I have noticed over the past twenty years that whenever we have a large celebration, and we demonstrate this proof through projecting upon the wall the thousands of photographs taken over the years, all night long, people notice something curiously remarkable. No matter the year, no matter the students, and no matter the teachers…think about this…certain realities show up consistently. It is due to our philosophy, our vision. The realities displayed are clear. One is our intention to meet the needs of individuals, including their liberty—to develop autonomy, and the freedom of initiative and decision making, combined with self-responsibility.

Another persistent reality is our capitalization on students’ innate curiosity to produce intense engagement in their learning activities. Another crucial reality is our focus on the need for individuals to honor the rights of others—this basic core of mutual respect creates authentic and meaningful relationships, the ability to engage in reciprocal problem solving, and joy. Another is our focus on giving children visibility and nurturance to produce excellence in learning outcomes, self-awareness and emotional intelligence. People often comment, “The kids were happy!” All of these consistent realities are rare! Especially joy. Joy takes the precondition of trust, and trust only comes when mutual respect, kindness and empathy are present; in large school settings, this is difficult to achieve. But then, Banbury is both small in overall size, and in class size. In all aspects of its very nature, we create the conditions for joy to flourish. And learning while in an emotional state of joy is deeply embedded in the learner. So yes, the initial vision is intact.

This leads me to the question of how we have chosen to fulfill our vision...in other words, our methods. The first one is our Self-Directed Learning (SDL) model, which creates individuals who must show resourcefulness, self-regulation, respect, consideration, kindness, and self-responsibility. Emphasizing experiential and real-world learning wholly serves the SDL model. Our foundational principle of mutual respect is exhibited in allowing our students to work where they are really at—which means that we must group them vertically, rather than horizontally, so that they will not be penalized by being either ahead or behind their age cohorts. Vertical grouping means that we must use a tutorial, student-paced approach, rather than a lecture-based, teacher-paced approach. Since we do this, we must have small numbers per teacher, and this is one of our most special features—our ratio of 8 to 10 students per class. Teachers have time to devote to satisfying the academic, emotional and social needs of each student.

Indeed, there have been many times when I have noticed that some people stop listening to my spiel about the school after they hear about its small size. That’s all they needed to hear. They may skip over other crucial philosophical aspects, because at the core of it, our small size is what they want. It is one of our most rare and amazing qualities. Having 8 to 10 students per class is extremely unusual in all the world. And if we pair our size with our Self-Directed Learning focus, we are doubly rare. A number of other practices are outgrowths of these educational intentions. We enable students to engage in flexible scheduling and personalized programming, an interactive learning environment, a collaborative teaching environment, authentic assessment, continuous progress and mastery learning. What we are doing here is astounding in the world of schooling.

Although the vision and basic methods have not changed over the years, the major thing that has changed is the amount of extensive experience we have gathered—we now are confident that this vision, and these methods, are effective and efficient. We fully realize that this is a most excellent way to guide and conduct schooling for our youth. We also appreciate the sense of community that emerges from working together, and collaboratively carrying our inspiration into action, to make all of this happen. This began as one person gaining ideas from others, then turning around and inspiring more teachers, parents and students. The spread of inspiration has led to what occurs here now, every day, and it is extraordinary.

I just love it! Every day for 43 years, I have loved watching young people explore the real world around them, and explore their talents and interests within them, as they grow and morph into young adults with bright and eager eyes. Their new skills and knowledge suffuse them with self-confidence and a quiet sense of dignity. They naturally want to contribute to this fascinating world that, actually, very much needs their passion and persistence and problem solving. These students’ early experiences of caring mentorship and nurturance lead to the optimism that defines a “happy childhood”. Just today, I saw children dance with abandon and unself-consciousness to our early Friday morning music. Every day, young ones skip down the hallway, and older ones come to realize that they are safe here to interact comfortably and respectfully. We are giving our youth the opportunity to develop social and emotional intelligence in a supportive environment where they are acknowledged as individuals. We encourage them to empower themselves through rational and moral analysis and decision-making. Our students learn through both success and failure; they grow resilient. I believe that this is a healthy way for young people to experience their schooling.

I am the guardian of this opportunity, fully devoted to providing this setting for young people to pursue their education. I want this opportunity to continue on beyond my lifetime. So, on this 43rd Anniversary, I am celebrating. I knew from the beginning that I was in this for the long term, but I must tell you that I feel a great deal of satisfaction to realize that this endeavour has suffused my entire adult life with a deep sense of purpose and fulfillment. I know that what is happening here is good, by any definition. I am also aware that my actions have actually mattered in significant ways to all of the students and teachers and parents who have participated in this great venture. I have had to be very accountable. I have had to be humble and patient, yet courageous. Moreover, in empowering students and teachers to show initiative, I am aware of their individual power, as well as my own. I have been happy to realize that I actually created the environment within which I work. Every teacher here is in the same position. Every student here creates their own life. I feel very proud that we are a group of people living with self-awareness, and an internal locus of control. Everyone in this community needs to be keenly aware of the relationship between cause and effect, which assists our ability to predict consequences and act with wisdom. I see every one of us demonstrating a powerful sense of hope for the future, since we are all creating that future every single day. Cheers! Let us celebrate!