The New Education
Santa Monica: Interscience Work Shop, 1972. An early examination and enthusiastic defense of the emerging Human Potential Movement by psychologist Charles R. Kelley (1922–2005), a former student of Wilhelm Reich and influential practitioner of neo-Reichian bodywork. Kelley describes what he regards as a revolution in education, emphasizing emotional expression, bodily awareness, personal responsibility, and experiential learning in opposition to the bureaucratic and intellectually restrictive conventions of traditional schooling.
The pamphlet surveys a wide range of alternative psychological and educational practices, including encounter groups, sensitivity training, Gestalt therapy, Arthur Janov's Primal Therapy, Alexander Lowen's bioenergetics, Synanon, reevaluation counseling, Rolfing, the Alexander Technique, the Feldenkrais Method, yoga, and the Bates method of vision improvement. Kelley also discusses his own Interscience Work Shop, where he and his wife Erica developed educational programs combining Reichian emotional-release techniques with group encounters and personal development. Includes a critique of conventional education and a practical guide to alternative educational programs, followed by a bibliography.
Kelley, who had served as a research psychologist and university professor, was closely associated with the development of neo-Reichian approaches to emotional and physical well-being. His work contributed to the emergence of Radix, an approach to personal growth integrating bodywork and psychological exploration. An interesting document of the early 1970s Human Potential Movement, particularly its intersection with experimental education, humanistic psychology, and the alternative therapeutic culture associated with institutions such as Esalen.
Stapled wrappers, iv, 61 pp. A near fine copy. Item #15426
Price: $45.00