A series of essays argues for reconceiving schools as living child-communities rather than rigid institutions, emphasizing experiential, democratic, and experimental education influenced by progressive thought. The collection critiques administrative uniformity and the notion of children as empty vessels, and advocates play, health, constructive work, and community-linked activities as central to learning. Concrete examples illustrate organizing shops, gardens, dramatics, vocational and continuation programs, and surveys of school systems. Later essays examine higher education, undergraduate life, class and labor in schooling, and proposals to extend learning through adult life and align institutions more closely with social and civic needs.