“How do the first hand accounts of Camphill show that it is an example of a utopia?”
The Camphill Special School is part of the world wide Camphill Movement, which consists of 100 plus communities in over 23 countries. The special school is the only community specifically for children. Its a community where kids with special needs can live, learn, and have fun together, while growing and improving both mentally and socially. Although separated from their parents, these kids constantly have people around them that love and care about them. They are constantly surrounded by support networks and people that want to help them succeed and become the best versions of themselves possible. This atmosphere and focus on elevating everyone’s self-worth, in my opinion, is what makes the Camphill Special School a utopia. By examining first hand accounts of the school, it is evident that this school is a special place and an example of a utopia. Greg Ambrose, President of the school in 2014, writes “At Camphill, ‘it takes a village’ isn’t just an expression; it’s a way of life. Students, coworkers, and staff live together, work together, and learn together forming an actual village…its not something they just talk about. It’s not just a concept. The children’s village is real” (Ambrose). The entire community, with the special needs students, teachers, doctors, and staff, all lives together and becomes a family, where everyone is looking out for everyone else in the community. They all work together to provide for the common good and ensure the happiness and success of every child in the village. This dedication to working together to ensure the well being of the entire community is part of what makes Camphill a utopia.
Another aspect that makes Camphill a utopia is that it’s a place where everyone is treated equally, and no one is better or worse than any other student. Camphill provides students with disabilities the opportunity to find a place they belong and to be educated like everyone else. No one is discriminated against or told what they cannot achieve and everyone is given the same opportunities. This group of people, who are constantly overlooked by society, are receiving the attention they need and deserve. This idea of inclusion and a place where everyone belongs is evident in an essay a brother of a Camphill student. He writes, “The society in which he [his brother] found himself had no place for him…Jon left home and went to Camphill Special School. There he began a life quite different from what would have been possible for him at home… he entered a world that slowly began to work with him to evoke that special Camphill magic: to help him find all that he could express, manifest, develop” (Prensky). Camphill provides a place of inclusion, a place where people are given the opportunity to succeed, and a place where everyone fits in and feels at home. This is another aspect that makes Camphill a utopia.
And finally, the idea that Camphill is a true community is perfectly embodied in a quote from a student at the school. He says, “At my other school I was part of somebody’s job. At Camphill special school I am part of somebody’s life”(anonymous Camphill student). This is not a job for those who work at the school, it is their way of life. They are not paid, and any money they have is distributed throughout the community. This lack of personal money in the community allows the teachers, doctors, and staff members to be completely focused on the children and not on making money. The teachers are dedicated to helping the students learn, and the students are constantly surrounded by those who care. The teachers, doctors, and staff live and work there because they truly care, not because they need to make money. I think this further reinforces the idea that Camphill is a true community and an example of a utopia. These are children that otherwise feel like outcasts in society, but at Camphill, they have a place where they belong and can thrive.
In my opinion, the Camphill Special School is the perfect example of a utopian-like community. I think the personal accounts by the teacher, family member, and student show what it is like to live and be part of the Camphill community. Everyone is treated equally at Camphill, and no one is discriminated against because of their disability. Everyone is given the opportunity to succeed, and the students are surrounded by people committed to making that happen. The teachers, doctors, and staff are completely dedicated to the well being of the students, and everyone in the community truly cares about one another. The adults do not live and work there because they are trying to make money, and in fact, no one at Camphill has their own money. Camphill fosters a true sense of community, and that is what makes it an example of a true utopian community.
Works cited:
Prensky, Bill. “Camphill: The Way of My Brother.” ProQuest. 2011.
Camphill Special School – Part of Somebody’s Life. Youtube. March 24, 2009. Accessed
November 22, 2015.
Ambrose, Greg. “It’s a Way of Life.” Camphill Special School. Novermber 5,
- Accessed November 15, 2015.