Reflections from our September Nature Walk

‘’We are looking for a school!’’ one of our youngest attendants said. She was at the right place because we were at the nature walk for Singapore Democratic School! We asked,‘’What kind of school would you like?’’ She responded, ‘’I don’t want a school uniform! I want to make my own princess dress!’’ Another child mentioned, ‘’I want to do coding!’’ 

During this round of our nature walk, we welcomed a family from abroad whose children attended the Wicklow Democratic School. This is also a school that our staff member, Imre Wessels, visited during one of their open days.

Democratic schools have been around for a long time. The first democratic school is Summerhill, which started in the UK in 1921 and still operates today. Hundreds of democratic schools exist globally. None of them operates as a franchise, nor are they licensed as democratic schools. Any school could call itself a democratic school, just like any school can call itself a 'Montesorri school' or 'Reggio Emilia school'. 

The International Democratic Education Conference (IDEC) decided to clarify what a democratic school is. In a democratic school, students should have the right: 

- to make their own choices regarding learning and all other areas of everyday life. In particular, they may individually determine what to do, when, where, how and with whom, so long as their decisions do not infringe on the liberty of others to do the same.

- to have an equal share in the decision-making as to how their organisations – in particular their schools – are run, and which rules and sanctions, if any, are necessary.

To make an overview of where all these schools are is difficult. IDEC doesn't have a dedicated website with its members. EUDEC, the European Democratic Education Conference, does have a members' website, but it is terribly outdated. Ireland lists one member even though there are five democratic schools. The Netherlands has 19 democratic schools, but only seven are listed on the EUDEC website. The same problem applies to the Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO) and the Alliance For Self-Directed Education (ASDE) - the overviews are incomplete.

In Asia, the school most similar to SDS is the Taiwan Sudbury Experimental School. Also of note is the Australasia Democratic Education Community. And most importantly, the Asia Pacific Education Conference/Community (APDEC). Their next conference is from 13th to 22nd Jan 2027 in Thailand. Will you be joining?