The Institute for Democratic Education

The Institute for Democratic Education was founded in 1987 as part of the first Israeli Democratic School, located in Hadera. Today the Institute resides within the "Seminar Hakibbutzim" College, in Tel-Aviv. Its staff includes some twenty members, who come from a broad range of expertise and disciplines. The Institute is headed by Yaacov Hecht, who was recently recognized by TheMarker as one of the nation's ten "most positively influential persons in Israeli society".

In Israel the Institute for Democratic Education currently operates three major programs:
1. The Incubator for Social and Educational Entrepreneurship, which supports ground-breaking schools through their founding stages and beyond.
2. An academic program which trains teachers and entrepreneurs in the social-educational-environmental fields.
3. Consulting engagements with municipalities and school systems through the implementation of long-term educational development programs.

Worldwide, the Institute guides democratization processes in the field of education in various regions and countries, including New Zealand, Britain, Italy, the United States, Japan and South America. Additionally, the Institute founded IDEC, the International Democratic Education Conference, which convenes educators from 34 countries once a year, with a different country hosting every year.

To the Institute's International website