Democratic Education
IDEC, the International Democratic Education Conference, described what it means to be a democratic school:
“A Democratic School is a school which is, in some capacity, self-governing, with each community member having influence on decisions and outcomes. A contrast might be made with more ‘autocratic’ school structures, in which power and authority are concentrated in the teachers and adult administrators. In democratic educational philosophy, students, including and especially children, are seen as active participants in their own learning and their environment. Each student’s voice is given weight in decision-making both personal — for instance, the direction of his or her own education — and communal — the rules and adjudications by which the school functions as a whole.” – Andy Holloway
Sites (click to follow through)
The Online Directory for Democratic Education has some great articles
The Sudbury Valley School – the video on the home page is awesome
Articles
Take a Chance . . . Let Them Dance: Validating Artistic Expression, by Sir Ken Robinson
Articles by Ron Miller on holistic education
Education for Life, a philosophy “that emphasizes inner development and both individual potential and harmony with others”
Alfie Kohn‘s website includes articles such as
This is a great video done by RSA Animate, adapted from a speech by Sir Ken Robinson, about how education needs to change, which fits quite nicely with our philosophy here at Pine.