page_title: Democratic education
section_title: Influential democratic schools
hierarchical_section_title: Democratic education / History / 20th century / Influential democratic schools
caption_attribution_description: English: Mainbuilding of the Summerhill School in Leiston, Suffolk (1993) Deutsch: Hauptgebäude der von A. S. Neill begründeten Internatsschule Summerhill im englischen Leiston; 1993 Español: Escuela de Summerhill, 1993
context_page_description: Democratic education is an educational ideal in which democracy is both a goal and a method of instruction. It brings democratic values to education and can include self-determination within a community of equals, as well as such values as justice, respect and trust.
  The history of democratic education spans from at least the 1600s. While it is associated with a number of individuals, there has been no central figure, establishment, or nation that advocated democratic education.
  Democratic education is often specifically emancipatory, with the students' voices being equal to the teacher's.
context_section_description: The oldest democratic school that still exists is Summerhill, in Suffolk, England, founded in 1921. It features voluntary class attendance and a School Meeting with broad powers.
  Sudbury Valley School, founded in Framingham, Massachusetts in 1968, has full democratic governance: The School Meeting manages all aspects of the school, including staff hiring and facilities.  A "Sudbury school" is now a general class of school modeled after this original.
  The term Democratic Education originates from The Democratic School of Hadera, the first school in the world called a democratic school.
  It was founded in Israel in 1987 by Yaacov Hecht. It is a public school.
  The term has been embraced by alternative/open schools all over the world, predominantly following the foundation of IDEC – the International Democratic Education Conference, which was first convened at the democratic school in Hadera.
caption: Main building of the Summerhill School
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