This was the 11^th edition of a conference first held in Hadera, Israel, in 1993. The nearest it has come to Poland is Ukraina, where it was held in 1998 (although the conference may be taking place in Germany in 2 years). IDEC 2003 was my second, the first one having been held at Summerhill school in 1999 (My wife Irena let me attend, even though our daughter was only two weeks old. She could see what it meant to me). And it was my first time in the United States of America.

IDEC is a conference, a gathering – not an organisation. This year over 25 countries were represented. Just as an example I spoke to people from countries such as; Thailand, Palestine, Australia, Israel, USA, England, Guatemala, Nepal and Germany.

Poland was represented by a small group. There was also Ewa Jędras (from the SIG), Ula Krzewska-Horbowy, our friend from ASSA (Autorska Szkoła Samorozwoju) in Wrocław, and two recent ASSA graduates; Radek Iwankiewicz and Monika Żurańska, who some SIG members met during our recent visit to the school during the Wrocław IATEFL conference.

Broadly speaking the representatives of the conference are closely linked with specific democratic – also called free – schools from around the world. This means they are usually either teachers; or present or former students of this kind of school. Outside that main core are people who are actively involved in democratic approaches to education but not linked to specific schools, and other people somehow drawn to the topic for some reason or other. It’s not an academic conference, and in general much more practical than theoretical. Sessions often consist of representatives of schools talking about their schools, with the help of displays, photographs or multi-media presentations, but other sessions may be discussions around particular topics, such as; democratic decision-making.

A particular IDEC may have a theme, dealing with a current issue or forming a bridge with the wider community. At Summerhill in 1999 it was the (ultimately successful) campaign against the closure of the school, and this year there was a focus on the damage being done to American children (not to mention parents and teachers) by standardised tests, which cause great stress in schools and homes, and distort the teaching process, forcing teachers to “teach to the test”.

What is a democratic school, or what draws people to this conference? Often the schools represented at IDEC are small, there may be only 15 or so students. They tend to be founded by extremely committed – often politically active – groups of individuals who have reached the stage of rejecting what their country’s educational system has offered their children, or children in general, and are prepared and ready to build something in its stead. Summerhill has been in existence since the 1920s, other schools date back to the 1960s, yet others were set up a couple of years ago, and there were school start-up groups at the conference, too. The founders of schools generally want to create schools that fit the children, not force children into existing structures. They create environments in which children can find out about what interests them, or might interest them, and grow up within them. There is much more freedom in these schools, but it is freedom that comes with a price. That price is being responsible for one’s own learning and choices, and often, but not always being a member of a school community with its own laws – sometimes tribunals. Teachers at democratic schools are “on the side of the child”, to quote a famous saying of A. S. Neill, the founder of Summerhill. The children in these schools “are learning from life itself”, to quote the founders of Aventurijn School in Holland, which had to fight off attacks from the Dutch Government, which actually changed national legislation just because of this one school with a handful of children.

It is often the case that local education authorities and national governments feel uncomfortable with democratic schools around. It would appear that giving children freedom; giving them opportunities to become responsible; doing away with lesson timetables, bells and marks; and allowing them to explore interests freely, outside the frames of national curricula, are all things which challenge existing state education models, and are considered a threat by politicians and civil servants.

The latest school to come under attack is Booroobin Sudbury School, which is being threatened with closure in the State of Queensland, Australia. I spent a lot of time with Ben Shepherd, a pupil of the school and former schools’ groundskeeper, who talked about his passion for Land Rovers (he thinks nothing of replacing a gearbox). His father, Derek, and the other staff and students, have created a fantastic environment for young people to grow and learn from life and nature. I’ll give you some quotations from their website to give a flavour of their philosophy, but I could have chosen any one of the websites of schools which were represented at the conference.

A School for young people of the 21st century and beyond. Booroobin works with young people rather than doing things for, or to them. Life is changing rapidly. Young people need time, space, respect and trust to learn about themselves and the world around them, to play and have fun so they learn how to sustain themselves, and be adaptable. … Booroobin is a place where young people learn what they need to know, making all sorts of choices themselves, especially about what they learn and how they spend their time and taking responsibility for all the outcomes. Student Graduates of democratic Schools are better prepared for life as independent, effective, responsible adults.

(from the school’s homepage)

Firstly, we are all independent people who are capable of taking responsibility for our own learning. We know where we want to go in our lives, and are pursuing our interests. This school has enabled us to focus on what we truly want out of life and allows us to fully understand what is most important to us, our interests and passions. Many of us know what careers we are going to pursue, and we know what further experience and education we need to get there. We are all fully focused on our goals and will do what it takes to get there. This school allows us the time and space to do so, and in a much more efficient way than state schools. We don't want to be judged by others, categorized into age groups, told what to learn, how to learn and when to learn it. We are quite capable of assessing our own progress and achievements, and in our eyes, are the only people who have the right to do so.

(from the Students' Submission to the Queensland Minister for Education – September 18, 2003 edited by D.F.)

In the IDEC community concepts of learner autonomy are surpassed. Many schools will cite the development of independence as among the advantages of this kind of education. But a democratic school is much more of a holistic, integrated environment, where freedom allows people to grow and be themselves. The students there are free of disrespectful or humiliating treatment by teachers, don’t have to waste their time on boring subjects. In a school like Booroobin, students can spend all their time focussing on their one passion, if that’s what they’ve chosen to do. It’s their choice, their education, their life.

It looks like the next IDEC will be held in India - most probably in Bhubaneshwar - which is the capital of the state of Orissa on the eastern coast, just below Kolkata. The dates will probably be some time between the last week of November and the first week of December 2004. Check the IDEC website for details.

Apart from the conference talks I played baseball, tried my hand at weaving and making flowers from dyed leaves, practised meditation and started learning to juggle. My American experience as a whole included; going to a baseball game, asking a New York cop for advice, and almost not being allowed into the country by a suspicious immigration official.

I hope I’ve given you a flavour of what IDEC means.

Aventurijn www.aventurijn.org/englishindex.html

Summerhill School www.summerhillschool.co.uk/indexgo.html

Booroobin Sudbury School www.booroobinschool.com.au

IDEC2003 www.idec2003.com

Education Revolution magazine www.educationrevolution.org