The Democratic School of Hadera is a democratic school in Hadera, Israel. It was founded in 1987 by Yaacov Hecht. With around 380 students aged four to eighteen, it is the largest of the twenty-five Israeli democratic schools.
The school is governed by a weekly school parliament in which all students, teachers, parents and alumni have an equal vote. However, few parents and alumni participate in parliament meetings.
Students are free to decide if they want to attend classes or spend their time on other activities such as music, sports, art, computers, reading, talking, socializing, or doing nothing at all.
In 1993 the first International Democratic Education Conference (IDEC) was held at the Democratic School of Hadera. In 1996 it was held again at that school.
Famous quotes containing the words democratic and/or school:
“The democratic youth ... lives along day by day, gratifying the desire that occurs to him, at one time drinking and listening to the flute, at another downing water and reducing, now practising gymnastic, and again idling and neglecting everything; and sometimes spending his time as though he were occupied in philosophy.”
—Plato (c. 427–347 B.C.)
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