Chris Mercogliano

Chris Mercogliano is an American author who writes about alternative education. He was a teacher at the Albany Free School for thirty-five years and stepped down as director in June, 2007 to concentrate on writing and speaking about non-controlling education and childrearing.

His essays, commentaries and reviews have appeared in numerous publications, as well as in four anthologies: Challenging the Giant (Down to Earth Books 1992), Deschooling Our Lives (New Society Press 1996), Creating Learning Communities (Foundation for Educational Renewal 2000), and Field Day: Getting Society Out of School (New Star Books 2003). He is also the author of Making It Up As We Go Along: The Story of the Albany Free School (Heinemann 1998), Teaching the Restless: One School's Remarkable No-Ritalin Approach to Helping Children Learn and Succeed (Beacon Press 2004), How to Grow a School: Starting and Sustaining Schools That Work (Oxford Village Press 2006), and In Defense of Childhood: Protecting Kids’ Inner Wildness (Beacon Press 2007).

Currently Chris is a regular columnist for Encounter magazine. He has been featured on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered," Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Radio's "Ideas", and other nationally syndicated radio shows. The father of two wonderful daughters, he lives with his wife Betsy on a 1-acre (4,000 m²) farm in downtown Albany, New York.

Beliefs

Drawing on his experiences as an educator in America's oldest inner-city alternative school, Mercogliano's writings focus on the need for learning to occur at the pace of the child, and according to their own interests and desires. Students at the Albany Free School are not coerced into learning subjects or skills; rather, the teachers at the school act as facilitators, providing support to students in a safe and nurturing environment.

He is also critical of the overuse of biopsychiatric medication to suppress hyperactive children. Mercogliano's writings on his dealings with at-risk children stress the need for a school and the community to explore a variety of actions geared towards addressing the issues that might be causing a child distress, be they social or emotional.

Bibliography

• Mercogliano, Chris (1998). Making It Up As We Go Along: The Story of the Albany Free School. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. ISBN 0-325-00043-3
• Mercogliano, Chris (2003). Teaching the Restless: One School's Remarkable No-Ritalin Approach to Helping Children Learn and Succeed. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. ISBN 0-8070-3257-3
• Mercogliano, Chris (2006). How to Grow a School: Starting and Sustaining Schools That Work. New York, NY: Oxford Village Press. ISBN 0-9457-0006-7
• Mercogliano, Chris (2007). In Defense of Childhood: Protecting Kids' Inner Wildness. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. ISBN 0-8070-3286-2

External links

• http://www.chrismercogliano.com - The personal website of Chris Mercogliano, with a complete bibliography and links to articles and essays.
• http://www.freeschoolmovie.com - The website for Free to Learn, a 2006 documentary created about the Albany Free School.
• http://www.aeroconference.com - An annual conference Chris conducts workshops at and has keynoted. It is organized by one of his former students.