Tag: Democratic Education
Are you thinking about setting up your own school or learning community? Or perhaps you’ve been running for a while but you’re still exploring different educational approaches and practices. This year’s webinar series aims to guide you on your path to creating a progressive, holistic community where young people can thrive outside of the conventional, […]
Part 2: Progressive Education I [previously] wrote about the Montessori Landscape in the UK and what I’ve learned so far about the scene [since relocating from the US]. Inevitably, my network and understanding have continued to grow since. Here are just a couple of additions: I have met with Dr. Nathan Archer who leads The International […]
What young people need It seems to me that the crucial commodity that young people need in order to find and deepen their interests and identity, and to learn how to live with others is TIME. Time to think, time to wonder, time to question, time to create, time to hang out with their friends, time […]
What Students Say Matters Most schools do not look like a democratic society at all. Imagine a school where democracy is lived on a daily basis, where students have a say in the rules of the school, from the schedule to the dress code or safety policies. These schools exist in the world of democratic […]
June 15th, 11am BST – How can educators prepare students for adult life? Live webinar in the Progressive Education Group:- Ortal Green will share with us how, through Design Thinking, Glittering Minds programme for schools enhances students’ resilience, problem-solving, communication, creative thinking, empathy and collaboration skills. Simply join our Facebook group to attend and the webinar […]
The desire to play is fundamental to the human condition and is impossible to suppress. Even in the most challenging situations, it will find a way to exist. Children played in the bomb craters of the Second World War, Continue to play in the devastation of Syria and will play in the wasteland of our broken […]
In UNESCO’s Progress Update on the Futures of Education, published in March 2021, UNESCO denied the value of Self-Directed Education and autonomous learning, despite much significant scientific evidence to support its efficacy. Considering such a stance could seriously jeopardise the UN agenda 2030 to lead to a regenerative education by 2050 for more just and sustainable futures. Gabriel Groiss, […]
Transcript from Derry Hannam’s talk at the online Summerhill Festival of Childhood, October 3rd 2021: My 1999 IDEC [International Democratic Education Conference] talk was given at Summerhill when the school was under threat from Ofsted inspectors. There had been a hostile hatchet job inspection earlier in the year and the school had been told to […]
When I first went up to Cambridge University, I didn’t find Europe’s largest library for over six weeks. I never went to a single History lecture, despite being told that some of the country’s finest minds would be sharing their theories with me. When I did find the library, it was like a cathedral of […]
…None appear for ages, then they all come at once! Does this mean that we are looking at a Post-Pandemic Overton Window for our ideas? And how do we feel about ‘for-profit’ democratic schools? I grew up in South London and my dad was a bus driver. There was supposed to be a number 47 […]
Three European organisations advocating human rights and freedom in education – ALLI asbl (Luxemboug), Les Enfants d’Abord (France), and Full Human Rights-Experience Education – as well as independent philosopher, Bertrand Stern, have come together to write a letter to the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights at the Council of Europe. They are concerned […]
By Nicola Sankey, March 2008 (with Introduction by Dr. Graham Dawes) [At the time what is now Self Managed Learning College was Called ‘South Downs Learning Centre’. The name was changed after this report was produced.] Originally designed for adults, Self Managed Learning (SML) has more recently been adopted with young people through the work […]
By Andrea Hazeldin, Deputy Principal and Head of College, Uckfield Community Technology College, 2013 Introduction The title is taken from a comment made by a Year 8 student at the College. This article outlines the approach that prompted that comment – and others such as ‘I’ve learned more from these five sessions than in my […]
Transcript from Derry Hannam’s talk at the International Democratic Education Conference (IDEC) on 30th October 2020 #WebIDEC2020: I must warn you that although this lecture is not a lecture or a speech or even just a talk – it is a story – and that still gives me the opportunity to say a lot!! “Another […]
Rather than impose my own idea of the kind of structures that the class democracy should have I decided that we would make it up as we went along by dealing with issues as they arose. The one thing I was clear about was the need for a class meeting. As the school required that […]
This is a transcript of a speech given by Derry Hannam at the Holistic School, Taiwan on 18th October 2020: I am very pleased to be invited to give this talk at the Holistic school in Taiwan – the Summerhill School of Asia – and to follow in the eminent footsteps of my good friends […]
“OK You’re certified,” said the friendly twelve-year-old boy. Throughout 25 years of advocating the democratisation of schools I have often feared these words yet when they were finally delivered the context was delightful. I was visiting the Sudbury Valley School in Framingham, Massachusetts. The introductory tour took us to the music room. As a one-time […]