> The Team

Introduction

We arrived in Israel on Monday, January 19th, 2004 at the ripe hour of 4 am. Yaacov Hecht from the Institute for Democratic Education began our experience in characteristic Israeli fashion, with an enormous breakfast of fresh vegetables, bread and cheese. We ate on the beach as the sun rose over Tel Aviv, walked 6 km to the Institute, and our work began. The focus of our one-month workshop is a large whiteboard, divided into three panels. The center is "Ideas." To the left, "Growth Areas" and "Dangers." To the right, "Strength Areas" and "Opportunities." As we visit schools, meet people and discuss throughout the month, we'll return to the board with post-it notes. The last week of the trip will be dedicated to making sense out of what we've absorbed, crafting it into a project for our return to the United States.

The following week was a whirlwind, driving to a different town each night and seeing a new school each day. Everywhere we go, the hospitality is extraordinary. So far we've seen democratic and traditional schools, coexistence projects, community democratization work, and met dozens of teachers, parents and students.

We've created this website to share the lessons and tools we gain as we travel through Israel. We're trying to answer a few questions: What are the different definitions of democratic education? How does it work or not work for different communities? What about Israel has made democratic education so popular here? What can be transferred to American schools? Where is the movement going?

We hope the website can convey at least a hint of all we've learned here, and for more than that, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Julia Hill, Andrew Chen, Shetal Dandage, Dana Bennis and Chris Balme
Contacts: hilljulia@yahoo.com, andrew_s_chen@yahoo.com, shetal74@hotmail.com, dbennis12@yahoo.com, cbalme@alumni.upenn.edu