Learning Through Experiences
"Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire."
- William Yeats
Ms. Underwood
Democratic School
Democratic Education
The overarching idea of democratic education is to provide equal opportunity to all students regardless of socio-economic status, ethnicity, gender or other forms of diversity; simply put, it is education for all (MacBeath, 2004, p.42). In addition to this, democratic education looks at providing students with the opportunity to give feedback regarding what is being taught, to empower students in building their learning environment and to give students a sense of ownership over their learning process. The Institute of Democratic Education in America (IDEA) (2013) captures this idea in the following statement:
“Democratic education sees young people not as passive recipients of knowledge, but rather as active co-creators of their own learning. They are not the products of an education system, but rather valued participants in a vibrant learning community.”
A democratic school is an entire school where all players embrace the ideology of democratic education. Ekholm (2004) describes a school as a being democratic if the idea of democracy is a “basic attitude that permeates everyday life and is practiced in a variety of forms” (p.109) within the school. Moller (2004) identifies several key conditions that must be in place for a democratic school to be implemented:
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“The open flow of ideas, regardless of their popularity, that enables people to be as fully informed as possible;
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Faith in the individual and collective capacity of people to create possibilities for resolving problems;
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The use of critical reflection and analysis to evaluate ideas, problems and policies;
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Concern for the welfare of others and ‘the common good’;
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Concern for the dignity and rights of individuals and minorities;
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An understanding that democracy is not so much an ‘idea’ to be pursued as an ‘idealised’ set of values that we must live by and that must guide our life as people;
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The organization of social institutions to promote and extend the democratic way of life” (p.152-153)
Using MacBeath’s model (see the "Six Stages" model under the Teacher's Role) , academic freedom begins to be implemented in stage five when students begin taking a role in deciding what they will be learning. This is a key term that will come into play significantly when discussing the challenges that face democratic education.
A democratic classroom takes the ideology of democratic education and implements it in the learning environment. These types of classrooms are “founded on a bottom-up approach” (Jorgensen, 2004, p.124). Two key thinkers in this approach are Gutmann and Dewy; Thayer-Bacon and Bacon provide a general overview of these players.
Gutmann has a broader approach which focuses on maintaining a non-discriminatory teaching philosophy. Teachers are responsible for educating students on the importance of fairness, equality and respect; students come to see each other, and themselves, as equally important members of a community (Thayer-Bacon & Bacon, 1998, p.27).
Dewy looks more at the role students play within the classroom; students are more than learners, they are contributors to their peers’ learning and to the overall learning environment. Democratic classrooms encourage students to voice their concerns and ideas in helping to form the direction of learning to help meet the individual’s continuously changing needs (Thayer-Bacon & Bacon, 1998, p.20).
It is important to note, that democratic classrooms can be organized and implemented without the entire school being classified as a democratic school.