ABSTRACT
Schools with clearly defined boundaries which mark them off from society, encompassing and protective environments for the young, made good sense when the world was by definition evil and contaminating. The school takes on the appearance of an intellectually impoverished and socially deprived environment, stunting the development of the young, cutting them off from all vital and truly educative experiences whatsoever - especially opportunities for responsible, productive action. The counter-culture supports the values of sincerity and authenticity. At its centre is a quest for purity. Its most general term of abuse is 'garbage'. It extols naturalism, emotion rather than reason, art, and mutual aid. It approves mind-expanding drugs but rejects alcohol. In its extreme form it leads to bucolic retreatism. The school is then a clearing house, a co-ordinating mechanism; teachers phase and perhaps integrate a rich variety of educative episodes. Power and the Protestant Ethic which gives it sanctity or camouflage are central targets of the counter-culture.
