The first two posts of this series recommend Looping and Play as simple, inexpensive steps that will improve public schools.  The third step, Practice Democracy, is also simple, but this one will not be easy because undemocratic behaviors are baked into the structure of public education. By that I mean that almost no one inside a school has a vote or even a say in what they have to do. Teachers are told when to show up, what to teach, where to teach it, and sometimes even when to teach it–down to the day and hour!  Students are told when to show up, where to sit, when and how to walk in the halls, when they can eat, what they can and cannot wear, and when they can leave.  This routine, over 180 days for 12 or 13 years, is probably the least ideal (i.e., worst) preparation for life in a democratic republic. That’s what needs to change.

But, as an important aside, this series of simple and inexpensive steps is in no way intended to minimize or obscure the need for major changes we need to make in our public schools, such as smaller classes, better ventilation, higher salaries, and improved physical facilities.  In fact, I hope that, if enough parents and school supporters work for small changes and see their impact, they will then work hard(er) in support of the big changes.

So how can schools begin to practice democracy, by which I mean sharing in making the decisions that affect their lives? But what better place to start than in classrooms, where kids of varying backgrounds are supposed to learn how to live and learn together.

Start with rule-making. In 41 years of reporting, I visited thousands of elementary school classrooms, and I’m certain that virtually every one of them displayed–usually near the door–a poster listing the rules for student behavior.  These were store-bought, glossy, laminated posters.  No editing possible, and no thought required. Just follow orders!  Here’s an example:

I can imagine teachers reading the rules aloud to the children on the first day of class and referring to them whenever things got loud or rowdy.

“Now, children, remember Rule 4.  No calling out unless I call on you.”

Here’s a great opportunity to practice democracy. Teachers and their students can spend some time during the first few days of school discussing what sort of classroom they want to spend their year in.  That is, what rules should we establish?

Teacher:  Kids, let’s make some rules for our classroom.  What do you think is important? 

Skilled teachers will lead the conversation in certain directions:

What if someone knows the answer to a question?  Should they just yell it out, or should they raise their hand and wait to be called on?

Or: If one of you has to use the bathroom, should you just get up and walk out of class? Or should we have a signal?  And what sort of signal should we use?

I watched that process a few times, and, no surprise, the students invariably came up with reasonable rules much like those on the laminated posters: Listen, Be Respectful, Raise Your Hand, Be Kind, and so forth.  But there’s a difference, because these were their rules, and they owned them and were therefore more likely to adhere to them.

Don’t stop with rule-making. Practicing Democracy also means giving students more say in what they study, because I believe that a good education system is–insofar as it is possible–both personalized and child-centric.  Giving students–at all levels–more ‘agency’ over their education means figuring out what each student is interested in and then using those interests to see that they learn to read with comprehension, work with numbers, speak in public, and work well with others.

Of course students should not get to make all the decisions about what they’re studying.  After all, a central purpose of school is the transmission of knowledge, and so the basics are also part of the deal.  Young children need to learn spelling rules (“I before E, except after C”), the multiplication tables, how to divide and carry, and other basics. They need to know that letters have sounds associated with them (i.e., Phonics and Phonemic Awareness).  Someone has to teach them that, if you put an E at the end of words like ‘ton,’ the O sound changes from ‘short’ to ‘long.’  

But giving students some amount of power over their learning will, eventually, make teaching easier.  When I was a high school English teacher many years ago, I was assigned students in the lower academic tracks. They were supposed to write a few papers (we called them ‘themes’) during the year, and I probably gave them assignments based on whatever play or novel we were reading.  So I ended up reading 125 papers about ‘Macbeth,’  ‘All Quiet on the Western Front,’ or Shirley Jackson’s short story, ‘The Lottery.’   That takes a toll on the teacher!

(Side note: NO English teacher should be responsible for 125 students! That’s an impossible task that forces teachers to triage.)

If I were teaching high school English today, I would ask each student to identify three or four things they were curious about. Then I would spend a few minutes with each student, getting that list down to one topic.  I’d ask for a 1-page ‘memo’ of their thoughts about how they would approach the topic, followed a week or so later by an outline.

When I discovered that some students shared an interest in the same general topic, I would connect them and urge them to share their pursuit of knowledge. 

Because I would be looking at drafts of their work, the chances of them using AI or downloading someone else’s work from the internet would be minimized.

I would also ask students to create a webpage where essays could be shared with students and the community at large.  Pride of publication is a great motivator!

Math teachers could invite students to create word problems that reflect their own interests.  A youngster interested in farming oysters might create problems that provide data about the cost of ‘seed,’ the rate of loss, the time involved in transferring the ‘seed’ as it begins to mature, the labor costs involved in harvesting. What’s the rate of return on investment if…..?

Preparing young people for life in a functioning democracy means that adults have to change their behavior.  Their challenge is to ask and answer a different question about every young person–How Is This Student Smart?  Humans are curious by nature, and every child has interests and abilities that can be built on, and so teachers might consider asking questions, instead of simply giving assignments: 

          What would make this material appealing to you? 

          What would persuade you to invest your energies in this subject? 

          What else are you interested in?  

I also believe young people should be deeply involved in figuring out how their efforts will be measured.  It makes no sense to wait for end-of-the-year bubble test results or for teachers to arbitrarily say ‘This passes” or “This doesn’t.”  Teachers and students should assess progress frequently, take a clear-headed look at the results, and adapt accordingly. 

Democratizing schools for students won’t happen unless teachers also gain some measure of control over their professional lives, and that’s going to be complex. The initial step is for teachers to have more say in how their students are evaluated. They should, of course, because they know them better than anyone (this will be doubly true if schools adopt Looping!).  The power to judge/evaluate now rests with adults outside the building, who must be persuaded that trusting teachers will improve student performance.  Teachers also need to be empowered to work together to create curriculum, because (just like rule-making by students) they will own what they have helped create.  

Practicing democracy would also mean involving teachers in the hiring of new faculty. Why shouldn’t they participate in building their team of colleagues?  

Education is much more than knowledge transmission. Much of what goes on–in and out of school–is the development and creation of the individual.  What Jacques Barzun called “Building a Self” involves discovery and trial-and-error, and that journey becomes much more interesting when kids are creating knowledge, not just giving back the right answers in order to get good grades.  Because, per Aristotle, “We are what we repeatedly do,” inculcating the habit of democracy in children of all ages is the best way to ensure that our democratic republic endures.

The goal of education, wherever it’s occurring, is not correct answers. The end game is life-long curiosity.  And young people who get accustomed to practicing democracy are probably much more likely to value its traditions and to be active citizens.

(I will be off the grid for about two weeks but will be back with Steps four, five, six, seven, and who knows how many more….)