Let’s clarify a few things:

Creativity isn’t just for the arts

It’s not just painters, dancers and writers who need to be creative. Everyone benefits from creativity, regardless of their field of interest. Business owners need creativity. They need to come up with new ideas for products that people will want to buy, as well as new ideas on how to organize the business so it runs efficiently. So when we say that Sudbury will help kids be creative, we’re not saying that this is just for artistic kids. Sudbury is for everyone. (And, incidentally, Sudbury kids grow up to be entrepreneurs at three times the rate of traditional kids.)

Freedom is not the same as spontaneity

Some people love to be spontaneous. Some people love to make plans. At Sudbury, we embrace all kinds! The lack of structure may make it sound like we only want spontaneous people (and indeed I often talk about “free-spirited kids”), but what we’re really aiming for is authenticity and self-direction. If a kid authentically enjoys making plans and sticking to them, then we’re happy to let them do that. The problem with traditional schools is not “structure” per se; it’s the fact that structure is coercively imposed. A structure that you choose for yourself, and which you can modify at any time, is vastly different from a structure which someone else forced upon you against your will.

In practice, Sudbury kids are a lot more spontaneous than traditional kids. But they choose that for themselves; we don’t force it on them. That’s’ what freedom is all about.