ABSTRACT

At the time of writing, it is half a century since Donald Winnicott contributed to a conference on ‘The Future for Progressive Education’ in 1965. The title of his submission was Do progressive schools give too much freedom to the child? It is interesting to note that in the fifty years since Winnicott posed the question, not only have we failed to arrive at a consensus, but the matter has rarely left academe’s lips. As a contribution to the ongoing (and potentially irresolvable) discussion, this chapter is also an attempt to see if we can agree if Winnicott’s question remains pertinent, while regarding the part that power of responsibility and choice plays in educator/learner relationships.