Democratic school edges closer to reality
Some of the folk behind Golden Bay’s Democratic School. Photo: Supplied.
A core group of 10 Golden Bay parents who are dedicated to starting a democratic School in the area will soon be submitting their application to the Ministry of Education (MOE) for state funding.
To this end, they are holding a film day at the Village Theatre on Saturday 19 February, when a film about democratic education will be screened every hour, on the hour, from 10am to 2pm.
Core team member Pew Singh said members of the group will be at the screening to answer any questions from the public.
“The film we’ve put together is a compilation of interviews with students and teachers from existing democratic schools in New Zealand along with snippets from leading educational commentators about global changes happening in education. The idea is not only to inform the people of Golden Bay about democratic education but to collect data from those interested.”
The local initiative started back in October when Verena Gruner (co-founder of Mountain Valley Democratic School) gave a presentation to over 60 people in Takaka. Since then, a core group has formed and has met every two weeks. Their plan is to get a school up and running by the start of 2012, which will cater for primary through to secondary students.
Democratic education is not a new idea. The first democratic school, Summerhill, in the UK, opened in 1921, and now there are 500 such schools all over the world with approximately 5000 more in the process of conversion. Three democratic schools now operate in Christchurch alone; primaries Tamariki and Discovery1, and high school Unlimited, which now boasts 400 students. The latter two have waiting lists, and the Ministry of Education, which funds them as “special character schools” under Section 156 of the Education Act, recently increased their allowable rolls.
Golden Bay’s Democratic School Group has now formally affiliated with the Learning Discovery Trust in Christchurch and has agreements with Tamariki, Discovery1 and Unlimited to facilitate teacher inductions, along with teacher and student exchanges.
Proponents say that what distinguishes Democratic Education from conventional schooling is that the student directs their own learning. Pupils are encouraged to follow their passions and interests, which are then used by the teachers to teach the children things such as literacy, numeracy and science. The goal is to keep the desire to learn alive in the child. Student-to-teacher ratios are typically kept to around 10 to12 students per teacher.
Democratic schools recognise that the community is also part of the school, and alliances are actively forged with local businesses and community groups in order to maintain that.
Pew Singh says Golden Bay’s democratic school will be properly state funded and that, judging from feedback, the group expects it will attract around 100 students.
Interested in knowing more? Visit <www.democraticschoolgoldenbay.info>.
Gerard Hindmarsh
