This Magazine is About Schools
Index Page

    This Magazine is About Schools was a popular magazine which started publishing in Toronto in 1966. It was a strong advocate for new approaches to education, including free schools, alternative schools, and later, community schools jointly controlled by teachers, students, parents, and local residents. With a number of alternative schools being established in Toronto at that time, This Magazine is About Schools was not only a source of inspiration but also the forum by which a wider audience gained information about their progress.

    This Magazine is About Schools was strongly socialist in orientation, and its aim was to transform education away from an alienating, standardized curriculum tied to the industrial-capitalist function of turning out dutiful worker-employees. Instead, the magazine advocated for an educational experience connected to the personal authenticity and self-determination of students, with new values for living reinforced by the classroom milieu. The larger goal of the magazine was to connect education to the wider movement for community-control over socio-political issues.

    This Magazine is About Schools was widely read around the world because it was one of the few magazines highlighting current innovative thinking about education, with a focus on individual student needs.

    In 1973, the magazine changed its focus, name, and appearance, becoming simply This Magazine, and later, THIS, reflecting its move to a larger range of political and cultural topics. It is still published in Toronto. This index only covers the period 1966 to 1972, when the publication was called This Magazine is About Schools.

    The Connexions Archive holds an almost-complete collection of issues of This Magazine is About Schools.


Spring 1966 Vol 1, No. 1
Content Title Author
Electronics and the Psychic Drop-out Marshall McLuhan
Radical Private Schools:
A dialogue with Maria Montessori and A.S. Neill		 -
High School: No Place to Find Who You Are George Martell
If You Can't Love Them ... You Can't Teach Them:
The Warrendale Experience		 -


1966 Volume 1, No. 2
Content Title Author
Ceremonies of Humiliation in School Edgar Z. Friedenberg
A Teacher's Journal from Kelwood, Manitoba James Deacove
Gracefield Public School, an experiment without fanfare
(with photographic essay)		 Davis & Reichmann
The Year They Taught The Telephone Directory Harmin & Simon


Autumn 1967 Volume 1, No. 4
Title Author
Content Teaching Under Seige Marion Malcolm
Poems from Harlem Victor Hernandez Cruz
& Michael Ventura
Claptrap, Pomposity, and all that Alan Rimmer
Nihilism or Instanity:
The Strange Life of Ichabod OISE		 Matt Cohen
Find Ourselves & Find Reality Hopefully:
letter home from Quaker school student		 -
In Defense of The O.I.S.E. Michael B. Katz
Wisdom in the Universities George Grant
Contact Michael Mason
Exstasia - Poems Doug Chalmers
Easier Shelved Than Done Marjaleena Repo-Davis
The Psychiatrist: A Policeman in the Schools Thomas Szasz, M.D.
Three Films:Reviewed and Discussed Ian Porter


Spring 1968 Volume 2, No. 2
Content Title Author
Responses to Davis on Bereiter John Holt
Will it live in a milk carton?
City Kids Discover Nature		 Alan Dyson
Poems Satu Repo
Principal's Authority:
An Interview with Edgar Friedenberg		 -
Desiderata Art Work by Miff Phillips
The O.C.A. Affair:
Getting the Stiffs off the Property		 Paul Young
Therapy and the Powerless, Part 2:
Mrs. Timbrell and the Social Work Profession		 Satu Repo
Professor of Humanities Richard Summer
Two Reviews Robert Davis


Summer 1968 Volume 2, No. 3
Content Title Author
Editorial:
What Ever Happened to Kirlov's Leaf		 Bob Davis
The Student Rebellions Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Rudi Dutschke, Paul Hoch
Some Children are Called 'Backward':
Poems from "English for the Rejected"		 David Holbrook
The Morning Mr. Spelina's Great-Great-Grandfather
Danced All Night at the Ball		 A short story
by John Chambers
On Teaching Weaving S.A. Zelinski
The Hard Soft School Anthony Barton
The Teacher as Lover Mervyn I. Cadwallader
Review of Young Radicals by Kenneth Keniston Satu Repo


Autumn 1968 Volume 2, No. 4
Content Title Author
Editorial Bob Davis
Inside a Model School: 'Outside Agitators' Blamed
for Causing Student Unrest		 Barry Zwicker
and David Barker
Cabbagetown: Filmmakers and Streetworkers Introduction by
George Martell
1. Parliament Street: A film directed by Clay Borris Photo Essay by John Phillips
2. I Get By with a Little Help from My Friends Conversations with
detached workers
Adopt a University Marshall McLuhan
In Harlem Two poems from a student newspaper
The Emergence of Rock Albert Goldman
Pieces of 'The Way it Spozed to be' James Herndon
Seed Gail Gibson
From Authoritarianism to Totalitarianism:
Two Winniipeg Schools		 Jim Harding
Travelling with Children and Travelling On Bill Ayers
Participatory Bureaucracy and the Hall-Dennis Report Sarah Spinks


Winter 1968 Volume 2, No. 5
Content Title Author
If you use it to hurt somebody, then it's a weapon:
Alarmist notes on Carl Bereiter		 Robert Davis
Poems Dennis Lee
Dear Mike . . . Michael Berger
Wisdom in the Universities, Part II George Grant
Watching my Children Watching TV Satu Repo
Getting to Rochdale Dennis Lee
On Being Attentive Selections from Simone Weil
the muse abused Doug Chalmers
The Student as Nigger + Teaching Johnny to Walk Jerry Farber


Winter 1969 Volume 3, No. 1
Content Title Author
Before Browndale Bob Davis
What Do Schools Do? Edgar Friedenberg
Seizing Power Brian Wilson
Soft Boxes in hard Schools Anthony Barton
There Are No Flowers Barry Charles
Liberaton of Women Laurel Limpus
Physics Course is Equipment-Oriented James Brimhall
The Humanities and Inhumanities Louis Kampf
A Passion to Learn Paul West


Spring 1969 Volume 3, No.2
Content Title Author
Letter to the Editor about "Before Browndale" Gayle Hollins
Childhood in an Indian Village Wilfred Pelletier
The Child I Was Gail Ashby
Adolescence and the Apocalypse Peter Marin
Sons and Lovers Rick Hornsey
The Baldwin Street Club Laura Phillips
Restructuring the University Staughton Lynd
State Shut Down Tight Todd Gitlin


Summer 1969 Volume 3, No. 3
Content Title Author
What Can I Do Right Now? Notes from Point Blank School on the Canadian Dilemma George Martell
You Need Imagination in the Hole Charlie Macdougal
Sugar 'n Spice Sarah Spinks
Out of Your Mind: The New Anarchy, A Review Satu Repo
Open Politics and Community Staughton Lynd
The Chocolate Children Anthony Barton
Going to Chicago Jim Allen


Autumn 1969 Volume 3, No. 4
Content Title Author
Names, Graffiti and Culture Herbert Kohl
The World of Nigel Hunt Mif Phillips
A Reply to Martell's "Canadian Dilemma" Marjaleena Repo
George Martell Writes George Martell
Where's the School? Everdale goes to Milwaukee Bob Davis
Sitting on the Bookshelf Bob Minden
Mr. Mosey is a Paper Tiger: An Interview with Judy Dexter Sarah Spinks
The English Speak English and the Zucaninos Zulan Zucanino John Carroll


Winter 1970 Volume 4, No. 1
Content Title Author
It's Lovely to Live on a Raft Paulette Jiles
Memo to Headquarters Satu Repo
High School: A Movie Review Pauline Kael
A Taste of Better Things - PSA at SFU Mordecai Briemberg
The Death of Beatle Paul Satu Repo
The Continuum Anthony Barton
Dreaming in the Beds of Academe:
The Rochdale Experience		 Sarah Spinks
Running Michael Spino
Education in the Branch-Plant Economy Melville Watkins


Spring 1970 Volume 4, No. 2
Content Title Author
Trailing the Founders, Part I: On Being a Second-Generation Bruder Philip Hazelton
The Free People Peter Marin
World News Across the Nation Didi Herman
CEGEPs, Charlebois, Chartrand:
The Quebec Revolution Now		 An Interview with Dimitri Roussopoulos
Schools, Language and the National Liberation Struggle Stan Gray
Two Classes Miriam Wasserman
Keeping Our Politics Sensual Sarah Spinks
Application to Everdale Bill Goldfinch
Life with me Greenaway Tod Greenaway


Summer 1970 Volume 4, No. 3
Content Title Author
Community Control of the Schools:
In New York and Toronto		 George Martell
Trailing the Founders, part 2 Philp Hazelton
Trying to Teach Canadian History Bob Davis
Mirage Montage David Grey
Shall We Copy the Russians A Review by Satu Rapo
She Was Stan's Girl Sharon Wolfson


Fall 1970 Volume 4, No. 4
Content Title Author
An Ojibwa Girl in the City Edna Manitouwabi
Indians and Babies: Some OISE Projects Sarah Spinks
Hogtown with Chopsticks Robert Medhurst
Teaching and Rebellion at Union Springs Patricia Michaels
Dreams in Collision Robert Medhurst
Parents in the School:
Community Control in Harlem		 -
Letters from Goodman, Dennison and Davis, Martell and Repo


Winter 1971 Volume 5, No. 1
Content Title Author
The Shield is Gone Eric Mann
The Professionalization of History Mark Phillips and Ken Dewar
Do Children have a culture of their own? An interview with Richard Lewis
Student Protest in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Pauline Janitch
White Niggers of America:
The Boyhood of Pierre Vallières		 Pierre Vallières
The Business of the Country is Selling Out the Country
(the sale of the Ryerson Press and other things)		 Milton Acorn
Culture Shock in a Vancouver Suburb Jim Harding
The Politics of Subterfuge:
Year's End at the Toronto Board		 Loren Lind


Spring 1971 Volume 5, No. 2
Content Title Author
Everytime a North American Indian Begins to Disappear,
I Begin to Disappear		 Wilfred Pelletier
Poem - The Revolt Martin Gneimer
The Importance of Being Different David Stansfield
Childbirth as Ceremony Laura Jones and John Phillips
The Community School Workshop in Toronto:
What it is and What it must become		 George Martell
A Look at London Life -
Blaming the Victim:
The folklore of Cultural Deprivation		 William Ryan
Rising Floors and Sinking Ceilings:
Cutting the budget at the Toronto Board		 Loren Lind
Rapid Transit Anthony Barton


Summer 1971 Volume 5, No. 3
Content Title Author
On This Magazine The Editors
Pity Mr. Daum Stanley Cooperman
School Mythology and the Education of Oppression Miriam Wasserman
The Rabbit Joan Klyhn
Canadian Textbooks and the American 'Knowledge Industry' James Lorimer
"Now you see," said Mark Virginia Kidd
"What will you be when you grow up?"
Letters on education and revolutionary action		 Various
Card Players and Story Tellers Paulette Jiles
Down the Up Staircase:
Tracking in Schools		 Richard Rothstein


Fall/Winter 1971 Volume 5, No. 4
Content Title Author
Class Bias in Toronto Schools:
The Park School Community Council Brief		 Park School Community Council
Making Beasts Poem by Greg Orr
Schools for Survival Jonathan Kozol
We Meet in the Lives of Animals Poem by Peter Everwine
School Building and the Politics of Technology Grant Wanzel and Robert Yamashita
Getting the Words Back to the Kids Karl Liikson
Happy Poems Johnny Moliterni
The Educator as Pusher:
Just a Pill to Keep a Kid Quiet?		 Roger Rapoport
Drug Control in the Classroom Satu Repo
One Night in the LIfe of the Toronto School Board Loren Lind
1838 Poem by Dennis Lee
Canadian History Needs Rewriting David Frank
People's History of Cape Breton -


Spring 1972 Volume 6, No. 1
Content Title Author
Becoming Political:
The Growth of the Quebec Teachers' Union		 Jules LeBlanc
Selection from Quebec Teachers' White Paper
on Socio-Political Action		 -
The Growth of Militancy among University Workers in Quebec: A Short History Arnold Bennett
When the Liberal Admerican Couple Poem by Robin Matthews
Missing Persons Margaret Dyment
Learning to Move Left Mel Watkins
A Mine is also of Nature Poem by Milton Acorn
Raphael: A Cuban Worker-Musician Jim Higgins
Towards a Political Economy of Education: A Radical Critique of Ivan Illich's De-Schooling Society Herb Gintis
Silent University Support Aids our War Machine Ian Wiseman
School for the Poor, Drugs and Shrinks:
Short notes on three books for downtown teachers		 Satu Repo


Summer 1972 Volume 6, No. 2
Content Title Author
Organizing English Parents in Point St. Charles, Montreal Linda Savory and others
Quebec Teachers and the Common Front Lysiane Gagnon
Inside the Body: Teaching Anatomy in the Public School Archie Erwin
The Average Canadian Nosebleed Poem by Bill Bisset
Their Canada and Mine Mordecai Richler
My Life as a Co-Adventurer Milton Acorn
Who Goes to University in Ontario John Buttrick
Kid Poem by James Garmhousen
The Rise of Bureaucracy in Ontario Schools Loren Lind
Another Rabbit: A Photo Essay John Phillips
Sunday Night Revival Poem by Paulette Jiles
How do you Really Grade? David Tabakow
The Three Baby Woodpeckers:
A Cuban Fairy-Tale		 Onelia Jorge Cardoso
The School Movement in Rome Chiara Ingrao
Canada Past: Aristocrats, Plutocrats, Workers Reviews by Satu Repo


Fall 1972 Volume 6, No. 3
Content Title Author
B.C. Teachers Turn Political Satu Repo
Cooking in a Brooklyn Classroom Joan Klyhn
Are You Sleeping, Richard? Notes on Excellence Margaret Dyment
Canadian Literature: The Necessary Revolution Robin Mathews
Canada is not Kansas: The Visual Arts Charles Pachter
Liberalism at Waterloo State: A Case History Ron Lambert
More on the Gintis-Illich Debate -
The Road to Happiness:
Canadian History in the Public Schools		 Ken Dewar
Feeding the People to Death Review by Jennifer Penney


Winter 72-73 Volume 6, No. 4
Content Title Author
Editorial Notes: A Reply to John Holt G.M. and S.R.
Lean and Hungery A Cartoon by George Kopp
Judge Reville and Ontario Teachers Loren Lind
A Union: The Time is Now I. Crane
On Having Wonderful Ideas: Piaget in the Classroom Eleanor Duckworth
I Sometimes Meet Myself Poem by Jurgen Henze
The I.Q. Ideology Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis
Oxford (or Toronto Or Poem by Don Kerr
Without Benefit of Tape Poem by Dorothy Livesay
Alma, N.B. A Photo Essay by Ursula Heller
Where have all the Free Schools Gone? A conversation with the Editors of This Magazine
Survival and Struggle in Canadian Literature A Review by Robin Mathews
The Cultural Revolution At Tsinghua A Review by Rick Saluten

Related
This Book is About Schools

Related Topics in the Connexions Subject Index:
Alternative Schools – Canadian History – Childhood – Children – Education – Education/History – Education Reform – Parents – Poverty/Families – Progressive Schools – School Communities – Schools – Students – Teachers – Teaching – Youth Issues