Democratic Education Blog

The Democratic Education Blog is intended to be a resource for news, research, and advocacy related to democratic education. Democratic education, loosely defined for this blog, is an educational approach based on our common human values of freedom, responsibility, equality, community, and respect for human rights, featuring a broad interpretation of learning in which young people have significant direction over their daily activities, and equality and shared decision-making among young people and adults.

This blog will reference and comment on current educational happenings around the world from the perspective of democratic education. News and research specific to freedom and democracy in education will be included, as will news and items of interest that relate in some way to the values and practices of this educational approach.

The hope of this blog is to provide up-to-date news and research so that supporters of democratic education will have the resources they need to promote and expand educational freedom for more young people around the world.

I openly and warmly welcome all suggestions, questions, and especially comments. In no way do I or this blog claim to be a universal spokesperson for freedom-based education. Please join the dialogue so that we can continue to examine the theory and practice of democratic education and strategize how we can create a more progressive, democratic, freedom-based education and society.

One note on the subtitle of the blog - I have become increasingly aware of and frustrated by how our society upholds the concept of freedom so highly (the Bill of Rights, personal freedom, political freedom, etc), yet when it comes to education our societal commitment to freedom ends. Therefore, I want this blog to emphasize that education, the life-long process of living and growing, is where the idea of freedom ought to begin.

Thanks for stopping by,
Dana Bennis

ps - Kudos to Andrew Chen for starting “Generative Focus” and linking up this blog on that site. Check out generativefocus.org, which discusses the larger societal vision of which democratic education is one essential piece.

pps - Thank you to The Bay and Paul Foundations for supporting this blog.

About me (Dana Bennis):
A native New Yorker, I learned about freedom-based education in college and have since spent much of my time and energy working to support this approach. I’ve worked in a variety of schools with progressive and democratic philosophies, visited democratic schools around the world, and have worked in the non-profit sector to promote freedom-based education. I’ve also spent time researching democratic education, including comparing the effects of conventional and freedom-based schools. I recently completed my Master of Education degree from Vermont College, an excellent self-designed program.

Currently I divide my time by working at The Calhoun School, a progressive school in New York City, at Teddy McArdle Free School, a democratic school in Little Falls, NJ, and with a small foundation that supports democratic education and transformative school change. I recently started an education consulting company called Institute for Democratic Education - U.S. (there are IDEs around the world now after Yaacov Hecht started the first in Israel), to serve as an umbrella for present and future education work. I’m also honored to be on the board of two inspiring organizations: Spark, a youth empowerment program in San Francisco engaging students with apprenticeships, exploratory workshops, field trips, and personal development; and the Teddy McArdle Free School.

My friend and colleague, Isaac Graves, and I have compiled a Directory of Democratic Education, which includes an international listing of K-12 democratic schools, democratic and progressive colleges and universities, organizations supporting democratic education, as well as essays describing the theory, practice, and research of democratic, freedom-based education. You can find the directory on the AERO website.

Please contact me anytime with questions, comments, and suggestions: dana.bennis@yahoo.com.