Concept

Democratic school

Overview

A Democratic School refers to an alternative school that meets the following criteria:

Classes are voluntary. Learning is self-directed and takes place without a curriculum.

The school is run to the greatest possible extent by a direct democracy in which students and teachers have an equal voice in decision-making.

Students are free to spend their time as they choose, as long as they do not violate the rules made by the school community.

Democratic Schools are places where the concept of democratic education is put into practice and provide an environment for autodidacticism.

The term was first used by the Democratic School of Hadera in 1987.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.

By this scheme of alternation of classes and schools twice the number of children that are usually cared for in one building are taken care of in smaller classes by teachers who are specialists in their subjects. For besides the industrial teachers, there are teachers for French, German, history, mathematics, literature, music, art, nature study, and the sciences.
John Dewey, Schools of to-morrow
Close in meaning to Democratic school; the term itself is not named.
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Hence the split between inner mental action and outer physical action of which the traditional distinction between the liberal and the utilitarian is the reflex. An education which should unify the disposition of the members of society would do much to unify society itself.
John Dewey, Democracy and Education
States what Democratic school is.
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Before leaving the subject of education, I will take another example from America[2]—not because America is any worse than other countries, but because it is the most modern, showing the dangers that are growing rather than those that are diminishing. In the State of New York a school cannot be established without a licence from the State, even if it is to be supported wholly by private funds.
Bertrand Russell, Free Thought and Official Propaganda
Close in meaning to Democratic school; the term itself is not named.
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