Education for Democracy: reasons and strategies

Abstract

The Present Crisis Calls for a Democratic SchoolA democratic school is not a luxury. Learning democracy is not just an extension of the serious business of learning for life. It is the serious business of learning for life and, as such, it must be a central goal of education in school.e jed_1463 127.. 137 The importance of learning democracy in school is linked to the present crisis, a crisis that presents the system in which we live with perilous challenges and risks, for which both governments and citizens in general are ill prepared. Beyond the recent crisis of the financial system that determines the present social and economic experience and the political disillusionment of millions worldwide, political scientists such as Herfried Münkler in Germany (Münkler & Wassermann 2008) and Colin Crouch in England (2004) have identified serious threats to the very foundations and basic components of democratic systems: the corrosion, as Münkler calls it, of the sociomoral resources of democracy. Among the universal and large scale processes that threaten to undermine these resources, he identifies individualism which threatens the social bond between people in relationships of reciprocal responsibility by the pervasive resurgence of selfinterest as the almost universally justified major motive for action. The second process that threatens the foundations of democracy according to Münkler is globalisation, because, with globalisation, policies and political decisions under democratic control within state boundaries have come to depend on highly complex transactions of international actors beyond democratic control. The development of a 'security (or surveillance) state' in response to the threat of international terrorism is but one salient feature of a process where the quest for state security claims obedience to authority rather than democratic self regulation. An even greater challenge is the ecological crisis crystallising in the issue of climate change, with the Copenhagen meeting in December 2009 of representatives of almost all the world's states being a paradigmatic example of failure to control transnational processes. That failure demonstrates, much as other endeavours to regulate recent crises have shown, that even international organisations and alliances are hard put to control critical processes and find politically negotiated solutions for them. The ecological crisis thus poses a threat of global chaos and ensuing dictatorial regulatory powers to face the crisis rather than democratic forms of regulation through negotiation supported by enlightened citizens.Colin Crouch (2004), in his analysis of what he calls post-democracy, pinpoints the erosion of trust in governmental institutions and the decay of the basic regulatory principles of equality, justice and fairness that are essential to democratic political empowerment which is increasingly devalued and dominated by the new economic and financial elites who redefine the rules and practices of governance worldwide in their favour.To the risk factors...

Empirical Evidence on the Relationship between Democratic Classroom and Social Skills Development of Students

“…This goal can be achieved if schools provide learners with wider opportunities for socialization and development. Therefore, writers have advised that teachers should create such a caring and supportive academic environment where students are able to express and apply their capabilities and demonstrate their creativities freely as active social members of the society (Edelstein, 2011).…”

Student Participation in School Life: The “Student Voice” and Mitigated Democracy/Sudjelovanje učenika u životu škole: “učenički glas” i ublažena demokracija

“…This is closely related to the concept of "student voice", as it rests upon students freely expressing their opinions and perceptions, as well as giving suggestions and being consulted about different matters of school life. Literature seems to point to the potential of involving students in the decision-making processes, and states that these initiatives, regardless of how they are displayed, help students become conscious of their future roles as active societal individuals, and aid them in gaining the basic knowledge of citizenship and democracy (Bolmeier, 2006;Dobozy, 2007;Pasek, Feldman, Romer, & Jamieson, 2008;Edelstein, 2011). Based on this belief, the "Student Voice" project was implemented in the USA, aiming to increase the participation of students in their school's everyday life.…”

“…One of the most common strategies for student participation is the "Student Council" or similar initiatives (Black, 2011) such as the "Classroom Council" presented by Edelstein (2011). In this initiative, some class time is dedicated to democratic "training" activities by means of which the teacher guides students in the process of decision-making concerning classroom issues.…”

“…Considering Wyness' (2009) and Fielding's (2004) approaches, we may observe that we are mainly facing a particular form of participation called "represented democracy", although it is also possible to identify forms of "participatory democracy" as the existence of student assemblies and of 'deliberative democracy' , and with regard to class assemblies, despite the residual character of the latter. In Edelstein (2011) this form of participation is referred to as "Classroom council".…”

The problems of ‘competence’ and alternatives from the Scandinavian perspective ofBildung

“…Researchers have pointed to severe problems in classrooms caused by competence-based education and assessment, such as increased teaching to the test, a narrowed curriculum, a fragmentation of educational content, reproduction of knowledge (opposed to the intent of fostering innovative thinking), increased inequality in education, increased individualisation, damage to democratic education, disempowered teachers and poorer teacher-student relationships (Au, 2011;Biesta, 2010;Diamond, 2012;Edelstein, 2011;Elstad & Sivesind, 2010;Hopmann, 2007Hopmann, , 2008Hopmann, , 2013Hopmann, Brinek, & Retzl, 2007;Hö rmann, 2011;Langfeldt, Elstad, & Hopmann, 2008;Mausethagen, 2013;Tanner, 2013;Westera, 2001;Young, 2013). The implementation of competence-based education and assessment in different national contexts, as well as across the EU, also poses a challenge (Antunes, 2012;Hillen, Sturm, & Willbergh, 2011;Leat, Thomas, & Reid, 2012;Méhaut & Winch, 2012;Nieveen, 2012;Papanastasiou, 2012;Scholl, 2012;Seikkula-Leino, 2012;Sivesind, 2013;Sundberg, 2012).…”