ACTION FOR DEMOCRATIC EDUCATION
George H. Wood
Ohio University
A
subtle, yet
reform of
stressed
public
the
noticeable,
schooling.
need
for
shift
is occurring
In response
schools
to
in recent
to the reform
prepare
workers,
debates
over
reports of 1983
more
recent
the
which
reports
have
instead focused upon the preparation of c i t i z e n s — i n particular, the preparation
of democratic citizens.*
This
new
wave
of
scientific management
proposals
ethos of
school reform emphasized
echoes
a
the early
traditional
1900s.
resistance
Then,
the preparation of workers
as now,
against
the
proposals
for
in order to generate
indushours,
trial power.
The emphasis was on more efficient
use of resources—more
group drill,
tracking,
As
reforms,
centralized,
testing, and
bureaucratic,
the
like.
and
a direct
anti-democratic
result
of
administrative
these
struc-
tures were put in place.2
Opposition
to
earlier
reform
proposals
arose
from
a variety
Margaret Haley, head of the Chicago Federation of Teachers, argued
the
factory
was
an
inadequate
metaphor
for
education,
"the
of
fronts.
in 1924 that
factory
system
carried into the public school . . . needs only the closing time whistle to make
complete
Young,
its
identification
Chicago
with
Superintendent
factory-evolution
and
of
the
great
Schools,
factory-management,
stand at machines, are told what to do.
moving
force, educating
way that
and developing
they shall contribute
to the
and
industrial
saw
the
in
plants.Ella
1916
"a
teachers,
tendency
like
Flagg
toward
children
who
The teachers, instead of being a great
the powers of the human mind
power and efficiency
tend to become mere workers on the treadmill. . .
of
Perhaps
this
in such a
democracy,
the most
artic-
ulate and well known of the critics of scientific management was John Dewey.
-33-
-34-
More than anyone else, Dewey made
public
schooling
was
to
prepare
it clear
citizens
It was this central concern with
that
who
the
fundamental
could
function
obligation
democratically.5
the democratic obligation of public
schooling
that led Dewey, Young, and Haley to propose alternatives which
included
teacher
of
autonomy,
experiential
learning,
and
the
of
elimination
broader
standardized
testing, curricula, and teaching.
Now, as then, reforms such as these are
tioned
reform agendas.
The current
in conflict with officially
federal administration
defines
sanc-
appropriate
reform as synonymous with tougher standards, merit pay, more days and hours, and
more centralized control.
and competency
calls
for
In states, reform agendas focus on mandated
testing, for teachers and
excellence,
loosely
defined
students.
as
more
curricula
In both cases, the
rapid
consumption
of
agenda
subject
matter.
However, reforms which
take
as
their basis
citizens have also gained a widening audience.
this trend.
It has become obvious
that
add-ons rather than changes—increased
anything new.
Teachers realize
the development
of
There are multiple
the official
reform
time, control, and
democratic
reasons
positions
testing.
for
propose
None offer
this and are less than enthusiastic
about
pro-
posals which limit their control over their work and yet increase their responsibility for its outcome.
In response to these concerns, a wide range of democratic alternatives have
been proposed
for
public
schooling.
Each
of
these
cerned with education for democratic empowerment.
contribute to children gaining the
intellectual
to remake the social order in ways that meet
these
democratic
teachers as well.
alternatives
The reports
address
and
the
reforms
is centrally
con-
They focus on how schools can
and
psychological
wherewithall
their collective needs.
conditions
reforms calling
needed
for
for democratic
Further,
empowering
empowerment
include calls
experiental
for decentralized
curricula and
decision-making, emphasis on issues of
pedagogy, and
the
involvement
of a broader
equity,
range of
actors in educational decision-making.
The call
is for schools
to become
communities of democratic
empowerment.
Central to this concept is the goal of developing in students and their teachers
the
academic
democratic
plars
of
skills,
lives.
self-esteem,
What
democratic
schools as democratic
and
is now needed
teaching
sense
of
commitment
necessary
to
live
are teachers and schools which are exem-
practices
who
can
teach
others
how
to
promote
communities.
This essay attempts to set forth principles of democratic life and identify
teaching
practices which support
those principles.
present models to be replicated.
It
is not my
intention
Rather, the paper aims to reveal
that
for democratic education is possible and that democratic reforms have
application.
It is, perhaps even more centrally, an attempt
to
action
practical
to "recover" John
Dewey's fundamental notion that we only learn democracy by experiencing
it and
the schools can be a site of such experiences.
Moral Principles and Action Guides
In a previous piece, Landon Beyer and I argued that there are moral principles which
construct
ing.6
transcend
a normative
We
suggest
social classes
framework
that
and
can thus
for social
provide a basis on which
life and, consequently, for
equality, autonomy, and democracy
make
up
the
to
schoolcentral
moral principles which should guide educational action.
By equality, we do not mean equality
tunity.
in the limited
sense of equal
oppor-
As William Ryan has pointed out, such notions of equality are usually
apologetics
for
inequality.
Equal
opportunity, not
taking
into
consideration
prior conditions, offers only open access to social goods such as education and
employment.
What this means is that those individuals and groups who arrive at
-36-
the
schoolhouse
or
workplace
door
with
few
prior
experience, adequate housing, or nutrition) have
utilizing these available
social goods.
resources
(training,
few prospects
of
prior
successfully
In this way, equal opportunity
serves
to legitimate the maintenance of unequal outcomes.^
Opposed
to this is a notion of equal access to social goods.
is to have any genuine meaning, social
utilize
social goods must exist.
opening up access to a proactive
utilize
such access.
support
systems enabling
This means moving beyond
the
If equality
individuals
to
passive act
of
stance of creating conditions enabling all to
For example,
in health care
such
equal
access
going beyond eliminating discrimination by race in terras of hospital
requires
admittance
to providing the resources to enable anyone who needs hospital care to receive
it.
Agencies
such
as
fire departments
or
public
libraries
(especially
those
with literacy programs) are examples of equal access institutions.
By
autonomy,
freedom.
Fundamental
completely isolated
needs of others.
building
we
it.
freedom.
do
to
not
the
mean
merely
notion
of
freedom
negative
from
freedom
restraint
is
or
the
negative
ideal
of
the
individual acting on his or her wants without respect to the
Such a notion of freedom breaks apart
Opposed
community
rather
to this is the notion of the freedom to do, or
than
positive
The obligation here is for the social order to facilitate the making
of free choices within a sense of communal cooperation and growth.
An example
of positive freedom, or freedom to do, would be the abolition of slavery.
While
it does restrain (or limit the negative freedom of) the slave-holder, it enables
the former slave to act in ways previously unavailable to him/her.
By democracy, we mean
arenas
of
developed
social
the expansion of public
decision-making.
This
sense
of
participation
democracy,
into
most
broader
clearly
in the work of Carole Pateman and Benjamin Barber, projects democratic
action as the empowerment of the public to make political, social, and economic
-37-
decisions.®
which
It is not enough
remove
engage
the
public
the community
to rely upon intricate
from
active
schemes of
involvement.
Rather,
representation
the
notion
in direct decision-making whenever and wherever
is
to
possible.
Doing this both increases the range of possible social choices as well as engendering
the attitudes and dispositions necessary
simply,
the
participate
more
people
participate,
in the future.
the
Examples of
more
for public
they
are
such direct
England town meetings and various worker-owned
participation.
willing
democracy
and
Put
able
to
schemes are New
industries.^
We invoked three criteria in identifying these as central moral principles:
first,
that
such
principles
relation to class or
must
status;
arise
from
second, that
ongoing
these
moral
discourse
principles must
be
without
consistent
with the plurality of American society including recent cultural history as well
as
more
traditional
Constitution,
all
a
documents
like
continuation
the
of
Declaration
the
of
Independence
Enlightenment
tradition
and
in
the
Western
thought; third, that principles promote what Haberraas has called the "emancipatory" human
interest.
Enlightenment
has
dependence."10
Haberraas claims that
been
This
emancipation
means
tures from the limitations
a
from
continued
the basic human
"ideologically
effort
to
ued expansion and
emancipation.
autonomy,
since
any other
and
democracy
of
cul-
historical
It also requires a contin-
principles which are necessary
and
the
relations
individuals
of myth, mysticism, class, or
promulgation of moral
Equality,
frozen
free
force working to limit the range of human potential.
project
are
three
moral
to such
principles
which meet each condition.
Additionally, each of
though
not
sufficient,
possible
to conceive
coercion
if
they
did
these
condition
of
not
truly
each
three moral
for
the
autonomous
have
equal
principles
provides
realization
of
individuals
who
access
the
necessary,
others.
would
to economic,
a
be
Is
free
political,
it
from
and
-38-
cultural
resources?
Is
autonomous
human
judgment
short of one in which democracy is practiced?
meaningful
in
any
Is democracy genuinely
tory if citizens do not function in an autonomous and equal manner?
context
participaDoes equal-
ity for equality's sake have any meaning or is it understood best as a means to
self-determination?
Is equality possible under any social structure which does
not value autonomous
participatory
political action?
The
inter-relatedness
of
the moral principles of equality, democracy, and autonomy is demonstrated by the
negative answer each of these queries call forth.
Perhaps
social
the most
practice
fundamental
requiring
Benjamin Barber has put
way
of
defining
the
and
of
these
facilitating
principles
human
it, "In strong democratic
self,
just
as
is
democracy,
autonomy
and
a
lived
equality.
As
politics, participation
citizenship
is
a
way
of
is a
living."H
Democracy thus gives meaning to autonomy and equality in a political and social
sense, based
on spheres of
autonomous,
together potentially fragmented
collective community and human
equal
action.
Additionally,
it
binds
individuals and publics through its demands
for
interdependence.
How can these moral principles be utilized to guide educational action?
particular, can these principles be operationalized
In
in ways that will both guide
teaching practice and be useful in evaluating curricular or pedagogical schemes?
What
follows
is a list of what
Beyer
and
I refer
to as moral
action
guides.
These guides move our more universal moral principles of equality, autonomy, and
democracy into curricular, pedagogical, and organizational
Equal
requirement
access
of
to
knowledge:
universal
access
Primary
to
school
to
all
the
knowledge.
recoramendations.12
action-guides
Thus,
any
is
the
curriculum
designed to deliver knowledge on the basis of class, sex, or race, is explicitly
rejected.
same
This does not merely mean that every child
lectures,
tests,
drills,
etc.
Rather,
support
is to be exposed
mechanisms
need
to the
to
be
-39-
created which enable students to enjoy engagement with all forms of knowledge in
the classroom.
access.
Only by so doing can they begin to approximate our goal of equal
Moreover, both democracy and autonomy require a foundation upon which
individuals have the access to knowledge about the personal
and political
cir-
cumstances governing their lives.
In practice, this means that all forms of tracking are rejected.
has shown, such practices
perpetuate
inequality.
here,
she
argues
ally,
questions
yield
no
positive
results
Further, in an argument
that
tracking
should
be
is
raised
prima
facia
about
the
and
similar
function
As Oakes
primarily
to the one being
increase
made
Addition-
u n c o n s t i t u t i o n a l . ^
drastic
to
in
"pull-out"
programs for an array of students labeled as everything from "learning disabled"
to
"gifted."
learning
New
approaches
proceeds
in
a
need
to
cooperative,
be
incorporated
noncompetitive,
in
and
classrooms
where
nondiscriminatory
way.
Images of human
celebrate
human
inequality,
sexual, racial, and
each
of
these
access.
equality:
cultural
steps has
Much
of what
although
attempts
stereotypes
aimed
we
now
have
teach
been
from curricular
to create
equality
of
seems
made
designed
to
eliminate
materials.
However,
opportunity
If the curriculum is to play a truly democratic
to
rather
role, then the
than
images
it generates must project equal rights and the ability to acquire them.
This
means
that
a
basic
part
of
the
curriculum
should
be
devoted
to
dispelling the notion of equal opportunity as the limit of equality.
Successful
examples
available.
of
equal
access,
in
this country
and
outside
of
it,
are
Indeed, the school itself should be a place of equal access—where
staff are entitled to share in every
vastly
improved
segregat ion.
support
program and resource.
systems which
involve
all without
students and
This would
stigma or
involve
permanent
-40-
Critical
consciousness:
list of givens,
should
focus
facts
on
the
to be memorized
nurturing
should be encouraged
of
is too often
and
the
to try and make
lenges all which went
actions.
Schooling
before, raises
interpreted
restated.
"why"
A democratic
question
sense of
in
about
the
curriculum
children.
the world.
questions
as a laundry
Asking
very
Students
"why"
essence
chal-
of
our
The curriculum must be designed to nurture such questions, continually
focusing on the rationale for our social relations.
Self-reflectivity:
curricula
must
suggested
in
foster
this
As a complement
to critical
self-reflectivity.
For
paper,
reflective
Habermas,
essentially
abandoned
to a technocratic
what
"works"
as
reflective
opposed
should be challenged
practice
beings.
rationality
to
what
is
Yet
consciousness,
the
is
notion
central.
this
human
action
are,
argues
We
reflectivity
where decisions
"right.
of
is too
are based
Assumptions
democratic
often
solely
such
and the primacy of human reflection restored.
as
upon
these
Reflection
upon the human condition, one's own condition, and the consciousness of the age
should be encouraged.
Without
such understanding,
it
is
impossible
to act
in
democratic ways.
Creativity:
A democratic curriculum has to abandon the logic of right and
wrong in favor of creative problem-solving.
becoming
equal,
autonomous,
democratic
If we claim to assist
decision-makers,
Dewey did nearly a century ago, that the very
answers
students
to
them,
may
frozen bits
problems defies
not
even
be
of knowledge
reason.
What
on
with
young
the
we
problems they will
horizon.^
which
must
to
people need
To
resolve
is the
as
children
realize,
face, and
attempt
yet
to
in
as
the
teach
unidentified
nurturing
of
creative
power.
Cultural acceptance:
acceptance.
A democratic
culture demands cultural
tolerance
Curricula for such a culture needs to locate culture, both
and
"high"
-41-
and "popular," within shared
social experience.
It needs
to ask when
culture
reinforces dominate/subordinate social relations and when it genuinely serves to
further a vision of human fulfillment.
ture rather than consume one?
ulation?
These
How do we help children produce a cul-
How do they come to understand choice over manip-
are questions without
easy answers, but
the
attempt
to
solve
them helps students to combat, for example, television's fabricated reality with
lives of their own.
Moral
ourselves?
commitments
responsibility:
A
Are
technocratic,
in the
latter.
believe that acting only
we
obligated
individualistic
We are
locked
in our own
to
one
another
curriculum
tends
or
to
locate
into a structure which
interests
is the key
to our
merely
to
its
leads us to
freedom.
In
fact, we enslave ourselves to larger social forces by freeing ourselves of obligation
to our
neighbors.
Democratic
schooling
needs
to
focus
on a
sense
of
shared social responsibility.
Recently, Benjamin Barber has made this case in contrasting the celluloid,
Hollywood vision of America with the more realistic, communal history we share.
As he puts it:
What have we dreamed for ourselves and our children and our neighbors?
To be a land open to private dreams, America must itself be a public
dream. And what is this dream made of? Democracy, precarious in the
few places where it has taken root, unknown to most of the world;
racial and sexual and economic justice, mocked by most systems,
aspired to but hardly achieved in ours; mutualism, that is defining
our power and dignity as individuals by what we do together; citizenship, through which women and men dare to transcend themselves and
become neighbors, and shapers of a common d e s t i n y .
Political empowerment:
that
the school
should
This is a three-part action-guide.
be designed
to give
students
First, it means
an experience
action
Second, the curriculum should be organized
in a manner that would increase every
child's
is, the
capital.
That
possible
knowledge
that
and
self-
governance and nurture a belief that such
stock of cultural
is both
with
useful.
students
are
-42-
raembers of a vital and worthwhile cultural tradition and as such have a right to
act
politically.
offered
in order
Third,
alternatives
to demonstrate
to
current
social
the possibly meaningful
practices
results of
must
be
democratic
act ion.
While all three of these empowering
discussed
in a previous
structures
piece,
it
again.Preparing
structures have been more
is worth
individuals
extensively
restating
the
rationale
who
act
democratically,
will
for
these
out
of sense of equality and autonomy, requires a perception of the self as a political
actor.
Developing
self-governance
and
such
in the
a
self-perception
presence
of
strong
originates
sense
of
in experiences
cultural
history
in
and
social options.
Theory into Practice
Through
College
ceeded
the Institute
of Education,
in a variety
for Democratic Education (IDE) at Ohio
practical
of
applications
programs.The
to requests by teachers committed
University's
of these action guides have
Institute
was organized
to democractic education.
in
pro-
response
They were teachers
who believed that schooling for democratic citizenship had been lost in a blizzard of tests, objectives, and textbooks.
In these ways, the Institute can be
seen as an attempt to recover the 'practical' side of Dewey.
That
is, to take
Dewey (and others) seriously enough to commit his theory to practice.
The intent of IDE is to aid teachers, administrators, parents, and students
in making education more democratic.
alternatives
in education,
a
This has involved workshops on democratic
curriculum
pedagogy, meetings on topics pertaining
and other publications.
library
of
to democratic
resources
for
education, a
In each case, the goal has been to put the
outlined action-guides into practice.
democratic
newsletter,
previously
-43-
The summer workshops on democratic alternatives have been the most exciting
of these projects.
university
pay
or
Teachers, administrators, parents, school board members, and
faculty gather
university
for two weeks and several follow-up sessions
credit)
to
work
policy for democratic empowerment.
are being implemented
on
nated.
High
fasts for African
history classes.
history
as
and
educational
from this work
in schools throughout southeastern Ohio.
projects, all eight
For example, ability-grouping
school
curriculum,
At this time, ideas generated
In the range and depth of these
are visible.
pedagogy,
(without
in a middle
students have undertaken community
famine and utilize
alternative
of
the
school
action
sources
action-guides
is being
elimi-
projects such
as
in American and world
Additionally, a project using Appalachian culture and cultural
subject
matter
in
English
and
social
studies
classes
has
been
proposed.20
In elementary classrooms attention has focused on discipline, reading, and
integrated day teaching.
tion through
student
Two projects on discipline emphasize conflict
rather
than teacher
Additionally,
teachers
are working to give more control over classroom activities to students
in order
to promote a more collaborative
With
reading,
teachers
intervention.
resolu-
classroom.
expand
student
control
of
the
written
encouraging them to read their own writing, set their own words
taken.
in reading
by
for study, and
experience reading as a wholistic rather than fragmented enterprise.
ally, projects to engage parents and the community
word
Addition-
are being
In the same spirit, work with British Integrated Day, a method
under-
focusing
on teaching all subjects through a unified theme, is being carried out.
Administratively, giving students, parents, and teachers more control
the processes of schooling are surfacing.
control over
the curriculum, to create
There are attempts to expand
parent
planning committees, and
over
teacher
student
-44-
self-government.
new teachers.
In one case this has
In what
allowed
teachers
and
follows, examples of each of these
parents
to
select
projects are used
to
illustrate the moral action-guides in practice.
Equal access to knowledge:
Nowhere
is grouping
insidious than in the elementary classroom.
future success in schools, class
of
schooling
is most
clearly
or
tracking
perhaps more
This is where patterns are set for
lines are drawn, and
demonstrated.
Much
the
of
inegalitarian
this
grouping
nature
occurs
in
heterogeneous classes and occurs for reasons other than ability.
Some of the teacher
earlier grades.
interest.
learner.
teachers,
avoid
the
projects have
each
on eliminating
grouping
in the
Reading groups, if they are used at all, are formed by student
Peer-teaching
(As
focused
one
with
labeling
practices
benefit
both
participant
put
it, "I
strengths
and
interests
of
students
finding
try
to
to
ways
the
student
look
at ray classroom
share.")
for
instructor
every
The
as
25
is
to
succeed
in
strategy
student
to
and
instructing his/her peers.21
Images of human equality:
tural history.
Southeastern Ohio
is an area with
It was a stop on the Underground Railroad
Indians being run out of the Eastern United
States.
a rich
cul-
and a safe haven
for
Much of this history
has
been lost (or stolen) and, as in most of the country, considerable racist sentiment
abounds.
Several
middle-grade
teachers
have
decided
to
work
against these attitudes through the study of local cultural history.
idents
share with
spirit
is
revived
discussions.
students
and
stories
current
The agenda
of
Indian contributions.
treatment
of
blacks
in
the
The
area
directly
Local resabolitionist
informs
the
in these classrooms considers common roots as opposed
to current differences.
Critical
consciousness:
Breaking
reliance on the textbook
area for the cultivation of critical consciousness.
In one high
represents
school
one
social
-45-
studies class, students are first
exposed
to the textbook version of an event.
Then they are challenged as to what they really know by virtue of this account:
Who wrote
Students
the account?
are
Why?
then encouraged
Is he/she
to
pursue
trustworthy?
any
area
in which
through reading additional accounts of the same event.
same questions emerge
but with
the addition
Could
he/she
they
are
be wrong?
interested
After this reading, the
of a critical
edge:
Why are
the
interpretation,
not
accounts different?
The
intent
is
that
merely narrative truth.
students
a truth
that
that
history
is
They learn to make choices among competing accounts and
to question the reporter.
not
learn
Most
controls
importantly, they learn that the written word is
them but
rather
a version of reality competing
for
techniques
the
their loyalties.
Self-reflectivity:
Many
disciplinary
imposition of standards, norms, and rules.
are directed
toward
Students are confronted with class-
rooms where their only choices are obedience or punishment.
The teacher decides
what works and goes about finding ways to enforce it.
Opposed to this, several elementary teachers in the projects are using more
humane, student-centered
classroom atmosphere
approaches.
These
teachers
have
students collectively decide how they would like to be treated and how they want
to treat one another.
Students examine the potential outcomes of each such idea
and consider their own willingness to engage
is that students reflect
on what
they want
in such a practice.
to be and what
The goal here
the shared
space of
the classroom can become.
Creativity:
Enter most
elementary
school classrooms
fronted by the artwork of Disney studios.
identical cut and color projects.
Or
perhaps you will
The creative moment
of the teacher or curriculum package.
and you will be consee
twenty-five
is lost to the standards
-46-
As an alternative to this arrangement, several first-grade and kindergarten
teachers turned their rooms over to their students.
confronted with materials
and encouraged
allow only student-prepared
provide a visual feast.
work
More
In one room, students were
to decorate
to grace
their
the room.
classroom
Other
walls.
importantly, children take pride
teachers
These
in these
rooms
places.
They have created them and believe in their own ability to create.
Cultural acceptance:
by IDE participants.
This is an area where very little work
There is concern with the cultural regulation
of television and the corporate control of music.
with music
creating
in particular, one
their
traditional
systematic
own
music
folk
along
teacher
songs.
side
is working
Other
of
pop
In response
teachers
or
rock
with
are
music.
to the concerns
children
looking
As
in the form
expanding
at ways
yet,
to
these
and
revive
are
not
strategies.
Moral responsibility:
Schools
seem to thrive on competition over
prizes, trophies, and other rewards.
tition
is being done
more
frequently
fragments
grades,
Rather than encourage team spirit, compeand
encourages
self-centered,
unconnected
individuals.
Cooperative
learning
and
play
is an alternative
in the middle grades build classroom cooperation
group
products.
Teachers
often
involve
entire
to competition.
through
classes
projects
in
the
books, plays, art w o r k — t o be shared with the larger community.
Teachers
relying
upon
production
of
Similar activi-
ties occur in lower grades as whole classes make books for the classroom or for
younger students.
In each case, the focus is upon the dependence of the group
on each individual and the individual's need for the collective
Political
endowment:
Pieces
action in each of the others.
through
collaborative
of
this moral
action-guide
process.
can
Students work to govern themselves
rule-setting
and
classroom
organization.
be
found
in
in classrooms
The
cultural
-47-
capital
of
each
culture.
child
Social
is
increased
alternatives
are
cooperative classroom activities.
through
found
the
study
in competing
of
local
accounts
history
and
of history
and
All of these practices aim to nurture politi-
cal efficacy and encourage children
to believe
in themselves and
their collec-
t ive power.
Reading as an Example
Much more could be said about each of these practices.
teaching of reading, on which most
feel
for how all
located
in
poverty
rates
illiteracy
the
and
of
these
northern
are
tie
political
together
part
high,
Institute
of
the
natural
can
powerlessness
participants have
be
gained.
Appalachian
beauty
By focusing on the
and
Southeastern
region.
ethnic
been active, a
Unemployment
diversity
go hand-in-hand.
Ohio
IDE
is
and
abound,
and
teachers want
to
help children own words, rather than being owned by them.
This concern has brought
methods.
At the elementary
about an extended
project
in alternative
reading
level, the project encourages a variety of
strate-
gies, including whole-book approaches and writing books to read.
grades, reading webs form the means by which
and gather them for class use and project
right
of
individuals
to read
is
students choose
ideas.
accented,
and
In the middle
topics and
books,
At the high school level, the
the
political
ramifications
of
this right (censorship, access to information, political participation) become a
focus.
This
brief
sampling
hints
at
how
pedagogy
and
curriculum
autonomy, equality, and democracy through the moral action-guides.
interact
with
Pedagogical
practices stress equal access to reading, creative approaches to the production
of words,
what
it
interest,
ownership
is
to
of
know
cultural
by
the ability
virtue
differences,
of
to read
reading.
human
and write,
The
equality,
and
a consciousness
curriculum
and
social
embraces
of
student
alternatives.
In
-48-
fact, curriculum and
pedagogy
empower children to use words
are not
separable within
in building
practices
the mutuality necessary
that work
to
for communi-
ties of self-governance.22
Conelus ion
There
is, in this space, no way
put democratic
education
to do justice
into practice.
All that
to attempts by teachers
is offered
is a sampling
the ways in which real teachers with real students are working toward
practices that embrace autonomy, equality, and democracy.
of
these
practices
is
that
the
primary
purpose
of
to
of
schooling
The belief behind all
American
public
education
should be to help students to live democratically.
Any of these practices have limitations.
cal; for others, not radical enough.
For some, they will be too radi-
They all fall short of being perfect exem-
plars of education for equality, autonomy, and democracy.
Of course, there are
also those who will dispute that these three are indeed central moral principles
in our society.
There
is no adequate response to any of these claims
that
can
be developed within the confines of this paper.23
What is important are the possibilities held out by such practices.
Fore-
most among these is the reconstruction of the civic essence of public schooling.
Recent
Thus,
educational
demands
democratic
are
debates
made
in nature.
have
for
They
focused
more
point
on
testing,
vocational
aspects
recitation,
to technological
and
of
schooling.
drill—all
anti-
failures, unemployment, and
youth problems and generate limited, instrumentalist approaches to schooling and
school administration.
Projecting the possible
in terms of equality, autonomy,
and democracy demands an approach to schooling which celebrates human potential,
individuality
and community, and
focuses on tools
for
self-government.
this latter task that the activities of the IDE teachers approximate.
It
is
-49-
A
second
possibility
demonstrated
by
these
practices
is
that
democratic
education is possible.
Much of what reformers concerned with the civic tasks of
schooling
occur
perhaps
suggest
can
if
at
some
While
abolished.24
place, what
only
teachers
need
now
are
schools
are
future
ways
of
drastically
date
coping
reorganized
reorganization
with
the
daily
schools, while working simultaneously for democratic education.
Wigginton
theory
of
and
practices
the
Foxfire
strategies
outlined
in
program
for
addressed
democratic
this
essay
exactly
action
within
demonstrate
individual classrooms and entire schools.
this
take
demands
of
Recently, Eliot
issue, offering
today's
similar
may
or
both
The
schools.25
possibilities
within
As such, they do two things:
First,
they offer hope to individual teachers; second, they are exemplars of democratic
practice
which
demonstrate
alternative,
realistic
approaches
to
public
schooling.
Finally, these practices recreate
desire.
Foremost among the reasons that
to work with children.
test
for
scores
and
As schooling
learning
the arena
teachers enter
becomes
objectives,
students preoccupied by learning
teachers
find
teachers
mutual
and
respect,
students
trust,
is vital.
and
add-ons to the curriculum.
bound
by demands
themselves
These
communication
practices
are
central
in which
create
to
them
is the desire
removed
packages, computers, and workbooks.
tices outlined above work to create a moral community
of
teaching
increasingly
teachers
so many of
the
of
from
The pracinteraction
classrooms
learning,
not
where
mere
Thus, these classrooms become places where teachers,
in one participant's words, are "empowered
to do the things that makes teaching,
teaching again."
Much
is left
to be done.
Institute
teachers
are working
to expand
their practices and develop ways to share them more broadly.
The moral
guides
for
each
need
further
expansion
and
their
ramifications
upon
action-
practice
made
-50-
explicit.
Finally, it is time to establish a deliberate research agenda explor-
ing the meaning of schooling
for democratic action, its practices, and effects.
Most importantly, attention in education needs to be refocused on the civic purposes of schooling, both in public schools and in colleges and schools of education.
In these ways we can recover Dewey's essentially democratic
agenda—teaching
for democratic citizenship democratically.
pedagogical
ENDNOTES
*The author would
like to thank
helpful and
Paul
Bredeson, Penn
insightful comments on this manuscript.
tion is extended
to the
teachers
involved
phase of reports
includes
Education, A Nation at Risk
Additional
in the Institute
Education, whose work is a source of constant
*The first
State University,
for his
apprecia-
for Democratic
inspiration.
The National Commission on Excellence in
(Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Department
of Educa-
tion, 1983); The National Science Board Commission on Precollege
Education
in Mathematics, Science, and Technology, Educating Americans
Century
(Washington, D.C.:
Commission
of
the
States,
National
Task
Action for Excellence (Denver:
Science Foundation,
Force
on
Education
Democratic
for
Studies Association,
the
and Excellence:
People
(Westbury,
1984); Ann Bastian, et
Case for Democratic Schooling (New York:
Stanley Aronowitz
Mass.:
Growth,
Education Commission of the States,
1983);
Twentieth Century
Toward
an Agenda
Public Education Information Network,
all
Education
Economic
N.Y.:
for
School
1985); Mary
Raywid, Charles Tesconi, and Donald Warren, Pride and Promise:
Excellence
the 21st
alternatives to such reports are Public Education
Information Network, Equity
Reform (St. Louis:
1983);
for
The Twentieth Century Fund, Making the Grade (New York:
Fund, 1983).
for
American
Schools of
Educational
al. , Choosing Equality:
The New World Foundation,
and Henry Giroux, Education Under
Siege
Ann
(South
The
1985);
Hadley,
Bergin and Garvey, 1985).
^Raymond E. Callahan,
University
of
Education
Chicago
and
Press,
Industry and Schools (New York:
the
1962);
Cult
Arthur
of
Efficiency
Wirth,
(Chicago:
Productive
Work
University Press of America, 1983).
-51-
The
-
In
-52-
^Margaret
A.
Haley,
"The
Factory
System,"
The
New
Republic
(November
12,
1924), 19.
^Ella
Flagg
Young,
"A
Reply,"
(Washington, D.C.:
Addresses
and
Proceedings
of
the
Macmillan, 1916).
^Landon
Inquiry
and
1916
National Education Assocation, 1916), 367.
5john Dewey, Democracy and Education (New York:
Beyer
NEA,
George
H.
Wood,
"Critical
and
Moral
Action
in
University
of
Education," Educational Theory 36 (Winter 1986), 1-14.
7 W ill iam Ryan, Equality (New York:
^Benjamin
Barber,
California
Strong
Press,
Democracy
1984);
Theory (Cambridge:
Random House, 1981).
(Berkeley,
California:
Pateman,
Participation
Carole
(White Plains, N.Y.:
Habermas,
(Boston:
Democratic
Cambridge University Press, 1970).
^Wirth, Productive Work; Martin Carnoy
lOjurgen
and
and
Derek
Shearer, Economic
Democracy
M.E. Sharp, 1980).
Knowledge
and
Human
Interest,
trans.
Jeremy
J.
Shapiro
Beacon Press, 1971), 310.
^ B e n j a m i n Barber, Strong Democracy, 31.
l^xhese
guides
are
Wood, "Critical
l^Jeannie
Oakes,
W.
those
Track:
How
previously
appearing
in
Beyer
and
Schools
Structure
Inequality
(New
Yale University Press, 1985).
Johnson
Cooperation,
from
Inquiry."
Keeping
Haven, Conn.:
l^David
revised
and
Roger
Competition
Johnson,
and
Learning
Together
Individualization
and
Learning
(Englewood
Alone:
Cliffs,
N.J.:
Prentice-Hall, 1975).
l^it
is
also
Wirth
made
important
to
note
here
that
(Productive Work) has pointed
in the
name
of vulgar
what
"works"
out, many
efficiency.
often
does
technological
They
are
efficient
not.
decisions
only
in
sense of making a profit but may generate a wide variety of unintended
effects (environmental degradation for example).
As
are
the
side
-53-
16
Joh n
Dewey,
The
School
and
Society
(Chicago:
The
University
of
Chicago
Press, 1899).
^Benjamin
Barber,
"Celluloid
Vistas:
What
the
President's
Dreams
Are
Made
Of," Harpers (July 1985), 75.
^George
Wood,
"Education
in
a
Democracy:
Transformation
or
Reproduction?"
Educational Theory, 34 (Summer 1984), 219-239.
l^More
information
by writing
on
the
George
Institute
Wood,
for Democratic
Coordinator,
Education
Institute
can
be
for Democratic
obtained
Education,
Ohio University, College of Education, McCracken Hall, Athens, Ohio 45701.
20 A n
expanded
discussion
of
using
cal empowerment can be found
Appalachian
cultural
materials
in George H. Wood, "Education
for
politi-
in Appalachia:
Power, Powerlessness, and the School Curriculum," The Journal of Curriculum
Theorizing, forthcoming.
2^In
another
the
exciting
local
middle
recent
development,
teachers
school
are
to
working
and
the
administration
eliminate
the
"phasing"
at
system.
Phasing is the practice of dividing students into five separate groups for
instruction
playing
in
academic
a role
areas
in changing
by
the
ability
practice
level.
and
Institute
the
Institute
members
in
are
providing
materials to help with the change.
22see
Barber,
Strong
Democracy,
for
an
expanded
discussion
of
political
talk, mutuality, and community.
2^See
Beyer
and
Wood,
"Practical
Philosophy"
for
extensive
responses
to
these critiques.
for
example,
(New York:
2^Eliot
Kohl's
otherwise
excellent
work,
Basic
Skills
Bantam Books, 1982).
Wigginton,
York:
Herbert
Sometimes
Doubleday, 1985).
A
Shining
Moment:
The
Foxfire
Experience
(New