Leonard Turton is a teacher at Summerhill with experience of running democratic state schools in Canada.

Author of "Clubhouse Democracy"

“Adults quite often judge kid timelines in an unrealistic manner. How many adults have a hobby, or start a project, or begin a book – or several books at once – and then get sidetracked? Or simply put something away for a while and go back to it, or, having tried something, decide that they do not wish to continue? That type of ‘doing’ is normal unless you are being clock timed or deadline timed.

“Kids will often begin, say, a cardboard castle, then leave it… then a few weeks later, as if it was the next day, come back and begin to work on it again. The same in our writing workshop. Stories will be started, given up, and then returned to very naturally the next term. There are all types of independent doing, and independent taking part and they all show something to each person as they engage in each thing.

“At a free school, over time, kids get to see the difference between quick passions abandoned and others continued, lessons attended regularly or sporadically, commitment to others to complete a project by a certain time for a reason and so on. How many times do adults think they have a passion and then, after trying, decide that it was a bit of a pumped up illusion ? Kids do the same and it’s a good thing to experience.”

Leonard Turton