Freedom and democratic education: Sands | Diana from Horna

It is little less than a miracle that modern teaching methods have not completely strangled the sacred curiosity to discover. Well, this delicate little plant, apart from stimulation, needs above all freedom.

- Albert Einstein
Imagine a meeting of people. Most of them are children and teenagers, there are few adults. Who presides over the assembly is a girl. He gives the floor in turn, and when someone speaks, others listen carefully. Some raise their hands to vote on an agenda item, perhaps resolve a conflict between two young people, manage the budget, or set new standards. Each person, regardless of age, is taken into account. Every person matters.

What you imagine exists, it is a democratic school 1, and what the children - some of only four years old - are learning is to exercise freedom. They don't do it in front of a textbook, but living it every day. Contrary to the idea that being free is "doing what everyone wants", democratic schools teach us that in order to be free we need, first of all, to trust. Because where there is fear, where there is fear, there is no freedom: fear ties us and conditions us. Therefore, freedom also needs our responsibility: the responsibility of creating and following those patterns of coexistence that, freely accepted, allow us to feel respected.

Sands, the school we have reached after crossing the incredible Dartmoor National Park in southern England, was founded by a group of three teachers and fourteen students in 1987. Today it has about 200 students and students between 11 and 17 years old It is in the center of Ashburton, a charming little town, and occupies an old house that, at the rear, overlooks a huge garden full of trees and plants. We will tour the facilities in the company of one of the boys: in the main building are the classrooms, where we find small groups of students (the maximum per class is sixteen) accompanied by some teachers. There is also a rest room (commonly used for students and teachers), a cafeteria, and a library. Leaving outside we see, in addition to a huge gray elephant adorned by the students and that it is already a symbol of the school, a sofa overlooking the garden where several boys talk in haste; the dining room, which serves a vegetarian and organic lunch every noon; and the art classroom, in which the importance of this type of expression can be felt here. Nearby is the impressive carpentry workshop, with works of different sizes - including some kayaks - made by the students. Finally, we arrive at a space with ramps and decorated with graffiti where three students are skateboarding.

At first glance, Sands is not so different from a conventional school: there are classes taught by teachers, there are classrooms, there are homework (although aimed at deepening one's own interests), and students take exams (voluntarily, yes ) to access the university. What is different is the approach, which is based on mutual respect (a respect that is not imposed but is earned day by day) and equality. Hence the confidence that we talked about at the beginning emanates: each student and student is trusted here, in their ability to be an active part of the community and to make decisions regarding what they want to study and at what pace they want to do it. With the help of an academic tutor (chosen by the student), the girls and boys decide the classes they want to attend ; Assistance is mandatory once that choice has been made.

The students acquire a great responsibility both about their own learning and about the life of the school. There are no bells, so that everyone organizes their own time and agrees to be punctual. Likewise, if a student decides to eat lunch at school, he assumes that he will have to participate later in the kitchen cleaning. When someone fails to comply with any community norm, they avoid using generic punishments, and instead encourage their reflection and participation in the search for a solution to the problem. In Sands there is no principal or principal and it is the school assembly (where the students are in frank majority) that has that organizational, planning and mediating function (sometimes also punitive).

Sean, one of the founders of the school, offers to be present at a meeting in which several students will talk about a new teacher. For half an hour, the girls and boys expose what they like and dislike about her, and why they consider her or not a suitable person to the position of art teacher. Some write comments on paper that they give to Sean at the end of the meeting. Your decision will be the one that counts at the time of definitely hiring this candidate.

What effects does the involvement of students have in school and in decisions that affect them individually and collectively? From the point of view of the educator, participation has an obvious advantage: the classes that students choose to attend are classes full of girls and boys with a great motivation to learn. Plato was not mistaken in saying that "the knowledge acquired by obligation has no effect on the mind . " On the other hand, adhering to the norms decided in common loses its tax character and becomes a matter of personal commitment: students understand the meaning and origin of a norm that they know is not arbitrary. More important than that, according to Gerison Lansdown2, when a child feels free to express his opinion, he is less vulnerable to abuse and more capable of protecting himself, and acquires essential skills and competencies to develop his thinking. and exercise their critical judgment (something that our democracy, of course, is very much in need).

The more children and young people feel that adults trust them, the more opportunities we give them to express their point of view and contribute their work to family, school or community life, the more they participate, and their voice becomes more and more clear and more authentic, less influential, less fearful of dissent. The traditional school often argues that to learn it is necessary to cultivate discipline and responsibility. But responsibility, if not freely accepted, is not responsibility but obedience3 and students today, in general, have no alternative but to do what the system anticipates and consents. What is really what is being cultivated by imposing many arbitrary rules, subjects disconnected from reality and a hierarchical system in which participation of girls and boys is ridiculous? Well, blind and, above all, silent obedience: learning silence.

May 6, 2014

Notes:
1 For more information on the history and philosophy of democratic schools we recommend you read the magnificent article by Josu Uztarroz The democratic schools .
2 Do you listen to me? The right of young children to participate in decisions that affect them, report by Gerison Lansdown to the Bernard van Leer Foundation.
3 Definition of responsibility according to the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy: Ability existing in every active subject of law to recognize and accept the consequences of a freely performed fact (italic is ours).

www.estonoesunaescuela.com

Freedom and democratic education: Sands | Diana from Horna