This Founder and Facilitator training offers the unique opportunity to become immersed in the daily environment of a democratic school, which is an invaluable experience for anyone who would like to found a democratic school, work in a democratic school, or better understand how a democratic school works.
There is currently no formal training or degree that qualifies someone to be a facilitator in a democratic school, so this two-day training is an opportunity to learn through experience, observation, and personalised information sessions with senior facilitators of Ireland’s oldest democratic school.
Focus of this training includes:
- Practical details of establishing a democratic school in Ireland, such as legal form, fee structure, insurance, planning permission, charity status
- Concrete steps of how to get started founding a school, including establishing a core founder group, holding public meetings, enrolling an initial group of students, securing a school building and registering as an independent school
- Other considerations like establishing a conflict resolution system, holding the school culture, parent involvement, and curriculum.
- What it means to be a facilitator in a democratic school and common challenges and solutions.
- Considerations for managing a non-hierarchical staff team, including organising and holding efficient meetings, supporting staff wellbeing, dividing staff roles, developing reliable and flexible processes and systems
This training is aimed towards:
- Facilitators of democratic education or potential facilitators
- Founders of democratic schools or prospective founders
- Board members of democratic schools that want to learn more about daily processes and organisational strategies
- Undergraduate or Postgraduate Students of Education
- Other educators or teachers who want to bring more democratic processed into their places of work
Since this is an immersive training, run alongside the normal school day, places will be very limited, so make sure to take advantage of this limited opportunity.
Sessions run from 10am - 3:30pm each day and time is allocated for both observation/participation and information sessions, including Q&A with staff and students.
Available Training Dates:
10-11 February 2025
24-25 March 2025
31 March - 01 April 2025
12-13 May 2025
GROUP DISCOUNT - Groups of 3 or more from the same organisation can email info@wicklowdemocraticschool.ie to avail of a 20% group rate reduction.
This series of training sessions have been developed with the support of Erasmus+ and are part of a cross-national Erasmus Partnership "Rethinking learning: a holistic approach to education through wellbeing"
