By Moe Zimmerberg – Tutorial School
This November 15th-21st, democratic educators, students, parents, well-wishers, and friends gathered in Bengaluru, a city in the state of Karnataka, India for the 25th International Democratic Education Conference. Twenty-one countries were represented including your correspondent from the US. This was also merged with the third Asia Pacific Democratic Education Conference, and the first ever In(dia) DEC.
IDEC is always a wonderful time to deepen friendships, make new ones and learn about other schools in other countries. This one did not disappoint. The week-long conference gave us ample time to connect and learn from each other. There were no scheduled keynote speakers, but rather “open space” scheduling which allowed anyone to post a session or workshop.
There were many presentations by various democratic learning places around India. Many of them are Montessori-based. Maria Montessori was lecturing in India when World War II broke out and, as an Italian, was forced to remain until the end of the war. She had a profound impact on alternative education in India. She taught then that the teacher should observe the child without judgements or assumptions and endeavor not to interfere with each child’s internal “natural learner.” If you combine this approach with egalitarian school government and a focus on human rights for the child, you get democratic education–not that it has or should ever be defined.
In addition to the informative sessions there were various workshops: Hand spun thread, clay sculpture, 3d paper objects, music therapy, contact improv dance, tribal stories, varieties of millet, to name a few. One group spent the conference building a two story treehouse out of bamboo.
One remarkable thing we learned about was the Children’s Parliaments of India. These are neighborhood decision making bodies completely run and populated by children. They deal with issues of concern ranging from broken street lights or the use of disposable plastic to abusive, alcoholic parents. There are 50,000 such parliaments in India. They have been to the UN and are now a worldwide movement. Power to the children!
Globally, the Democratic Education movement continues to grow at a dizzying pace. The most surprising country was Indonesia, which is now seeing a surge of new schools. In Europe, Poland and Germany have many schools and startup groups. Every country in Europe now has at least one democratic school, and many countries have several. France, a latecomer to Democratic Education, has sprouted 47 schools or groups in just 4 years. Some estimate there to be 2,000 democratic schools worldwide.
After a slight stall, the international educator development program is back on track. Self-directed Education for Educators of Democratic Schools/spaces (SEEDS) will soon be online, thanks to the efforts of our new friend, Harsh, who will create the website. Soon we will be inviting schools, interns, and mentors to join our program. Imagine how encouraging it would be for someone who wishes to learn how to be a democratic educator to find out that he or she would be able to intern at several schools around the world!
The passing of the IDEC Guitar to the Ukrainian organizing team directs our focus to the upcoming IDEC 2019, which will start in Kiev on August 1st and move to Vinnystia from the 3rd until the 8th or 9th. If the last time the IDEC was in Ukraine is any indication, it should be a wonderful conference. 2020 will be in Nepal, and there is a suggestion to meet in the western hemisphere for 2021. IDEC is a conference, not an organization. Thus, every organizing team has virtually free reign to design their IDEC as they see fit. Nearly everything is up to them, from the time of year to how much open space scheduling there will be.
The theme of this IDEC pretty much sums up the experience: Shanti with Diversity – a very peaceful conference with a broad range of people, workshops, and sessions.
