My name is Michael Sappir. I am an Israeli living in Leipzig, Germany, where I study linguistics. I am also a co-founder and alumnus of Sudbury Jerusalem, a Sudbury school in Israel, and currently a member of the Council of the European Democratic Education Community (EUDEC).
Sudbury schools operate on a simple concept: people are free to govern their own lives and direct
their own learning, limited only by the school's self-governing democracy. But what allows these
schools to be such effective, vibrant and dynamic learning communities? What causes people to
acquire valuable skills and information? What enables everybody to get along? The answer, and the
secret weapon of democratic schools, lies in free communication.