Go Big or Go Home...Build School-wide Democratic Communities
Teaching is one of the most challenging, yet rewarding professions. It is exciting walking in to a classroom of students that are moldable and eager and ready to be taught something. Some days they are ready to learn the content, but some days all they want to learn is what the party was like last weekend that they could not go to. Either way, it is the job of the teacher to educate students in the content and in life. In order to teach students the ins and outs and hidden rules of life, teachers need to build democratic communities within their classroom.
Dewey said that schools are not preparation for life, but they are life. They only way to treat schools as life is to allow students to actively participate in their education. The days when teachers were the gatekeepers of information are over. Students should and need to have a role in what is learned and how it is learned. A democratic community in the classroom offers students these opportunities.
So the challenge herein lies. Building a democratic community in the classroom is easy compared to building a democratic school. Once the democratic communities of the classrooms have been built, why not take the next step towards creating a democratic community that encompasses the entire school? Teachers are natural born leaders, they lead their students every day. Now it is just a matter of leading the school towards a more rewarding, safe, and successful goal, a school-wide democratic community.