can still teach those that are required in a way that is consistent with the goals of libertarian education. I close by exploring practical principles for a libertarian pedagogy of reading.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Comer, Emily"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.A.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Burbules, Nicholas C."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-07-07T19:57:48Z","date_published":"2016-07-07T19:57:48Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:34Z","subjects":["educational freedom","deschooling","libertarian educational theory","agency","structure","reading"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2016 Emily Comer"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90627","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Burbules, Nicholas C."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Comer, Emily"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2016-07-07T19:57:48Z","2016-04-27","2016-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["educational freedom","deschooling","libertarian educational theory","agency","structure","reading"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2016 Emily Comer"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90627"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["As schooling becomes increasingly regulated, we often hear complaints to the effect that if only students and teachers had fewer constraints and requirements, they would be free to learn and to teach. In this thesis, I revisit an educational movement that attempted to abolish all constraints on children and students: libertarian educational theory. I consider the strengths and weaknesses of the libertarian approaches to education that were voiced in the 1960s and '70s, focusing on the writings of three representative libertarian educators: A. S. Neill, John Holt, and Ivan Illich. I then reframe the question of children's freedom in a non-dichotomous way by proposing that we think of freedom as agency-within-structure. This modified conception of freedom helps us recognize that freedom is not the mere absence of constraints, and in fact certain constraints are actually necessary to promote freedom. I argue that requiring all children to learn to read is just such a constraint, because in our society it is a prerequisite for the possibility of self-directed education. At the same time, even if it is not possible for all areas of learning to be optional, we can still teach those that are required in a way that is consistent with the goals of libertarian education. I close by exploring practical principles for a libertarian pedagogy of reading.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2016-07-07 without embargo terms","The student, Emily Comer, accepted the attached license on 2016-04-22 at 15:19.","The student, Emily Comer, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2016-04-22 at 15:29.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2016-04-27 at 14:54.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #9445 on 2016-07-07 at 13:32:39","Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-07T19:57:48Z (GMT). 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I consider the strengths and weaknesses of the libertarian approaches to education that were voiced in the 1960s and '70s, focusing on the writings of three representative libertarian educators: A. S. Neill, John Holt, and Ivan Illich. I then reframe the question of children's freedom in a non-dichotomous way by proposing that we think of freedom as agency-within-structure. This modified conception of freedom helps us recognize that freedom is not the mere absence of constraints, and in fact certain constraints are actually necessary to promote freedom. I argue that requiring all children to learn to read is just such a constraint, because in our society it is a prerequisite for the possibility of self-directed education. At the same time, even if it is not possible for all areas of learning to be optional, we can still teach those that are required in a way that is consistent with the goals of libertarian education. I close by exploring practical principles for a libertarian pedagogy of reading.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2016-07-07 without embargo terms","The student, Emily Comer, accepted the attached license on 2016-04-22 at 15:19.","The student, Emily Comer, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2016-04-22 at 15:29.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2016-04-27 at 14:54.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #9445 on 2016-07-07 at 13:32:39","Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-07T19:57:48Z (GMT). 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