Yaacov Hecht
Yaacov Hecht was born in 1958 in Israel. He was the founder and the principal (1987 to 1997) of the first Israeli Democratic School in Hadera. Today he deals with “educational innovation from a democratic perspective”. That means mainly, developing an educational system that strives to realize the unique potential of every student.
Yaacov established “The Institute for Democratic Education” in 1995 and since then has served as its chairman. The Institute leads many processes. It operates the Incubator for Entrepreneurship in Democratic Education, supported establishing 25 Israeli Democratic Schools (over 6000 students), coordinates the regional program of “Education City” in ten different cities, is in charge of the Academic Department of Democratic Education in Hakibbutzim College in Tel Aviv, operates the International department in various countries such as: New Zealand, Brazil, Australia, USA, Japan and more.
After the murder of Prime Minister Rabin in 1995, Yaacov was chosen to lead the main educational program, “School Experiences Democracy”. In the new Israeli educational reform (new horizon 2007), implemented by Minister Yuli Tamir, Yaacov was respon si ble for developing the pedagogic program in junior high schools.
In 2005, Yaacov was named by the economy Israeli magazine The Marker as one of the 10 most influential people in the social and educational areas in Israel. That year also saw the publication of his book democratic education – a beginning of a story.
