How to Create a Democratic Community in the Classroom
Creating a democratic community within the classroom is not an easy task, but the rewards far outweigh the troubles in creating the community. The creation of a democratic community will act as a preventative measure against undesirable behavior. Taking a few weeks at the beginning of the school year to establish the foundation of the community will ensure that more learning, academic and social, will occur throughout the remainder of the year. In order to create a democratic community in the classroom, teachers must adopt the concepts of respect, authenticity, thoughtfulness, and emotional integrity within the classroom (Larrivee, 2005, p. 80). By implementing these concepts, teachers can create a democratic community that models a democratic society and gets the students participating in the “real world”.
Respect is a term often used in classrooms, but rarely defined. In this case, teachers need to use the term respect to mean acceptance. Teachers must accept that students are an integral part of the community. As such, their voice needs to be heard. Teachers can do this by having the students and the teacher create the classroom rules, guidelines, consequences, enforcement, and routines. This demonstrates to the students that the teacher cares about their opinion and values it. In doing this, teachers engage students in dialogue and solicit their opinions. They also show that they believe the students are capable of creating a classroom that is efficient, functional, and successful.
Creating an authentic classroom, while it seems easy, is more difficult than one would think. Being and authentic teacher means being real, it means being yourself and not acting out a role, according to Barbara Larrivee (2005). Teachers that establish themselves as authentic teachers practice what they preach. They act as role models for the type of citizen they want their students to assume. Cathy Pohan (2003) describes teachers that practice moral integrity and make every decision to promote the betterment of the community, just as the President does of this nation.
In order for students to participate in a democratic community, the teacher needs to display to the students that they are caring and thoughtful. Thoughtfulness, according to Larrivee, describes a “mutual consideration” (Larrivee, 2005, p. 81). This thoughtfulness is rooted in the idea that all individuals have a common goal and purpose. In order to create this common purpose, teachers need to allow the community to establish its purpose. Teachers should let the students create goals for the school year as a community (on top of their individual goals). When the students take part in the community goal setting they are more likely to do what is necessary for common good. As a result, negative behavior will be diminished because it does not support the common goals.
Emotional Integrity is based on communication. In a democratic community, students’ voices are heard. Teachers need to open lines of honest communication with students and parents alike. They need to create opportunities to develop teacher-student and student-student relationships based on respect, honesty, tolerance, and acceptance. Teachers need to create one-on-one time with students. Doing so will show the students that the teacher cares and values them. It also allows them to voice their opinions while not in front of a larger audience. Despite showing care for the student, Larrivee cautions that teachers use appropriate self-disclosure concerning the students’ personal information.
By teaching and modeling these concepts teachers will create a safe and secure environment for students to share their experiences and opinions. Students that have a voice in the community are more interested in the success of that community. As a result, they are less likely to engage in undesired behavior because they have a commitment to the community (Savage, 1999, p. 34). There are numerous ways that teachers can allow for students to have a voice in the classroom and practice democratic decision-making. For example, teachers can allow students to choose where they sit, when they take a break, which classroom activities require silence, which books/articles they want to read, how they want to display their knowledge, or what topics they want to study and in which order. All of these suggestions give the students a voice in the classroom and enhance the principles of a democratic community (Larrivee, 2005, p. 88). As the school year progresses the teacher can increase student involvement in decision making. The teacher can go from telling the students what is going to occur, to the teacher sharing ideas and asking for feedback, to the students consulting in the process, to co-creating (Larrivee, 2005, p. 89).
In order to create a democratic community within a classroom, the teacher needs to be willing to grant the students levels of autonomy. Students that actively participate in the creation of the community will have a vested interest in that community. Students that are vested in the community will create less behavioral problems for the teacher. Additionally, creating this democratic community will not only decrease the negative behavior occurrences, but it will also allow the students to actively participate in democracy.
Larrivee, B. (2005). Authentic Classroom Management: Creating a Learning Community and Building Reflective Practice. Pearson Education, Inc.: Boston