I’ve tried a trial week there and my experience there was awesome ❤️❤️❤️

This is such a beautiful video! I'm a current student at Sands, in my 6th year now. It's really eye-opening to see students from 10 years vs the students when I joined vs the students now. Everyone is so different, yet so fundamentally the same. I'm so happy I found this. Thank you.

@LukeFlegg

3 жыл бұрын

how are you now Sam? What are you up to now?

@wizardsamboltoni

3 жыл бұрын

@@LukeFlegg heya Luke !! I'm just finishing of my A levels at the moment, but I ended up dropping out of college xD and I'm doing them online,,,,,, i thought I could like deal with a normal college but that didn't really work out for me riprip. BUT im still super involved with sands, im a governor now and before covid I use to visit frequently and stuff! How about you?

@deroptimop7008

3 жыл бұрын

oh hi sam :)

@deroptimop7008

3 жыл бұрын

youu remembeeerr meee? from germanyyy?

@wizardsamboltoni

3 жыл бұрын

@@deroptimop7008 wait omg im so so sorry,,,,,, like i know quite a few german people went to sands,,, im being stupid,,, maybe it's really obvious sorry!! Like i definitely remember you, i just like dont know who you are aaaaa xD sorry!!! but like could you give me a clue lmao

Very inspiring! I'm so glad there are schools like this in the free world and so sad that there's none in my country...

@vlady100k

8 жыл бұрын

+Мария Къркаличева well, why don't you make one? :)

@mkarkalicheva

8 жыл бұрын

+vlady100k It's in progress of making :)

@LukeFlegg

8 жыл бұрын

+Мария Къркаличева hello...! tell me more?

@mkarkalicheva

7 жыл бұрын

Luke Flegg It is in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. And it will open in September this year. If you want more info, you can contact me on Facebook.

Love this

It's nice. Kind of betwen traditional schools and sudbury schools. Shame it's not also an elemtary school. Well, maybe now it is. It's an old video.

@LukeFlegg

3 жыл бұрын

Kinda. Sudbury and Sands are very similar in ideology and approach. Traditional (mainstream) schools, are generally in another universe by comparison. Sudbury is one of the flavours of democratic school; main difference just being that there's an additional rule which cannot be challenged: Lesson timetables aren't allowed. Which I think is really interesting, but a bit draconian (ironically!) or just disempowering that it can't be challenged. Sands is inspired primarily by Summerhill model where literally any rule in the school is up for debate - via the 1 person, 1 vote weekly school meeting (unless it's illegal, like students driving cars around the grounds :P ) Is that your understanding? PS. Mmm personally I think there's an argument for not staying in 1 school for your entire childhood (like 12 years that would be here in the UK) because beautiful and amazing as it may be, there's a whole world out there, and I think there can be a bit of a risk that a school community and culture can become a bit insulated / a bubble / removed from the rest of the world, which ultimately it needs to be preparing us for. What do you think? And what's your story Sylvie?

Great video!

@LukeFlegg

8 жыл бұрын

how's your democratic school going Gerd?

@gerdberlin2

8 жыл бұрын

Not so good. I'm currently working in a bilingual kindergarten and doing a longterm Montessori training. By becoming more professional, they might help me with my life dream. But quite a lot of people who show interest turn out to be not very constructive.

I've never been to a democratic school, but I´m trying to learn as much as posible about them, because I would like to be a teacher and I love philosophy that I found behind it. I tried to talk about it with my friend, but at some point, she insisted that all those materials I´ve heard or seen cannot be taken really seriously without prove that kids from these schools are not failing significantly in their life after they graduate. That people from these schools claiming that they are okay is not enough, because they do it in videos which are made only by people who believe in this school model and want to propagate it. All those ideas might be nice, but they are not enough without proper scientific research, that these people are equaly able to find a job, or they for example have less many mental illnesses atc. Maybe I´m stupid, but I personaly believe you even without them, I don´t know why, maybe it´s because those things I learned from people who talk about this, just fit so much to the things I´ve seen in my life. Anyway... Do you know about such a researches, that would be accessible for me and my friend?

@LukeFlegg

3 жыл бұрын

I really appreciate your comment because I feel like you still have time and interest in questions and listening, and not many people do. This is kinda similar to Sands and other democratic schools - teaching us to not hold too tightly to prejudice and opinions like your friend (who doesn't sound like they've got really any first hand experience of democratic education; do they even know anyone who has real world experience?) it's interesting and important I think to check ourselves if we find ourselves leaping to opinions on things before we've dared (or bothered) to actually do our own research. Your friend has clearly fantasized that democratic schools surely don't educate to as high a standard as other schools and I'd like to create space for your friend to listen to them (and them also listen to themselves) - why have you assumed this? 1. Sands (and most democratic schools to my knowledge) have around the same academic results as mainstream schools - at least in England. Remember, this is judged by a very particular standardised test, which I feel very mixed about because I don't honestly think it's a very good representation of how well the school has generally prepared this the child for real life. It's more cramming loads of facts, the overwhelming majority of which are forgotten, because they were crammed, not integrated into a richer learning experience which actually feels relevant to your life and meaningful. I bet you remember the first time you got dumped when you were a kid. Do you also remember Tudor history? Or Pythagoras? Greece mythology? Things you can learn later but nothing beats making sense of the weird, challenging and wonderful experience of being a kid growing up - while you're still a kid - rather than backtracking through childhood traumas or confusions or questions you never created time for when you were young. 2. We were trusted to decide for ourselves if we wanted to go to lessons at all. We might miss a lesson if we're totally engrossed in a project we're a bit obsessed with, or in an intense deep conversation with a friend whose uncle just died or maybe they just had sex for the first time and it was weird and they've just opened up to you about it, or it's just the first sunny day in months and you Rreeeaally want to chase your friends around the garden and waterfight. Sometimes these things are more important than adults making sure kids know they're the law and will punish you if you miss a single maths lesson. Interestingly, despite this, overall attendence to school AND lessons is around the same level as mainstream schools. Which means that mainstream school students are more often lying about being sick so they can miss school more, or they actually are getting sick more. For some reason. Like mental health. And I would love to see data on mental health in democratic schools, but it will obviously be significantly better than mainstream schools because human relationships, freedom and creativity are put above punishments and rules for the sake of rules. Not to say there aren't rules in democratic schools - there are many, but the entire school community is involved in making them together, so they draw from a richer source of wisdom, needs and ideas. And they're better respected, and enforced by everyone, not just adults. Eg. If you miss your cleaning shift at the end of the day (remind me why random adults would clean up your mess for you? What is that teaching us as kids?) then the Useful Work Committee (made up of other kids) will hold you to account and you may also be brought up in the school meeting. Even if they're your friends! 3. Life isn't all about getting a high salary job. It's about living a rich, happy and meaningful life and being good to others. Kids coming out of democratic schools generally have very advanced social skills, leadership qualities and are able to wisely consider needs from the entire community in decision making. This is great for leadership roles in all kinds of organisations. I'd also love to see some data on this. Sounds like your friend is picky about who's research they would trust, so I suggest they seek some funding and do it themselves. I'd be happy to help them get support doing so. I'd be very interested in their findings.

It is four hours away from me my parents are thinking bout sending me

@LukeFlegg

3 жыл бұрын

did you end up going?

My comment below... I was too vague. Sands is definetely closer to Sudbury than to traditional school, but also I had a misconception that secondary school is the same thing as middle school. So I thought this school is only for people 11-14 years old. So I pictured it, that these kids have probably been to public elementary (primary) school, then 4 years there and then probably back to public high schools. So just 4 years of freedom didn´t feel to me as enough time for a person to not be crushed by thoughts of high school and it's expectations from the person and old habits and expectations from primary school. (Pardon my english I still have to learn.) Yes, they could have been to some other democratic school before or after they went to Sands, by as these schools are so rare I just didn't think it was the case for most of them, but as I said it was a misconception. 8 years seem to me as enough time to really relax if you have a need for it. As for changing schools, I'll probably write here later.

@LukeFlegg

3 жыл бұрын

Aha yes 🙂 Sands is 11-16 I only joined when I was 13, so I had 3 years. I wanted longer, but I knew I only had a small amount of time so I have the most of it. In fact I was scared to leave because it was the first place I felt safe, comfortable, alive, adventurous. The first school environment I felt like I belonged and I cared about it. I want to recreate that feeling in other communities now, with this culture of trust and collective empowerment, and the structures of collaboration and democracy.

@sylviesilhova51

3 жыл бұрын

I'm happy for you, that you were able to enjoy this and I'm also envious.

@sylviesilhova51

3 жыл бұрын

That sounds wrong... Corection: "I'm happy for you that you had the opportunity to enjoy this."

Hypothetical question about democratic schools... What if someone compared ideal of everybody being equal from d. school to communist ideal of everybody being equal ? (Let's say, that some time ago, at the time didn't know anything about democratic education except for that it exists, I found myself in discussion about scout and if it could function if everybody was equal even adults and children. Someone pointed out that communists were trying to make a society of everybody being equal and look where it led.)

@LukeFlegg

3 жыл бұрын

This sounds like a probably interesting conversation but I don't fully understand the framing yet! Equal is a dangerously vague word in my opinion. As is democracy. Such important words, and critical we know exactly what we mean when we use them. What precisely do you mean when you say equal? And democratic? People are very different in many ways, and so similar in others. We are not equal in every sense or context. We are different. I find myself using the term equivalence more than equality. Democracy. Aaa. If only we realised how vague this word was, we might realise how much more democratic our democracies could be.

@forysha6764

3 жыл бұрын

@@LukeFlegg I know it's vague, I was just curious what will you answer. Thank you for your answer. As for the hypothetical question... This is where it came from: I used to go to scout, and at some point, I started to criticize three people of authority for acting too arbitrarily and in response to it, I started to try to convince people, that we should have more democracy. For example, that head leader shouldn´t have authority to decide important decision by themselves and those should be rather voted, or that we should try preparing more activities in cooperation with even the youngest children, rather than making it in a small group of the oldest people and keeping it in secret and in general expand the circle of people who attend meetings and have a say in decision making. One day two leaders met up with me and told me that my idea, that everybody should be equal in our scout group is ridiculous, adults and children can´t be equal, because at the end of the day you need authority of leaders to function and also 8 year old children can't choose the program for themselves. Those things would lead to disaster. I have no idea where they got this from, my opinions might have been little confusing, because I didn't get the space to tell at least everybody of rank at once what I wanted to say, so I had to talk about this mostly one on one. But the one thing I made clear is that I believed we needed MORE DEMOCRACY not EVERYBODY TO BE EQUAL. Back then even I was not able to imagine scout working for example like democratic schools do. At the end they were pointing out that communists were talking about everyone being equal and look where it led to.

@forysha6764

3 жыл бұрын

Today I understand why I wasn't succesfull with these ideas in scout. 1. I'm not charismatic. 2. In a way scout to me resembles religion. From what I know Powell didn't founded it in a way in which it would be expected to change. The laws and promise etc. I think they are intentioned as universal truths that transcend time, more than something that future generations ought to improve. That's my impression. It's always scary to change something in scout, because what if after that another change we won't be scout anymore. It's true though, that the Powells first version of scout was something to raise young boys into soldiers, so I guess I really chose the wrong place. In a way I wanted to change scout so badly, because I felt the need for at least some democratic enviroment (eventhough I now realise that I didn't really grasp what does it mean, I guess I was navigating myself by my feelings), I had three enviroments I could have tried to change: school, family and scout. The scout seemed like the most possible one. 3. Another thing is that those three man who were leaders of the group were giving our group kind of nostalgia wibes of those better days that used to be in scout. I don't know... In that group there used to be whole year programs like Star Wars and postapo survival, but those last two years when I was there and talking about democracy, there were programs: Around the world in 80 days and Cowboys and Indians, because we ought to do something traditional again. (that one of things we were trying to do to make us proper scout group, which we supposedly weren't)

@jetdevon8983

2 жыл бұрын

I think perhaps being equal isn’t a communist ideal

My school has just over 932 students

Exe student here