IDEC is a yearly gathering of people from around the world who teach, parent and study in "Democratic Schools", schools that are run democratically by the whole population involved with the school (the majority usually being the students). IDEC is a chance for people to share ideas and philosophy, talk about funding issues, the legalities and difficulties of schooling outside the norm and perhaps most importantly, it's a chance for people to be reminded that they are not alone in a world where most education has become detached from the needs of the children and the society it should serve.

IDEC has grown each year since its beginning in 1993, clearly showing its importance to the Democratic Education Community.  Founded by a handful of people who held conferences of less than 20 people, IDEC has now grown to expect 200 to 400 participants each year.

Israel: the First IDEC
In 1993, teachers and students from democratic schools found themselves at a large conference in Jerusalem, Israel called "Education for Democracy in a Multi-cultural Society." The participants were mostly philosophers, professors and politicians, and the teachers and students hardly had any opportunity to contribute. A small group of teachers and students was invited to the Democratic School of Hadera, a school of 200 students at the time, for two days after the big conference. The discussions were so stimulating that it was agreed to meet annually.
For the first four years it was known as the Hadera Conference before being officially dubbed "IDEC" at the 1997 meeting.

Previous IDECs
•    2007 IDEB, Institute for Democratic Education in Brasil, Sao Paulo, Brazil
•    2006 AAPAE, Australasian Association for Progressive and Alternative Education,  Sydney, Australia
•    2005 The Netzwerk Spiel/Kultur and KRÄTZÄ, and The Schule für Erwachsenenbildung, SfE, Berlin, Germany
•    2004 SchoolScape, Bhubaneshwar, India
•    2003 Albany Free School and AERO, New York, USA
•    2002 Tamariki School, New Zealand
•    2001 Institute of Democratic Education, Israel
•    2000 Tokyo Shure, Japan
•    1999 Summerhill School, UK
•    1998 Stork Family School, Ukraine
•    1997 Sands School, UK
•    1996 Democratic School of Hadera, Israel
•    1995 The WUK, Austria
•    1994 Sands School, UK
•    1993 Democratic School of Hadera, Israel

Countries represented at IDECs include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Philippines, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, UK, Ukraine and the United States of America.

For a list of previous IDECs and content archives visit IDEC Online.