A democratic school is a learning environment, based on the following 2 pillars:

• Children and young people have the right to make their own choices regarding learning and all other areas of daily life. In particular, they can individually decide what to do, when, where, how and with whom, as long as their decisions do not infringe on the freedom of others to do the same.
• Children and young people have an equal share in decision-making about how their organizations – in particular their schools – are managed and what agreements are needed.

Democratic education is characterized by the following elements:

A community based in a culture of equality and shared responsibility. Respect breeds respect. Trust breeds trust. Compassion breeds compassion. Tolerance breeds tolerance. Listening breeds listening.

Collective decision-making in which all members of the community, regardless of age or status, have an equal say in important decisions such as school rules, curricula, projects, hiring of staff and even budgetary matters.

Self-directed discovery: The children and young people choose what they learn, when, how and with whom they learn it. Learning can take place inside or outside the classroom, through play or conventional study. The key is that learning follows students’ intrinsic motivation and pursues their interests.

Democratic schools are communities where Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that children have the right to have a say in matters that concern them, is fully realized.

Democratic education provides an ideal breeding ground for developing critically thinking individuals who are collaborative problem solvers and creative flexible thinkers.

On the one hand, a truly democratic school fits the above description. On the other hand, there is a great diversity of democratic schools in the world.