Saville’s books have been mostly for academic audiences, but always about education and democracy.

This book is an exception – it is for parents and aspiring teachers. Saville’s priority is to provoke public debate about schools and classrooms.

Saville’s current research interests focus on taking a Humanist approach to classrooms and schooling. He looks in depth at the roots of European Humanism in the Italian Renaissance and maps out the ‘crazy paving’ path the movement has taken to bring us to the present day. This encompasses the concern for children’s rights, and for principles of self-determination and constant questioning of the basis of authority.