Kosara:
What’s your name?
Olly:
Full name?
Kosara:
You can go with just your first name.
Olly:
Okay. Olly.
Kosara:
How old are you?
Olly:
17
Kosara:
Where do you come from?
Olly:
I was born in the Netherlands but raised for most of my life in the South of Spain.
Kosara:
How long have you been in a Democratic school?
Olly:
For 6 years, ever since my school first started.
Kosara:
How did you find out about Democratic education?
Olly:
Well… I was kind of born into alternative education, my mum was a teacher in an alternate school, not a democratic one, but one more focused around the principals of self directed learning. I only really learned about/experienced democratic education through joining the school that someone I already knew was starting.
I was 11/12 at the time so didn’t really have an idea about the theory part of it. 😅
Kosara:
How has the Democratic experience impacted on you and your growth?
Olly:
In so many ways! I think one of the biggest things it gave me is exposing me to dealing with real life things at an early stage, something that’s really helped me out through the years. Through having to solve problems both alone and with a group that are very delicate, through exposing me to different people (in the early years we often had artists from different places doing residencies) and generally just getting a lot of organising and social skills.
Kosara:
Do the students in your school choose what to study and how? Can they propose ideas for activities and new subjects?
Olly:
Yes, they do! I think my school is a lot less structured than most 😅. There is no curriculum, and anyone can do anything as long as it’s not breaking a community agreement like hurting yourself or someone else etc. If someone wants to do something that impacts the whole group, they have to put it in the weekly meeting (think getting money for a project, painting a wall…). And anyone can organise any activity and put it on the schedule board (or not).
Kosara:
Can you describe a project or an activity that you found particularly engaging or meaningful in your school experience?
Olly:
We’ve had two people coming to visit our school consistently over the last 3 or 4 years who record footage to eventually make a documentary tracing our journey. I got really close with the two of them and whenever they’d come, I’d interview classmates with them and just chat and hang about. Last term my friend and I did a last kind of interview with them before we both left the school and it was so nice. They kind of saw us grow up over the years. And unlike all the other visitors they actually cared enough to come back and stay in touch.
Kosara:
What role do students have in school meetings and/or discussions about rules, policies and events?
Olly:
Well, the same role as everyone else in the school! The facilitators and the students have the same say in whatever happens. The only difference really is that the facilitators hold more responsibility in holding the space and organise some practical things, and taking care of the well-being of the students.
Kosara:
What advice would you give to students considering joining a Democratic school for the first time?
Olly:
Hum… I think, to let go of your expectations of what a school is. And understand that with the freedom that you get in a democratic school you also have to take on responsibility for yourself and the space. ❤️ No one is there to tell you what to do, so you have to find out for yourself what it is you want to do.
Kosara:
So the actual unserious and also last question is: Does your school have a pet and does the pet have lore?
Olly:
Hhahah. No, we actually don’t have an official pet…
But we have had rats in the ceiling of our main building for very long now 😂. And they do have lore. We made up an entire religion around them one night when we could hear them during a sleepover. I think the main rat was called Flobbes Fudgecake, and he was going through a divorce with his wife who cheated on him. I don’t remember what the religion was called but it’s basically about praising Flobbes. Oh no wait, it was Flobbert. Flobbert Fudgecake. Haha, that’s our rat lore 😂.
