This book introduces six pedagogues from the German context to an English-speaking audience, and demonstrates their significant contribution to the field of alternative education. First and foremost, the authors emphasise the importance of understanding the history of education, to realise that in fact what we understand as 'normal' today is by no means the only course history could have taken. The quest for alternative ways of schooling goes back to the late eighteenth century, where educational thinkers advocated various approaches in the face of rapid societal change. The chosen six thinkers are not well known in the English-speaking scientific community, and some are even infrequently cited in the German context. In offering an historic and systematic introduction to concepts that can frame Alternative Education in different ways, this book allows the reader to critically reevaluate present forms of education by using the past as a mirror.

This book examines the European discussion about alternative schooling in the 20th century. It refers to a stream of concepts that are often described as New Education, Progressive Education, Education Nouvelle or Reformpadagogik, and discusses a range of different models of alternative schooling. Exploring the works of a range of continental educational philosophers, including Lietz, Blonsky, Kerschensteiner, Freinet, Decroly and Petersen, the book offers a unique insight into texts not yet translated into English. These educational models are presented with regards to the biographical background of the authors; the crucial elements of their construction; the historical interconnections between schooling, society and culture; and finally their connection to today's discussions in educational sciences. The book will be highly relevant for researchers and advanced students working on the theory, history and practice of schooling, particularly those with a focus on alternative schooling and the philosophy of education.