HOW TO CREATE
AN OASIS FOR DEVELOPMENT
Ideals for education

Traditional teaching methods are generally based on learning to comply with expectations. The education for the future is based on the underlying wisdom of the child; the source present in the child to give direction to their own life. In this book, Ruud van Middelaar (pedagogue) and Marloes Vis van Heemst (organisational scientist) present their ideas for education. The starting point is Ruud's rich experience as an educational innovator. The end point? A picture of the ideal school: an oasis for development.
This book answers the question: how do you facilitate space for development? It is a recipe for shaping democratic education, a practical philosophical conversation between the two authors, a sharing of dreams and ideals, a look back at twenty years of pioneering and a source of inspiration full of concrete foundational points and tools to get started immediately.

AUTHORS
RUUD VAN MIDDELAAR is an expert in education, an innovator and a pioneer. Through self-education he became an IT and computer specialist. When Ruud became a father, he attended teacher training and retrained as a pedagogue before co-starting a school for his daughter Kira in 2002. A founder of one of the Netherland’s first democratic schools, Ruud has been developing this innovative form of education, based on the natural development and intrinsic curiosity of students, ever since. Schooling where children can develop into communicative self-directors. According to Ruud, changing the world starts with education. An oasis for development is his debut as a writer.

Dreaming of schools that change the world MARLOES VIS VAN HEEMST discovered a place with space for development. A Democratic School where her daughter could discover life unhindered. As an organisational scientist, Marloes Vis van Heemst MSc thinks about unravelling complex systems. Now that old ways of organising no longer work, she is looking for new forms of communication and collaboration. She translates her ideals for education and philosophical insights into accessible and inspiring texts, thereby creating order out of chaos and offering fresh perspectives for the future.

