Soren Hansen - The Little Red Schoolbook

the
little
red
schoolbook

the
little
red
schoolbook

Sren Hansen and Jesper Jensen
translated from Danish by Berit Thornberry

The Little Red Schoolbook

First published in the UK in 1971 by stage 1

This original and uncensored edition, with additional material, published by Pinter & Martin 2014.

Published in arrangement with Sren Hansen and the estate of Jesper Jensen.

1969, 1970, 2014 Sren Hansen and the estate of Jesper Jensen

Foreword 2014 Sren Hansen

Print edition ISBN 978-1-78066-130-8

Original Danish edition published by Hans Reitzels Forlag A/S, Copenhagen, title Den lille rde bog for skoleelever

All rights reserved. No part of this publication apart from short extracts for review and comment may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Research and footnotes for 2014 edition by Helen Bilton

Pinter & Martin would like to thank Sren Hansen, Vibecke Aagaard, Ingrid Moore, Kevin Smith and Geraldine Homewood, as well as Richard Handyside and the original team behind the first UK publication of this book.

Based on a design by Ian Escott

Printed in the EU by Hussar Books

Forty-five years is a long time and much has changed in the world since this book was originally written. Many things havent changed, however, and this is one of the reasons why we have reprinted this book exactly as it was written. This way you can see the original text, as it was intended to be read.

There are a couple of places where we have changed a word because the word in the text would not be understood now these are marked in the footnotes. There are very few of these, however most of what you will see was in the original. We have removed outdated contact details and addresses, and updated them where appropriate.

Wherever we think there has been a change from what the book says, we have researched more up-to-date information and then added the newer information in footnotes at the bottom of the page. We hope you will find it interesting to see what has, and has not, changed in the time since this book was first written.

The original text refers throughout to he and uses words like headmaster. Weve left them like that so you can get a flavour of the original, but you should be aware that these days we would write with less gender-specific language, using headteacher and he/she.

The book refers to several books and publications and quotes prices (in pennies!). Since the collapse of the Net Book Agreement in 1997 prices of books are not fixed so you couldnt do that any more in a similar book. Most of the publications mentioned in this book are still available second-hand though some of them are now rather expensive.

Over forty years ago, the UK publisher of The Little Red Schoolbook was successfully prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act, a decision that was upheld by the Appeal Court and subsequently by the European Court of Human Rights (although 17,000 copies were already in circulation!). A second, censored edition was then published, but has long been out of print.

We hope this republication of the original text helps in a small way to draw attention to this largely forgotten book, which we feel in many ways is still very relevant today.

When Jesper Jenson and I first published The Little Red Schoolbook in 1969 it was a protest against the Victorian/authoritarian school system with its robotic discipline. The book was mostly read by teachers and parents, but it was also widely enjoyed by students, from Japan in the East to Mexico in the West. To satisfy public demand it was translated into twenty languages. In Australia the government was on the brink of being overturned. The Pope condemned it as immoral. The publisher in Greece was jailed for daring to bring it to the public. The UK Authorities confiscated the book at the publishers office. The publisher took his case to the European Court of Human Rights, but lost.

Fortunately today, the Victorian/authoritarian school is no more. More sophisticated methods to discipline and standardise children have been carefully put into place. Children have been placed into a competitive arena. Education is no longer a personal process of forming a child into an adult. Now it is examination, classification, a standardised curriculum, intellectualisation, league tables, etc. Gone are the creative subjects. It is Beat your buddy. The pupils are the losers.

Unfortunately, I still believe the book is needed.

Sren Hansen, 2014