Are Democratic Classrooms Possible? Essay

As teacher’s we are committing to a life time of learning and development of ourselves and our learners.

As parents, you may remember Geography; History; Business and Economics; and Civics and Citizenship as being about absorbing facts that schools thought important for you to learn. Or you might remember doing projects that seemed like time-fillers in the scheme of what was important at school (What is Inquiry Based Learning, 2004). You will also be aware of how fast the world is changing and the impact of technology on the growth of information that surrounds us. You may have experienced redundancy, elections or a global recession and understand that knowing facts is not very useful for navigating difficult times. Facts alone do not educate students in what is needed to think critically and creatively about a situation, to find opportunities in hardship or to learn and relearn in the new knowledge economy (Warlick, 2013). Inquiry learning is a way of addressing the teaching of skills and dispositions that will be essential for your children to thrive as active and informed citizens of the future (Reynolds, 2014; ACARA, 2016).

An American philosopher by the name of Martha Nussbaum argued in regards to how the world’s economic development cannot produce democracy. Being an author of over twenty books in topics relating to educational reform as well as social policy, one of work she had produced, Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities explains her theories in why this is not possible. Nussbaum believes today’s educational system focuses too much on professional training rather than the current political issues. [She states, “nations all over the world will soon be producing generations of useful machines, rather than complete citizens who can think for themselves, criticize tradition, and understand

Students becoming independent is not the only beneficial material they will gain; kids also retain skills

Facilitating a foundation in academic or philosophical pedagogy can help form a path for the educator, a path to better understanding teaching, education, learning and learners. Often, most of the programs designed for learners and the curriculum is often derived from theories. Understanding theories can help guide a teacher through their education journey. Sometimes, teachers may struggle with classroom organisation or implementing the curriculum in a considerate, all-encompassing and engaging way, especially if you are a CRT or Graduate Teacher - and often these concepts can help inspire and encourage teachers. To be an empowered teacher means your classroom and students will be empowered learners, and that is the best type of learning. There are many theories that have contributed to education as a body and has many of these theories help educational departments plan curriculums to benefit not only teachers but also all students. What makes for a great teacher is considering the characteristics of the local community as well involving students’ families’ in the school body. Influences that help shape a teacher’s identity can include…

Democratic education also allows one to gain skills that can be use in everyday situation. Nussbaum notes, “This tradition argues that education is not just about the passive assimilation of facts and cultural traditions, but about challenging the mind to become active, competent, and thoughtfully critical in a complex world. This model of education supplanted an older one in which children sat still at desks all day and simply absorbed, and then regurgitated, the material that was brought their way.” (Nussbaum 18) Nussbaum criticizes the minimal use of just retaining useless information. Knowledge not utilize is equivalent to no knowledge at all. However, with democratic education one can utilize their knowledge to get out of a situation, for example, an American tourist visiting the Middle East and having the knowledge and culture awareness to greet a native Middle Eastern with the appropriate handshake.

In many low income public schools education seems to fall through the cracks. The curriculum meets the basic requirements but lacks the space for the kids to find personal passions, to be curious about what they want to know and believe. Coastes’s childhood education was not one of discovery, rather it was

According to Ken Robinson, the current education system has yet to adapt to the modern world and it’s different modes of thinking, creating a stand still in curriculum success that is in desperate need of reform. After explaining how countries around the world want to reform education and carry on legacies, Robinson makes the case that our current education system is out dated. The current system was established during the 18th century during the Industrial Revolution, which was based largely on agricultural and urban advancements. As Robinson mentions, every community wants their children to be prepared for the current economic opportunities and carry a cultural legacy, but that’s hard to do when our current system isn’t cohesive to today’s circumstances. “People are trying to work out how we educate our children to their place in the economies of the 21st century.” (Robinson, RSAnimate)

In order to allow children to grow, learn and develop to their utmost potential, educators need to be attentive, inclusive, flexible and understanding. Attentive to the differences of each child and the variances they bring with them to the classroom, in order to best understand a child’s individuality. In being inclusive of all children, regardless of their circumstance, gender, history or attitude; the educator can make a conscious effort towards equality for all children. Having flexibility, to allow for prompt changes to pedagogy; as children are continually changing, growing and adjusting to their environments, therefore their learning path may also need to change, the educator needs to be able to introduce alternatives where required.

Teachers must hold high expectations for all of their students and recognize that all learners seek challenge, purpose, and affirmation. Students naturally want to learn and teachers must expect them to respond with investment, persistence, an opportunity to display their accomplishments and personal reflection. (Woolfolk, 2011). Teachers must connect new content with the knowledge scaffolding a student already possesses, in a way that encourages focused and engaged learning.

Instead of coming together to create a truly democratic society that supports the whole we are caught up in serving first our own interests followed by the interests of the system that has allowed us to succeed. How is it possible that the people making the decisions can look at the state of our education system and blame the teachers for failing when they are also the ones providing the strict standards that serve to perpetuate the current hegemonic society we live in? I do think that there are good parts of having certain standards for education – all students should know how to read and write, everyone should have a basic understanding of mathematical concepts and history – but I think by micromanaging classrooms across the country, teachers are prevented from doing their job of teaching students and instead being tasked with “filling up the knowledge bank” with information deemed important by individuals and groups who have little to no connection to actual classrooms. The main point of this chapter was to shine a light on the negatives of the traditional education system and explain the educational philosophy aimed at combating the perpetuation of such

“One of the most powerful ways to engage students is to let them take charge of their own learning.” Eric Jensen author of Teaching with Poverty in Mind: What Being Poor Does to Kids’ Brains and What Schools Can Do about It

There are two generational groups of teachers that exist within the Teaching and Learning Communities of the current Education Industry. The model of working with students in education is no longer traditional but dynamic and involves the teacher and the school system becoming diversity based to deal with the multitude of different types of people that use the education system. This new paradigm shift has promoted a new look at the difference in the generations of teaching and learning techniques. The landscape of education is extremely diverse today in every way. Even when working in the profession whether it is a public system or chartered system, schools have to hire and staff their schools that are also diverse in scope and

Windy- You make a good point about self-motivated learners. In order for the vision of a democratic classroom to play out students must be driven to research classroom topics, take a side and prepare for discussions. In classrooms, this seems to be the exception rather than the norm. Teachers can prepare great lessons but students must come to class prepared and motivated to participate in order for lessons to come full circle.

As a teacher, one’s role and responsibility should be towards the learners’ ability to learn and for learning to be as tailored made for the individual learner.