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The student council seminar from January 25th to 31st, 2014, focused entirely on "democracy." At the outset, the question arose: What does democracy mean to the student representatives present from the Wilma-Rudolph-School, the Willi-Graf-Gymnasium , and the Paulsen-Gymnasium ? Is a majority decision sufficient, or is consensus necessary? What makes a decision-making process a democratic process? Subsequently, the students discussed in school groups how democratic their own schools actually are and how decisions are made there.
The results of this initial brainstorming session were incorporated into the artistic exploration of the topic in small groups, whose work was presented to guests on the fifth day of the seminar. The video group created a film with the overarching title "Who Decides?" focusing on the everyday life of a young person. The black-and-white photography group addressed, among other things, the rise and partial decline of democracy following recent surveillance scandals, gender equality, and the relationship between the individual and society. The theater group staged several short scenes warning of the consequences of the loss of democracy. The audio group's explored the story of a dictator overthrown by the opposition, but what happens next? The weblog group documented the seminar results on their self-created website, "Deblogatie," compiling interesting facts about democracy.
Throughout the seminar, negotiation processes repeatedly took place within the group, the democratic nature of which was subsequently discussed. This was particularly evident in the simulated student council meeting, where, after an intensive exchange of arguments, decisions were reached that were sometimes more, sometimes less, democratically legitimate. Armed with these diverse insights, the seminar participants left the wannseeFORUM, determined to strengthen democracy in their own schools.