Many schools want greater participation.
But we need structures to make
shared decision-making possible.
But we need structures to make
shared decision-making possible.
Teachers are expected to have initiative, collaborate and take responsibility, but have little say in decisions that shape their work.
School leaders want to involve the staff and the community, but are overloaded with complex issues, carrying the weight of decisions, administrative tasks and accountability.
Students are rarely invited to share their opinions, and even when they do, their voices are not may be invited to share their opinions, while still wondering whether their voices actually influence what happens.
Sociocracy Training for Schools (S4S)
Online (LIVE) · 6 weeks · 12 hours
Thursdays, 22 Oct – 26 Nov 2026
6 weekly sessions · 2 hours each
Live on Zoom · 6pm – 8pm CEST (check your timezone)
€280
Standard
€200
Global South
€160
Youth
About the Course
Sociocracy for Schools (S4S) is a training in Participatory Governance for people in schools, learning communities, universities, family coops and educational orgs, who want to implement circles for collective decision-making.
Sociocracy (also known as the Sociocratic Circle Method or Dynamic Governance) offers a practical way to run school councils, staff teams, parent circles, and youth groups using consent-based decision-making, circle meetings, and inclusive structures — so everyone feels heard and valued in the community.
This is an experiential course where you learn by doing. Over 6 weeks (12 hours live), you’ll watch the School Circles documentary and work in small groups to practice open elections and consent decisions, explore roles and facilitation, and design a circle structure that fits your context (from a classroom to a whole organization). Bring real topics from your school or project to practice on — let’s get real!
We open our Public Course regularly. If you can’t join the open cohort, please fill out this form to receive updates on future cohorts.
We also offer Private Training and Consulting to schools, organizations, communities and small groups. We offer the full 12-hour S4S Training for your team or tailor a program to your needs. If you are interested in a private training, pleae send us an email to contact@wonderingschool.org or book a free 30-minute Discovery Call through calendly here:
By the end, you’ll leave with practical tools you can apply right away:
-
- a clear process for consent-based decisions in meetings
- a facilitation toolkit for circle meetings (agenda-building, rounds, roles, next steps)
- a fair method for open elections of roles (facilitatos, admin, representatives, coordinators)
- a draft governance/circle structure for your learning community or organization
- strategies to support participation, accountability, and student voice across the community
What is our community saying about S4S?
“This course was a wonderful mix of theory and practice, hands-on experiences. I came away feeling inspired and encouraged to begin practicing sociocracy in my work and personal life. Mari and Charlie are skilled facilitators, and their passion and warmth shines through. Just the right length, great value for money, and a nice way to connect with like-minded people around the world.”
Eloise Rickman – Parent Educator & Author, A Beautiful Childhood (UK)
“I learned a lot about how to communicate in a fair and equal way. I think this method can be applied in many different situations and I hope my colleagues are as enthusiastic as I am. I will definitely be trying to implement the ideas at my school.”
Megan Morlok, Highschool teacher
Greenshoots International School (Vietnam)
“The course was beyond my expectations as theory was so well intact with practice. Mari and Charlie know incredibly much on sociocracy and it’s outstanding that they deliver the content in such a calm, positive and creative way. I loved that there is given a lot of attention to grasping the method by allowing the participants to dwell in it and where needed, adding guidance. It was a very hands on experience.”
Indrè, Teacher, International School of Vilnius (Lithuania)
“Really brilliant facilitation from Mari and Charlie. Having done a number of zoom based classes in the past year, this one felt the most ‘held’ and supportive. I learned so much more than I thought could be possible in the time frame. They made a potentially daunting topic seem completely accessible and achievable.”
Naomi Clarke, Writer & Site Manager
East Kent Sudbury (UK)
“Mari and Charlie have crafted a course that embodies the principles and processes of sociocracy. They give all the nuts and bolts, but the real learning comes through participation in the sociocratic process, which is woven throughout the course. A good mix of theory and practice.”
David Wessels, Garden Coordinator/Teacher, Troy Howard Middle School (USA)
ABOUT SOCIOCRACY
Sociocracy is a method of governance based on dialogue and inclusion of all people in the decision-making process, in a way that all voices are heard and integrated.
This model is an alternative to majority rule decision-making, which frequently generates exclusion of minorities, segregation and resistance to change.
The principles of sociocracy that will be covered in the course are:
1. Consent – decision-making based on no objections
2. Circle – group with aim and domain, using rounds and consent decision-making
3. Sociocratic Election – open selection of roles based on consent
4. Double Links – feedback and communication between circles
SOCIOCRACY MADE SIMPLE
We simplified the Sociocratic Decision-making Process in 3 steps!
This is a great resource to implement Sociocracy with children and with any group that wants to keep it simple!
We teach how to facilitate a sociocratic decision-making process in our Sociocracy for Schools Course.
CONTENT
LEARNING RESOURCE
The course includes the exhibition of the training version of School Circles documentary (46 min), which was produced by the facilitators. The film serves as support for learning the practice of sociocracy in schools and beyond.
School Circles is an independent documentary that explores six democratic schools in the Netherlands.
The film shows students, teachers, staff and parents coming together to dialogue, discuss proposals, mediate conflict and make collective decisions about their school life.
These schools challenge not only mainstream education, but also democracy as we know it. They put into practice Sociocracy, a system of governance based on consent decision-making, where every voice matters.
School Circles connects the theory of Sociocracy to its practice within schools, opening up new possibilities for organizing our communities and society as a whole.
SUPPORT MATERIALS
Materials Included:
PUBLIC COURSE
INVESTMENT FOR INDIVIDUALS
- Standard: €190 – Standard fee for registering on the course.
- Global South: €140 – A reduced fee to make the course more accessible to citizens of Global South countries
- Youth (age 16-19): €90 – A reduced fee for youth to encourage student participation. When staff and students learn side by side, these new ideas, skills and structures can root themselves more deeply in your community.
* We open our Public Course regularly. If you can’t join the current cohort, please fill out this form to receive updates on future cohorts.
BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL
If you have any questions or doubts, please feel free to book a 30 min call with us via our calendly page here:
PRIVATE TRAINING
INVESTMENT FOR GROUPS
We offer the same training for private groups, and we can adapt the material and format to your needs. Please fill this form with your available dates and times and we’ll get back to you. Or just go ahead and send us an email to: contact@wonderingschool.org
We can offer a private training to a group with a minimum of 2 people and a maximum of 24 people per training group. If you would like to book the training for a larger number of people, we can facilitate the training to two or more groups in separate sessions.
CONSULTING
We offer consultation on Sociocracy in Education to schools, learning communities, organisations and families. This option is suitable for people who already took our course or another training on sociocracy, otherwise we would start the consulting process with a private training. The aim is to support the group with the continuity of the methodology. The duration and frequency of these sessions can vary according to the group’s needs.
If you are looking for consultation please get in touch with us and we’ll arrange a video call to understand your context and needs in order to co-create a tailored proposal: contact@wonderingschool.org
“A great course with many practical exercises that allow us to experience being in the role of facilitators. I definitely recommend it!”
Maria Coelho Rosa, Technical Director, Between (Portugal)
“It was very special. Marianne and Charlie conducted the sessions in a very gentle, communicative and enthusiastic way. The exercises in sub-circles are important for co-learning and co-creating. Marianne and Charlie shared their own experience and lots of information, which is very inspiring.”
Teresa Teofilo, Teacher, State School, Portugal
“A great course – very practical and authentic. After each session I had something new I wanted to implement straight away, so it was also empowering in that sense. “
Claudia Gray, Director, Ako Space
(New Zealand)
“The hours always flew by. The course was very well structured and the materials given will be very useful to implement sociocracy in my context. One of the best parts of the course was the possibility to experience the sociocratic process. The course had just the right amount of theory and then it was all practice. What in the beginning seemed a bit difficult to grasp was at the end internalized.”
Teresa Sopas Soares, Fellow, Teach for Portugal
“I really enjoyed the training with Charlie and Mari. They were patient and clear, answering all our questions. They made us feel very relaxed and able to take on board all the new material. The training was very eye opening for me and I recommend to any organisation.”
Tessa Round, Founder
Las Tortugas Curiosas (Spain)
ABOUT THE FACILITATORS
Marianne Osorio and Charlie Shread co-founded Wondering School in 2016 as an independent research project exploring humanizing education rooted in Paulo Freire’s liberatory pedagogy. Together, they have visited over 40 diverse schools worldwide, gaining insights into educational practices across multiple countries. In 2018, they co-produced the feature documentary School Circles, which showcases six democratic schools in the Netherlands using sociocracy for governance. The film has been licensed by Canal Futura in Brazil, translated into 11 languages, screened in over 130 venues across more than 50 countries, and listed by Films for Action among the “Top 100 Documentaries to Change the World.” Following the film’s success, they co-created the Sociocracy for Schools (S4S) training course, which has graduated over 100 alumni internationally. Trained with John Buck and Edwin John, they have co-facilitated workshops in India, Austria, Germany, and Portugal, empowering educators worldwide with collective decision-making tools. Currently they give talks and workshops, participate in Q&As in universities, communities and organizations, and offer training and consulting to schools, educators and communities wishing to implement Sociocracy and Democratic Education in their own contexts.
Marianne Osorio is a Brazilian educational researcher, trainer and consultant with an MA in Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment from UCL Institute of Education. Her work is rooted in critical pedagogy and socio-environmental education. She worked as a science teacher in Brazilian state schools, where she facilitated democratic practices and created the Ubuntu project, transforming school areas into a community edible garden governed democratically with children. She also initiated and led the school’s first science fair, where students developed group projects and presented their work in a school-wide exhibition. Marianne served as project assistant for the Provisional World Children’s Parliament (2020-22) and worked as a learning coach at Kubrio. She currently offers training and consulting on democratic education and sociocracy worldwide.
Charlie Shread is a UK filmmaker, educator and consultant who brings 15 years of experience across video production, sound design, and collective facilitation. In 2011, he co-founded Change the Future, an experimental community exploring social collaboration tools to deepen democracy and advance collective intelligence. He is a sociocracy facilitator, having co-facilitated workshops with GovernanceAlive in India and Portugal. He was also a learning coach at Kubrio, facilitated in-person engagement activities and cooperative games with youth at the British Learning Academy, and mentored on the Ethical Journalism pathway at School of Humanity. Charlie runs the Filmmaker’s Club at Recess and serves as sound designer for The Spaceship Earth podcast. Committed to regeneration, he has funded the planting of over 12,800 trees through Ecologi. He holds a BA in Film Production from Arts University Bournemouth.
SOCIOCRACY IN SCHOOLS
Visit our School Circles website to see more resources on Sociocracy in Schools.
There you can find videos, articles and more! Visit our page and join our community on Facebook.
CONTACT FORM
Subscribe to Wondering School
Receive updates about our trainings, events, videos and ongoing research on participatory and democratic education.
Wondering School | Home | Courses | School Circles | Videos | Talks