Democratic Schools

/pas0/Democratic Schools has inspired teachers and school managers wherever it has been published. It tells the stories of four schools that have successfully put in place democratic and critical educational practices as guides to their entire curriculum. /par0/par0/The schools are committed to an education that builds upon student and community needs, cultures and histories. They are also committed to anti-racist, anti homophobic and anti-sexist principles and are organised around a deep concern for social justice. Distinctive features of these schools are a negotiated curriculum, extensive community involvement and flexible forms of assessment./par0/par0/The schools include primary, middle and secondary schools. These are real schools, in urban environments. They are all state-supported, not private and all have significant concentrations of children of colour and economically poor children. /par0/par0/All four of the schools studied face the very real challenges of limited budgets, insufficient human resources, the weight of bureaucratic rules, escalating demands for 'higher standards' and 'excellence', and so on. Yet each of these schools has succeeded in creating a challenging environment that is both serious academically and socially critical at the same time./par0/par0/Democratic schools will make inspiring reading for all teachers who want to make a difference to the lives of their pupils.