{"id":1377,"date":"2013-01-24T12:02:52","date_gmt":"2013-01-24T12:02:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/infed.org\/mobi\/?p=1377"},"modified":"2025-08-18T14:12:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T13:12:14","slug":"homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\/","title":{"rendered":"Homer Lane and the Little Commonwealth"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Homer Lane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Homer Lane and the Little Commonwealth. A. S. Neill described him as ‘the most influential factor’ in his life. We look briefly at his life and work.<\/h2>\n

Homer Lane<\/b> (1875-1925) was Superintendent of the Little Commonwealth, a co-educational community in Dorset run for children and young people ranging from a few months to 19 years. Those over 13 years old were there because they were categorize as delinquent. An American by birth, he had early experience as an organiser of the Ford Republic in Detroit Wills. At the Little Commonwealth from 1913 to 1918 (at Evershot, Dorset) he pioneered what later we came to know as \u2018group therapy\u2019 and \u2018shared responsibility\u2019. His educational approach involved \u2018the path of freedom instead of imposed authority, of self-expression instead of a pouring-in of knowledge, of evoking and exploiting the child\u2019s natural sense of wonder and curiosity instead of a repetitious hammering home of dull facts\u2019 (Wills 1964: 20). Unfortunately, his work in Dorset came to a rather abrupt end after two of the young female \u2018citizens\u2019 claimed that Lane \u2018had immoral relations with them\u2019 (Wills 1964: 163). As well as having an interest in offenders and expressive forms of education, Lane also worked as a psychotherapist (this also brought him into legal trouble).<\/p>\n

Read an extract from a lecture by Homer Lane\u00a0 on the Little Commonwealth<\/a><\/p>\n

Further reading and references<\/h4>\n

Lane, H. (1928) Talks to Parents and Teachers<\/i>, London: George Allen and Unwin.<\/p>\n

Wills, W. D. (1964) Homer Lane. A biography<\/i>, London: George Allen and Unwin.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Mark K. Smith 1999<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Homer Lane and the Little Commonwealth. A. S. Neill described him as ‘the most influential factor’ in his life. We look briefly at his life and work. Homer Lane (1875-1925) was Superintendent of the Little Commonwealth, a co-educational community in Dorset run for children and young people ranging from a few months to 19 years. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":230,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"class_list":["post-1377","page","type-page","status-publish"],"yoast_head":"\nHomer Lane and the Little Commonwealth - infed.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Homer Lane and the Little Commonwealth - infed.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Homer Lane and the Little Commonwealth. A. S. Neill described him as ‘the most influential factor’ in his life. We look briefly at his life and work. Homer Lane (1875-1925) was Superintendent of the Little Commonwealth, a co-educational community in Dorset run for children and young people ranging from a few months to 19 years. ... Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"infed.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-18T13:12:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/lane.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"195\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"272\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/infed.org\\\/dir\\\/welcome\\\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/infed.org\\\/dir\\\/welcome\\\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\\\/\",\"name\":\"Homer Lane and the Little Commonwealth - infed.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/infed.org\\\/dir\\\/welcome\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/infed.org\\\/dir\\\/welcome\\\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/infed.org\\\/dir\\\/welcome\\\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/infed.org\\\/dir\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/lane-108x150.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-24T12:02:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-18T13:12:14+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/infed.org\\\/dir\\\/welcome\\\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/infed.org\\\/dir\\\/welcome\\\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/infed.org\\\/dir\\\/welcome\\\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/infed.org\\\/dir\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/lane-108x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/infed.org\\\/dir\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/lane-108x150.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/infed.org\\\/dir\\\/welcome\\\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/infed.org\\\/dir\\\/welcome\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Homer Lane and the Little Commonwealth\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/infed.org\\\/dir\\\/welcome\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/infed.org\\\/dir\\\/welcome\\\/\",\"name\":\"infed.org\",\"description\":\"exploring education, pedagogy and community action\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/infed.org\\\/dir\\\/welcome\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Homer Lane and the Little Commonwealth - infed.org","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Homer Lane and the Little Commonwealth - infed.org","og_description":"Homer Lane and the Little Commonwealth. A. S. Neill described him as ‘the most influential factor’ in his life. We look briefly at his life and work. Homer Lane (1875-1925) was Superintendent of the Little Commonwealth, a co-educational community in Dorset run for children and young people ranging from a few months to 19 years. ... Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\/","og_site_name":"infed.org","article_modified_time":"2025-08-18T13:12:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":195,"height":272,"url":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/lane.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\/","url":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\/","name":"Homer Lane and the Little Commonwealth - infed.org","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/lane-108x150.jpg","datePublished":"2013-01-24T12:02:52+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-18T13:12:14+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/lane-108x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/lane-108x150.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/homer-lane-and-the-little-commonwealth\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Homer Lane and the Little Commonwealth"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/#website","url":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/","name":"infed.org","description":"exploring education, pedagogy and community action","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1377\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}