The pedagogic beehive
The pedagogic beehive
The pedagogic beehive is a division in the Institute for Democratic Education, created to advance democratic pedagogy in democratic schools and formal education. It develops teaching/learning methods in democratic education, and supports teaching staff at democratic schools by developing and assimilating innovative teaching/learning methods for them.
So what is democratic pedagogy?
Democratic pedagogue is the way that democratic education creates teaching which can lead to significant learning. It brings together empowerment of the individual students and their unique skills, creating a supportive learning community that encourages activism.
Democratic pedagogy is informed by teaching/learning methods that emphasise learners' personal empowerment (such as learner-focused learning, and open education). It is based on working with each student's areas of strength and growth, and doing so in the framework of a learning community. The idea is to crystallize a group of varied learners - a community that supports learning by all its members, and transforms each student's difference and uniqueness into a community that provides a lever for significant learning.
Personal development is done in a group framework, with commitment to the group's development and constant feedback from all members. Teaching/learning is performed from an activist perspective. During their learning processes, members are guided towards examining their responsibility and impact on the world, their capacity to promote social change, and to contribute to the wider community where they live and work.
The circle of democratic pedagogy
Personal empowerment Pluralistic learning community 
Social activism
EVERYTHING'S CHANGING ...
Democratic pedagogy requires people to change their perceptions of the role and profile of teachers, students, learning, and knowledge
Teachers and democratic pedagogy
Teachers are creative learners and educators - they support and guide individual and group learning-processes; are responsible for structuring a community of learners; and they belong to a group/community of learners in a never-ending process of observing their own learning processes and those of others.
Students in democratic pedagogy
...are holistic, creative, driven by curiosity and the motivation to learn and assist in the ability for self-observation and -analysis. They are members in a learning community that is under pinned by the human right to freedom and dignity, and have rights and responsibilities towards their community. They possess a strong urge to learn, discover, experience - and to fulfil dreams and wishes. Capable of casting doubt on knowledge, and the authority of that knowledge, they are open to many points of view, willing to experience change and to undergo empowerment and development process. They are prepared for dialogue that is respectful, able to change and develop; they are aware of their ability to generate change in the world.
Learning through democratic pedagogy
Learning as an act of art - is a journey of constant development, judged only by its outcomes. It is experiential, proactive, asks questions, is process - based, gives a central role to the wider question - and allows more than one answer. Learning is a constant dialogue between teacher and student, held in a learning community... and it is joyful, creative, and open.
Knowledge in democratic pedagogy
No more a narrow, defined corpus of knowledge - instead we have broad, changing knowledge, context- and culture-dependent, in the heart of a creative dialogue between teachers and students, and unfolding in a learning community. During that dialogue, a clear distinction is made between the facts of knowing, empirical truth, and interpretation. The teacher is not "someone who knows" - s/he has strong expertise - the teacher's goal is to encourage students to acquire knowledge by self-discovery, understanding, and to question existing knowledge. The teacher reveals intuitive theories and enables students to critically observe what is given, "what is known" and to formulate and empower an alternative knowledge.
A community of learners
...is a group of people who create a common learning culture and maintain relationships of participation and mutual support. The goal of any learning community is to simultaneously empower learning by all members, with each one's uniqueness and skills, and to be empowered by the shared development of all members - in the spirit of ‘the whole is greater than its parts'. Underlying the creating of a learning community are the principles of pluralism, dignity and equality side by side with difference and multiculturalism. The community is guided towards making its members actively involved in the broader community where they live and work, taking responsibility for their role in it, and proactively making changes that contribute to its improvement.
The community is guided by the learning teacher, who is a member of the community with the special role of supporting learning processes and taking on responsibility for ensuring the appropriate conditions for learning as a group.