Post #1 Education Through Democracy

• My interest in engaging students in democratic practices is situated at the classroom level. This is to distinguish it from efforts at Civic Education, a subject within classrooms, and from Democratic Schooling, schools that are entirely run by students (cf. Sudbury Model Schools in the U.S and Summerhill School in the UK). While much has been written about engaging students in debates about community and societal issues, engaging in activism outside of the classroom, and becoming knowledgeable about how our government works and functions within it as informed citizens, I call this education FOR democracy. Democratic schools, in which students make administrative decisions and choose what and when to learn, I'll call this education BY democracy. As I will discuss later, my research suggests specific issues emerge about how students experience democratic choices in these settings. But I want to offer a third alternative.
• My aspirations are less about teaching students to solve societal issues and instead are centered on students' lived experiences in classrooms. These are the places where students and employees can feel frustrated that they are not heard, their ideas are rejected out of hand, discipline is unfair, equity issues are ignored, and their needs are misunderstood. These are where students can initially learn their voices don't matter; resentment builds, or zoning out becomes a way to cope. Classrooms are also important places where problems arise and become identified, information can be gathered, deliberation and negotiations occur, decisions about appropriate action are made, and informed action is responsibly taken. This is where participatory identity and in whose respectful, deliberative personhood is developed. When students and teachers collaborate to solve the problems that directly impact their daily life in classrooms, students develop democratic skills such as deliberation and respect for diversity. But the importance of democratic practices goes deeper than present problems or future societal issues.
• Democratic classroom practices can have civic reasons to exist and need not serve other ideals, even educational outcomes. Piaget, Dewey, and Vygotsky led us to understand that peer dialogue is integral to the learning process. Yet, teachers readily observe that many students don’t feel confident enough to speak up and struggle to articulate their thoughts. Democratic classroom practices are a potent means for developing fundamental skills students need to engage in learning. Because democratic classroom practices enhance students' sense of safety due to consistent consideration of their concerns, they support students to risk having their voices heard. Confident participation increases opportunities to build; language skills, examine and form values, emotional intelligence, reflection on actions, and collaboration through the critical examination and resolution of tensions with peers and classroom teachers. These democratic dialogue experiences easily transfer into curricular areas where discussion, participation, collaboration, and critical thinking are needed.
• It makes sense to me that the skills we want to see students use in academics are more easily developed if we work on them in their lived classroom experiences. When we draw on what happens in the classroom that is relevant and important to students, they more naturally develop their deliberative skills, collaboration, and critical thinking. When we later want to use those skills to tackle complex academic content, the students aren’t struggling with speaking up in front of peers, providing evidence for their claim, or respectfully listening to peers. This is my third option, education THROUGH democracy.
• In my career as an educator, I've had multiple experiences with democratic classroom practices. I continuously see evidence of greater student engagement in learning where democratic classroom practices are used, even if the democratic practices in the classroom are only peripheral to the curriculum. I'm interested in further research into this phenomenon and theory building on why and how it might occur.