If, like Alex O’Neill who we spoke to in our last episode, lockdown has caused to you to pause and reconsider what learning looks like for your children you might be wondering what your options are. We’ve talked a lot about home education in this series – as that’s what we’ve all kind of been thrown into – but home education is just one alternative available.
This week we delve deeper into one of the alternative school models available – Democratic Education – we asked founders of the schools hosting this podcast Kezia Cantwell Wright and Larry Welshon about their journey to discovering Democratic Education and why it is to empowering to give students a vote on all things that affect them and their community.
Guests: Larry Welshon, founder and staff member at Alpine Valley School and Kezia Cantwell-Wright, founder and staff member at East Kent Sudbury School.
Find out more:
Larry discussed his experience of watching students grow up freely in a democratic school in his post Years of Doing on the Alpine Valley School blog.
Kezia explores what self-directed democratic education looks like in practice in the video An Intentional Community.
Find out more about the Sudbury model: Sudbury Valley School
List of Self-Directed Democratic Schools world-wide: Democratic Schools Directory
Find out more about Self-Directed Education at: Alliance for Self-Directed Education
Other democratic schools in the UK include: Summerhill School and Sands School
If you’ve struggled with home education in lockdown our Podcast is here to help, our episodes to date cover topics from Home Education 101 to looking after your mental health and wellbeing. Listen to all our episodes here.
In episode 8 we talk to Henry Readhead of Summerhill School about the emotional and social benefits of free play, check that out now. In episode 9 we discuss the impact of conventional schooling on children with special needs.