As it was the starting point for me I shall start with the school I attended: Sands School.
Sands is one of three democratic schools in the coutry. The other two being Park School in Dartington and Summerhill School in Suffolk. By democratic we mean the rules of the school are selected and voted on and amended by either the whole school itself (direct democracy) or by elected representatives (indirect democracy). All three schools mentioned run the former system. If I have missed any schools out it is due to ignorance.
When you tell someone that Sands is a 'democratic school' the two words are so alien to each other in their minds that they literally cannot image what you mean. I then tell them that it is exactly what it says it is: a school run by all the members of the school who each have an equal vote on all issues.
More details about Sands school are available from the school itself (they are very approachable) and this isn't the place for an essay on it.
I encourage you to visit the school (all are made very welcome) and to find out more about it if you have ever considered contemporary education in the UK and thought: 'Is this it?'
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Is there a reason Summerhill school is not mentioned? www.summerhillschool.co.uk it is a long standing and still going democratically run boarding school in England.
ReplyDeleteAlso, when thinking about the different things going on in the UK Room 13 is an interesting one www.room13scotland.com It's not a school so much as one room (the art room) in a totally normal state primary school that is completely run by students.
Actually I didn't realise Summerhill was a democratic school run by a meeting. I had always heard it described as a 'free' school rather than democratic. I have amended the entry to reflect the fact that this is not true.
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