Adventures in Education and Abroad: Democratic education in state schools

Friday, 11 September 2009

Three quick links to great articles about teachers and students developing a more democratic school life:

- Boston Teachers' Union opens its own school, article in the Boston Globe

(Sorry this is a bit short, I am on my way to London! :-)

A work in progress- My ideal school:

a) should allow children to take any subject the school has to offer
b) should encourage children to take responsibility by asking them to stick with the classes they have signed up to for a certain time
c) have lessons on offer on a lot of different subjects but at set times of the day
d) should offer a lot of time where children can do what they want to do, eg use the resournces available to them, and the teachers are there for guidance
e) should be democratically governed by children, teacher and parents
f) should employ teachers on the basis of what the children want to learn
g) should be taken care of by the community- fe children and adults also cook together and look after the building
h) should be surrounded by nature also also have a lot of animals and plants
i) should provide a great amount of field trips and journeys
j) should offer children the opportunity to take internships and workesperience in different jobs
l) should have a big garden where we can grown our own food and see the seasons
m) should be well connected to the surrounding areas so that children don't have to travel for a very long time
n) should have teachers who are teaching what they love and who inspire learning
o) should include children of all ages who also help each other
p) should be internationally orientated and encourage children to belong to a fluid world

Adventures in Education and Abroad