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- Vol 4 RE: Chapter 18
learner autonomydemocratic schoolingstudent participationself-regulated learningexperiential educationcivic engagementlifelong learningJournal article Evidence summaryAt a glance
Hartkamp-Bakker and Martens investigate how graduates of Sudbury schools understand the lasting effects of radically self-directed, democratically governed schooling. They interviewed 14 alumni from eight schools in the Netherlands, Israel, and the United States and analysed the retrospective accounts using reflexive thematic analysis.
Key ideas
Participants linked learning to self-chosen meaningful activities, mixed-age relationships, informal interaction, shared governance, and responsibility for real community decisions rather than imposed curricula, classes, assessments, or standard progression. Graduates described developing initiative, self-regulation, adaptability, communication, organisational and civic literacy, resilience, and confidence in finding purpose under uncertainty. The authors interpret these accounts through experiential education, Self-Determination Theory, and evolutionary-developmental perspectives, suggesting that autonomy and participation may support capacities relevant to lifelong learning and social engagement. The study offers rich cross-cultural testimony but cannot establish causal long-term effects: its small, self-selected sample and retrospective design invite selection and recall biases.
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Its contribution is an exploratory account of how alumni themselves connect democratic school experiences with adult development.
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Edition abbreviations
- TE
- Teacher Edition
- PE
- Practice Edition
- RE
- Research Edition
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