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IDEC : Newsletter, July 2007

(Earlier newsletters follow in reverse order)

IDEC 2007

IDEC 2007 will be held in Brazil, at Nautico University in Mogi das Cruzes, 52 km from São Paulo. It will run from September 8 ­16 inclusive. It will be an independent part of the World Education Forum, which is taking place at the end of the week, from September 13 ­ 16, and is expecting 40,000 people to attend. (The WEF is another organisation that meets every year in a different country. The IDEC steering group is working with them to include as many topics as possible which are related to democratic education.)

All details about board and lodging, transport, costs, etcetera, are being settled during July, the school holidays in Brazil. The committee were hoping to find one place that could accommodate as many participants as possible, so as to give more opportunity for discussion, but have so far not found anywhere suitable in the city of Mogi. They are looking for small farms in the region, which will be cheap, and not too far from of the conference site. They are still involved in discussion with caterers, translating organisations and transport contractors and will announce final fees for the conference as soon as possible.

Mogi das Cruzes has a big Japanese community and the current mayor, Junji Abe, is of Japanese descent, and is committed to help with translation between Japanese and Portuguese.

The program for the conference has already been outlined. It will soon be published on the conference site, www.idec2007.org, and comments and suggestions are welcomed. The address to write to is idec2007@gmail.com.

Most participants will need visas. They are advised to apply for normal tourist visas rather than visas for the conference, and to give as contact either Helena Singer or Carol Sumie, at R Lincoln Albuquerque 328, 05004-010 Sao Paulo ­ SP ­ Brazil, phone: 55 11 3586-1916 or 55 11 7310-4124

Participants should fly to São Paolo Guaralhos airport, and take a Guarucoop taxi to Mogi das Cruzes, which will cost about 140 Real, which is roughly £36 or $72. There is no extra charge if several people travel in the same taxi.

IDEC 2008

IDEC 2008 will be held in Vancouver, Canada. It will be organised by SANE, the Society for the Advancement of Non-coercive Education, a collaborative group of former and current teachers, students, parents, founders, researchers and supporters of Windsor House, Canada's longest running democratic school. David Gagnon, of the hosting committee, can be contacted at idec2008@gmail.com.

EUDEC 2008

The European regional IDEC will be held at Leipzig University from July 25th ­ August 3rd. It is being hosted by the Free School Leipzig in co-operation with the University of Leipzig, the National Association of Free Alternative Schools in Germany and the Sudbury Initiative Leipzig. Additional support and input is being provided by a European-wide planning group made up of students and educators from schools and organisations throughout Europe.

The website is www.EUDEC2008.org, and the contact address is leslieocker@aol.com

IDEC 2009

Tae Wook Ha, a Korean PhD student at Kings College London, came to the UK 9 years ago to study 'Progressive/Alternative/Democratic Education' when Korean alternative schools were just starting. He has been attending IDECs since 1999.
There was some discussion among the Koreans at IDEC 2006 about the possibility of hosting a future IDEC, and because Tae has attended for so long, and speaks English, he has become their spokesman.
Tae will have finished his PhD earlier this year and will be returning to Korea. He has already contacted a few organisations and individuals who are involved in the alternative education scene in Korea and has had a very positive response. At the IDEC in Brazil he will propose that IDEC 2009 is held in Korea.

The Netherlands

All alternative schools in the Netherlands are under threat from a new law on compulsory education which was passed earlier this year in the House of Commons, with only 10 out of 150 members of parliament voting against it. There is still some hope that the House of Lords or in the last resort the Queen, who was herself at one of the first democratic schools in Holland, may insist on changes.

If the new bill does nevertheless become law after all, there is still some hope of support from international law, and the legislation is so badly written that there may be loopholes. Democratic schools are not going to give up without a fight.

(Summarised from an email from Hannah@aventurijn.org)

Booroobin

Booroobin, the tiny school in Australia founded in 1996 on the Sudbury Valley model, closed down in 2003, when in spite of vigorous campaigning the Queensland government withdrew its recognition. For another two and a half years Booroobin operated as a resource centre for the use of children being educated at home. In July 2006 the learning centre was also closed down after threats of criminal action and fines.

Then in November 2006 Derek Sheppard, as representative of Booroobin, received a summons for operating a school which was not accredited "between November 20 and November 27, 2005". This was a criminal rather than a civil charge, and if found guilty he could have been fined or imprisoned. No evidence was ever produced against him, and on June 7th 2007 the charge was simply dropped.

A group has now been formed to set up a new, small, independent, democratic school which will conform sufficiently to Government requirements to ensure accreditation.

Address

The IDEN website is www.idenetwork.org, and the email address is davidgribble@idenetwork.org.
If you would rather not receive newsletters like this, please let us know so we can take you off the list.

Fees for IDEC in Brazil

The prices are given in Brazilian Reals. The exchange rate is approximately R $1 = US$0.50 or £0.26

Full Conference (9 days)

Adults (WEF registration included)--------------------------------R$ 140,00
Students-(WEF registration included)------------------------------R$ 70,00
Students under 10 years old---------------------------------------free

Daily rate--------------------------------------------------------R$ 35,00

Catering

Lunch and dinner in the conference site---------------------------R$ 135,00

Lodging (for 10 days)-

Bed in collective room (with breakfast and transportation)--------R$ 240,00
Camping (with breakfast and transportation)-----------------------R$ 190,00
Hotel - double room (with breakfast)------------------------------R$ 650,00 (per person)
Hotel - 4 bed room (with breakfast)-------------------------------R$ 512,50 (per person)

Website and Email address

http://idec2007.org idec2007@gmail.com