Sociocracy in Schools Conference:
Empowering Youth in Education
January 15, 2022
Imagine a world where consent decision-making is a part of the school curriculum. Imagine a world where students have a voice in the governance of their school, a world where children and youth are empowered to decide collaboratively on issues that are important to them.
That world exists, today, in schools and youth organizations that use sociocracy. Sociocracy in schools allows students, teachers, parents, and administration to all be heard in decisions about topics such as the class schedule, shared finances, the rules of the school, the school environment, and pedagogy.
At our 2022 conference, we had speakers on topics ranging from nuts and bolts of the selection process and conflict resolution, to stories about youth activism, and many case studies with real-life examples of sociocracy in schools and with youth of all ages. You will hear from alumni, school leaders, consultants, and advocates in these recordings. This conference was produced by the Schools and Youth Circle of Sociocracy for All as a part of a grant received from the Rising Foundation to support teaching sociocracy and self governance in schools to youth and youth educators.
Learn more by watching recordings below!
Sociocracy in Schools 2022 Conference Program
This conference was on January 15th, 2022
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School Circles Q&A with directors (Marianne Osorio and Charlie Shread)
This presentation’s recording is under review. Presentation slides can be found here. To find out more about the presenter’s work please visit: Wondering School: www.wonderingschool.org School Circles: www.schoolcirclesfilm.com Description This will be a Q&A session with the School Circles film directors Marianne Osorio and Charlie Shread. School Circles is an independent documentary that explores the practice of democratic schools…
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Sociocracy in schools in Africa in under-resourced communities (Brad Sitzer)
Description A look at Grace Cafe, a “nano-school” based in South Africa, that uses Sociocratic principles to live out their learning hub in a high potential, under-resourced, high-crime environment. Presenter Bio Brad Sitzer is a former corporate Electrical Engineer for multinationals. His master’s degree was focused on quality education inclusion and his work through Grace2Learn.co.za is to…
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Conflict Resolution by Honouring Objection and NVC Consciousness (Magdalena Sendor)
Description If you say school you can say conflicts. It is life, it is normal. Since NVC and sociocracy have crossed my way, in this order, I am in the point of not being afraid of conflict even when the group is involved. With NVC which prioritizes connection and sociocracy who takes care about effectiveness…
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Unico: a sociocratically run school owned by parents, teachers and staff (Tobias Leugger)
This presentation was not recorded. To find out more about the presenter’s work please visit: Tobias Leugger’s website Description This will be a case study presentation about Unico, a private school for self-directed learning in Bern, Switzerland. Unico is a cooperative that is run sociocratically since its founding three years ago. The presentation focuses on…
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Comparison of Sociocracy in Rainbow Community School, North Carolina, and Montessori Children’s House, Washington State (John Buck, Renee Owen, and Angela and Robin Spayde)
Description The presentation will explore insights and lessons learned from implementing sociocracy in two different schools. There will be a short presentation about Rainbow Community School, K-8, where sociocracy has been used for several years and objective data has confirmed the success of the implementation. Then, there will be a presentation about Montessori Children’s House,…
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The Implementation of Sociocracy at High Mowing School (Gabriel Futterman)
Description An alumnus from High Mowing School describes his experience with using a sociocratic model for class meetings and student council at a Waldorf boarding school; its benefits and pitfalls, and what we can learn from sociocracy’s application in a high school environment. Presenter Bio Gabriel Futterman is an 2018 alumni of High Mowing School…
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Sociocracy in Youth Activism: How Youth Power Coalition is Building a Sociocratic Movement (Deborah Chang)
Description Youth Power Coalition is youth leaders and adult allies advocating for young people to have decision-making power in all spaces where decisions impacting young people are made from nonprofit boards to city hall. We’re advocating for lowering the voting age to 16, training both young people and adults in intergenerational governance, and creating an…
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Frisch Voran (Philipp-Damian Siefert)
Description What drives meAs the first sociocratic school, we are now looking back on 8 years of experience. The FRISCH school is organized completely sociocratic with everyone who is involved: teachers, parents, students. Since its foundation, many alternative schools and initiatives have followed our example; one could even say there’s a surge of people who…
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Strengthen youth leadership – Open election of class representatives as initiative (Lisa Praeg)
Description Do you remember the last time you participated in a democratic election? What did you feel when you put down your vote? Have you been elected, or was someone elected for whom you didn’t vote? The open nomination, a sociocratic principle, is a gift to the world! It creates a balance to the experiences…
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The New School – Sociocracy, Social Justice, Attachment and Trauma (Tom Oberst and Mario Dellow)
Description Join us to hear about our school, and discuss our experiences of education. The New School is an alternative non-fee-paying school in London. We are driven by giving every student a powerful sense of agency – the will and the ability to positively influence their own lives and the world around them. Education at…
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Do Schools Need Curricula? (Kåre Wangel)
Description The introduction of sociocracy into schools is in some ways a continuation of the democratic school movement, in which challenging the concept of a compulsory curriculum has always been a central facet. As soon as you propose that the pupils themselves should be a part of decision-making at their school, you realize how much…
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Sociocracy and Participation – A Scottish Journey in Further Education (Alastair Davidson)
Description As Scotland looks to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into law, we at the University of Highlands and Islands share Sociocracy as a form of true participation with our Childhood Practice and Health and Social Care students. Students are studying high school-level courses and often feel like they do…
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Re-inventing Education Together (Ellen Even and Armin Sieber)
Description The Integrale Tagesschule Winterthur is an alternative secondary school located in Winterthur, Switzerland. In this presentation, we will focus on specific steps that enabled ITW to include all people involved in a purpose-driven school development process. Presentation slides Presenter Bio Ellen Even is living with her husband and twins in Zurich, CH. She works at…
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Running a free school sociocratically – advantages and challenges (Rita Mayrhofer)
Description In this session I will share the case study of a free Montessori school, the first in Austria, where sociocracy has been fully implemented for three years now. We have gained a lot of experience since we started to build the circular structure in 2015 and gradually integrated all involved, which I am happy…
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Power and trauma: what we learned from 6 years of running a school with sociocracy (Thomas Marshall and Fleur Mathet)
Description We started the first democratic school in France in 2014, La Croisée des Chemins. The project was run with sociocracy from the beginning until the school was closed in 2020. We would like to share what we learned from the challenges of shared power with other adults involved in an alternative education initiative. Presentation…
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Using Rubrics in Sociocracy Learning (Sebastián Zulueta)
Description We will present the case about using rubrics to improve learning sociocracy in teams and organizations, and we will discuss creating a collaborative effort to share experiences and tools for the future. We will share some examples of rubrics that can be used and will share different ways to work with this tool. Presenter…
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Erasmus Project: Sociocracy in Schools (Werner Kratochwil)
This presentation was not recorded. To find out more about the presenter’s work please visit: https://soziokratiezentrum.org/profiles/anja-ritter-2-2/ Description First I will present the Erasmus project for sociocracy in schools. Then I will ask for possible discussion topics which would be interesting to discuss in future workshops with members from different sociocratic schools. This could be questions…
About Sociocracy for All
Sociocracy For All is a 501c3 nonprofit that provides resources and teaches about effective egalitarian self governance. Find out more here.
Thank you to our partner, Wondering School.
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