All its actions, collaborations, projects and pilot projects EUDEC Greece honor and follow the basic principles of democratic education:
- the equality, co-responsibility and cooperation of teachers and pupils as to how the school works
- the right of students to freely choose the content, the way and the pace of their learning
We seek the optimal, for the Greek data, synergy of various pedagogical approaches with our principle of coexistence and cooperation between various structures and methods based on inclusion.
These diverse approaches and their combinations are required to be based on:
- Democratic Schools are grounded in the culture of equity and co-responsibility. Respect brings respect. Trust builds trust. Compassion breeds compassion. Acceptance cultivates acceptance. When we listen, we are listened to in return.
- All the members of the community, regardless of their age or status, have an equal say in decisions on school rules and regulations, the curriculum, the hiring of teaching personnel, even the financial management of the schools' resources
- Learners choose what they learn, when, how and with whom they learn it. Learning can happen inside or outside of the classroom, through play as well as conventional study. The key is that the learning is following the students intrinsic motivation and pursuing their interests.
It is required to be forms of education in which
- children are free to organize their daily activities and have equal rights with adults through democratic decision-making
- Democratic schools are communities where Article 12 of the UN convention on the rights of the child, which states that children have a right to have a say on matters which affect them, and “…the right to develop their personality freely in all aspects that compose it” (Article 5 of the Greek Constitution) is fully realised.
- The right to "Free Development of the Personality" is fully respected (Article 5 of the Greek Constitution)
Συνεπώς λοιπόν στην EUDEC Greece cannot be included or tolerated:
- no form of compulsory / authoritarian / adultism pedagogy
- No form of religious and sociopolitical indoctrination
- no form of homophobia and repression of diversity in general
- No negation of human potential and attributes because of color, race, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, and, in general, no suppression of diversity.
- no form of nationalism