ABSTRACT
This chapter, the “heart” of this book, refers to Rational Schools, an innovative (but not new) milestone of rational education. The chapter kicks off with an introduction on the rational education values presented up to this section and continues with a historical account on rational schooling. More specifically, three legendary rational schools of the past and present including Francisco Ferrer’s Escuela Moderna (Modern School) in Barcelona, Spain (1901–1906), The Ferrer School in New York including its development in Stelton, New Jersey, USA (1911–1953) and the Walden Center and School in Berkeley, USA (1958–) are briefly but comprehensively described regarding their rational education processes and contents and their historical importance in paving the way for rational education. Additional rational or non-rational schools are briefly presented afterwards with an emphasis on the differences between rational education/schooling and “free” or progressive school movements like Neill’s Summerhill and Montessori’s pedagogical methods among others. A special account is then presented regarding Albert Ellis’s Living School in New York, USA (1971–1974) as a psychological experiment of rational education. Living School developed specific methods of applying rational education methods to children’s problems of living in the course of regular classroom activities. Its main purpose was to merge both academic and emotional education and render mental health as the milestone of school and lifelong learning. Although Living School was mostly about individual and school-based mental health, it is considered to be a rejuvenating factor of rational education that refueled the interest for emancipatory rational education under a socially moral values framework including solidarity, equality and fraternity. The chapter closes with a commentary on why rational education is historically important in today’s educational reality linking the past of rational schooling with the present and future of it. More specifically, the author highlights that, among other reasons, this is historically important because rational schools are progressive not only in terms of practices, as most contemporary liberal schools claim and may be, but because of their unique moral framework including a combination of individual and collective values that guide rational education of children leading to specific rational education practices. These practices are then presented in the next chapter.
