Teaching Toward Democracy

Gabriella Fecher

Reflection

            Before this semester, I did not adequately draw a strong connection between democracy and the classroom.  Throughout the experiences of Teaching Towards Democracy, however, I now realize that democracy is an integral component to the learning process.  American society thrives on values of democracy, capitalism, and Protestantism.  These values, then, are both directly and indirectly woven into every aspect of life, including the school system.  When we enter into the classroom, we have our own biases based on our values throughout our lives.  These biases will influence how we teach.  While it is impossible to completely remove those biases, we must be aware of them and work to limit their power as much as possible.

Democracy is centered on particular values of deliberation, compromise, and diversity.  This third value is a crucial component.  Differences are essential to a strong democracy.  We should be welcoming multiple voices and multiculturalism.  Democracy, after all, is rooted in the “principle of moral, self-directing individuality” (Dewey, 1987, p. 377).  Curriculum, then, should be taught in a way that “values the full range of learning and thinking abilities” and provides freedom for individual growth (Sternberg, 2001, p. 338).  Democracies should exist securely within the classroom, encouraging students to “be willing and able to work with others cooperatively” and effectively voice their individual positions.  Students will be coming into the classroom with different values, ideas, beliefs, and needs.  Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model recognizes the interrelationships between different influences in an individual’s life—both immediate influences and broader influences like societal values.  All of these influences affect human development, and influence the mind and behavior of the individual (Gauvain and Cole, 2005).  We need to recognize that the home-life and other factors in a student’s life is going to have an effect on how they learn in the classroom.  Schools “form one of several institutional linkages” between the household and the public sphere for students (Dreeben, 2001, p. 88).  As a result, we must work to create an environment that best teaches principles of democracy, diversity, and individuality that will help students to see new perspectives.  Rather than closing off ideas or individuals that do not support the majority perspective, we should embrace the differences.  Their individual voices have to stand out, as well as their individual strengths and needs.

            Our students are different.  Some of these differences are more directly obvious than others, but all are different, regardless.  One sure way to encourage these differences is allowing multiculturalism within the classroom.  A classroom setting, as its own unique micro-culture, is comprised of “considerable diversity” with cultures and perceptions of cultures “distributed among people in a group” (Corsao and Eder, 1990, p. 211).  In acknowledgement of this fact, educators need to be both prepared for, supportive of, and active towards differences between students. 

Our classrooms should be multicultural and as unbiased in nature as possible in order to promote an equitable, learning environment for all.  Postmodern ideals include the value of difference rather than universality and regularity.  There is strength in diversity.

            The advocacy project helped me to understand the role of colleagueship and collaboration.  Our group had to investigate societal norms, identify existing power structures, and speak out for change.  We investigated subjects through a narrow lens at the beginning, and unveiled an issue far bigger than we previously considered.  We had to work as a team, remain flexible in shifting goals, collectively generate ideas, and evaluate differences and commonalities.  This project provided real-world experience and highlighted the importance of collaboration.  Our group, Girls on the Move, was organized to raise awareness about existing stereotypes about women in sports.  We created a blog, spoke out on social media, and made a movie highlighting the existing problems and our efforts to change existing stereotypes.  To view our project, check out: Girls on the Move Blog and Video.

            Colleagueship became particularly interesting to me when I considered the possibility that I will not be assuredly working in schools with many resources or structures in place.  Some school districts provide multi-tier systems of support (RTI) that allows for differentiated instruction as well as additional supports for varying interventions.  These types of systems are important to “activate homeschool-community relationships and bring together partners” that ultimately encourage success from students through encouraging relationships between schools and services (Averill and Rinaldi, 2011). It is possible that I will go into a school district that does not provide these resources or connections.  It is still my responsibility, at that point, to foster connections and work to provide resources that allow for the best learning experiences for my students.  As an advocate for my students, I need to be regularly seeking out areas of current inequity and encouraging my students to do the same.  In these inequities, we will undoubtedly find skewed power systems and outliers that have probably been overlooked.

            Advocacy is a vital component of being an educator.  We must advocate for our students as individuals.  We need to be providing opportunities for growth and success.  We should be participating in the community, and encourage our students to have both a social and learning community, as well.  It is our responsibility to hear our students and advocate for them.  They should know that their thoughts and feelings are important, and they should contribute. 

Undoubtedly, to not advocate for the individual’s needs is to subject them to “feelings of alienation, isolation, and exclusion” or encourage them to bend to peer pressure and majority beliefs (Ribak-Rosenthal, 1994).  Our expectations for our students, and our encouragement for our students, translates to them.  They need to know that they have a voice, and that voice should be heard.

            Teaching Towards Democracy has been one of my favorite education classes thus far.  It challenged my way of thinking and perceiving the world around me.  We were encouraged to critically listen, identify problems, participate in discussions even in uncomfortable roles, and advocate for those around us.  I came away, realizing more than ever that teaching may bring up many uncomfortable situations.  To really value difference and democracy, we have to embrace individuality.  That may entail standing against a majority.  It may mean that we have to stand up and speak up when no one else does.  It also may mean that we have to stand up against traditionally accepted ideas and norms.  However, it is our responsibility to do all these things, and to teach our students to do the same.

Works Cited

Averill, O., & Rinaldi, C. (2011). Multitier System of Supports. District Administration Magazine. Professional Media Group, 15.

Corsao, William A. and Donna Eder.  (1990). Children’s Peer Cultures.  Annual Reviews Inc.

Dewey, John. (1987). Democracy in Education. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Diabetes Foundation. Advocacy. 2016. Image. Web. 10 May 2016. https://www.msdiabetes.org/advocacy-0.

Dreeben, Robert. (2001). The Contribution of Schooling to the Learning of Norms: Independence, Achievement, Universalism, and Specificity. Prentice-Hall, NJ.

Gauvain, M. & Cole, M. (2005). Readings on the Development of Children. New York: Worth.

Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan. Strength in Diversity. 2016. Image. Web. 10 May 2016. http://mcos.ca/saskatchewan-multicultural-week-2015/.

Ribak-Rosenthal, N., & Russell, T.T. (1994). Dealing with Religious Differences in December: A School Counselor’s Role.  Elementary School Guidance and Counseling, 28 (4), 295-301.

Sternberg, R. & Grigorenko, E. (1999). Learning Disabilities, Schooling, and Society. Reading: Perseus Books.