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The Dialogue of Democratic Education/ Yaacov Hecht and Eyal Ram Do We Practice Spontaneous Hospitality / Isaac R. Graves Democracy and Education / John Dewey DEMOCRACY BEGINS AT SCHOOL / Robin Grille Imagine, for a moment, that your children were given considerable freedom to choose what to learn, how to learn, and to some degree, even when to learn. What do you suppose would happen? Would they run amok? Would their academic performance whither as they romp into frivolous pursuits? Would they ever bother to learn anything worthwhile? Yet this seems to be one of the main objectives characterising a new and growing trend called ‘democratic education’. Democratic Schools - the educational answer to the 21st century / Yaacov Hecht What are the reasons for the main crises that the education system is facing? Why are the solutions of more… of what has failed… will continue to fail? What are the new solutions that the democratic education offers? And why now is the time? How Home Schooling Will Change Public Education / Paul T. Hill More than 1.2 million students are now being taught at home, more students than are enrolled in the entire New York City public school system. Paul T. Hill reports on the pros and cons of learning at home—and the effects home schooling will have on public schools. LET'S GO TO SCHOOL ON OUR OWN. A PROPOSAL FOR AUTONOMY / Francesco Tonucci As one of the objectives of the Children´s city programme in Italy is the enhancement of children´s autonomus mobility, the research group of the CNR (Consiglio Nazionale delle Riecerche, de Roma) has begun to experiment with new methods that might allow to overcome some of the barriers in children´s patterns of free movement. The aim of the presentation is to discuss the method developed as part of a proposal called "Going alone to school". The method comprises a collaboration with several local actors, children included, who are willing to analyse the environmental and social context in which children journey from home to school, to plan for its improvements, and to change the conditions so that children can go alone to school when they are 7 years old. Recent examples from two Italian towns indicate that it is possible to brake the resistance coming from families and to let children journey alone to school. Pluralistic Learning as the Core of Democratic Education / Yaacov Hecht Openning presentation at IDEC 2002 The Future Center As An Urban Innovation Engine The Modern School Magazine A Monthly Magazine Devoted To Libertarian Ideas In Education, Issue Of April 1921. The Power of Voice in Schools / Barb Aust and Wendy Vine Bringing Democratic Ideals to Life The Third Wave - Present, Vision and Mission / Yaacov Hecht Presentation at IDEC 2003 URBAN MOBILITY AS A MEASURE OF DEMOCRACY IN THE CITY / A. Rissotto, F. Tonucci Over the past few decades public spaces in the cities have lost their identity as a public dimension for meeting and social intercourse. The streets and squares are now dominated by motor cars. The autonomous mobility of pedestrians, especially elderly persons, children and the handicapped has been severely curtailed. Only a profound change in the way the city is governed can restore the citizens' right to mobility. Here children can be of help. Children have the right and the need to be able to go out on their own, to cross the street, to meet their friends and play with them. Scientific research has clearly revealed the limits imposed by traffic and the various hazards represent a serious limitation of the children's development. A city that accepts to take the child as a parameter for change is committed to making radical decisions in favour of the guaranteed mobility of all its citizens. As a first step in this process the "Let's go to school on our own" initiative is proposed. WHY DO WE NEED CHILDREN'S PARTICIPATION? / Francesco Tonucci and Antonella Rissotto After examining the characteristics of the degradation of the urban environment and the costs that this entails for the child's development, in particular as far as play experience and autonomous mobility are concerned, the article goes on to discuss the role of children's contribution to the promotion of real and consistent change in the city. The reasons underlying the recent increase in the number of experiments on children's participation are examined together with the main characteristics of this strategy as a privileged access to knowledge concerning the needs of our younger citizens and as an innovative resource in solving the city's problems. It is shown how children's participation experiments can lead to the acquisition of a fresh sensitivity and competence by city administrators and technicians. An analysis is made of several proposals made by children in the course of participation experiments followed by the authors in cities in Italy and abroad during ten year's of activities in the "The Children's City" project. These proposals confirm the children's capacity to identify the city's problems as they emerge and to propose solutions that are often innovative or useful for all members of the population. |
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