Module 2
Theoretical Framework
Chapter 3: Strategic Path and Practical Recommendations
3.5 Participation and democratic classrooms
For democracy to continue to thrive, children must be taught to value it in every aspect and as a way of life. A democratic classroom requires the teacher to play a critical role in guiding students to the best possible choices. Students and teachers need constantly to negotiate the complexities of democratic life, giving students the opportunity to choose and to take action. That’s why democratic classrooms are participatory and deliberative: teachers can organize classroom debates and co-create classroom rules to promote discussion.
Democratic classrooms are moral and non-discriminatory as they see difference as a virtue and reject any action that would repress a student’s potential participation. The skills for building democracy do not develop automatically in children. It is necessary to create an environment in the class in which every student is able to participate freely and this can be done by encouraging students when they respond in the class.
Democratic education should produce students who are not just skilled and knowledgeable but also politically wise and who value the principles of democratic life. It promotes the democratic values of diversity, liberty, justice and equality and are also empathetic, as empathy is a key to democratic deliberation. Democratic classrooms are critical for they encourage students to think critically about their opinions and their ways of living.
Teachers should help students to understand that participation is a worthwhile effort by trusting students to organize their activities and by empowering them to explore issues and to find strategies to deal with conflict. Democracy should be a key aspect in every form of education by making students have choice and control over the curriculum and control over knowledge and information, thus, gain a sense of their ability to think.
Children should learn about taking responsibility for their action, be able to listen to each other and believe in the individual's right and responsibility to participate publicly. Students will acquire the intellectual skills to participate in public discourse.
Democratic education means preparing children to become citizens who will preserve and shape democracy in the future.
Democratic classrooms are moral and non-discriminatory as they see difference as a virtue and reject any action that would repress a student’s potential participation. The skills for building democracy do not develop automatically in children. It is necessary to create an environment in the class in which every student is able to participate freely and this can be done by encouraging students when they respond in the class.
Democratic education should produce students who are not just skilled and knowledgeable but also politically wise and who value the principles of democratic life. It promotes the democratic values of diversity, liberty, justice and equality and are also empathetic, as empathy is a key to democratic deliberation. Democratic classrooms are critical for they encourage students to think critically about their opinions and their ways of living.
Teachers should help students to understand that participation is a worthwhile effort by trusting students to organize their activities and by empowering them to explore issues and to find strategies to deal with conflict. Democracy should be a key aspect in every form of education by making students have choice and control over the curriculum and control over knowledge and information, thus, gain a sense of their ability to think.
Children should learn about taking responsibility for their action, be able to listen to each other and believe in the individual's right and responsibility to participate publicly. Students will acquire the intellectual skills to participate in public discourse.
Democratic education means preparing children to become citizens who will preserve and shape democracy in the future.
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