League of Democratic Schools

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Comment by Dick Clark on May 28, 2009 at 2:17pm

How well does your school prepare students to address the following conditions?
Conditions Required for Democracy
(Roger Soder, “Education for Democracy,” in Developing Democratic Character in the Young. R. Soder, J. Goodlad, and T. McMannon, 2001. )



Trust (trust is necessary for people to enter into the kinds of long-term relationships necessary for political and social interaction in a democracy)

Exchange (people need to exchange goods and services in balanced ways in order to survive in a democracy)

Social capital (people need the social and political skills to work together to understand problems and create solutions—as opposed to simply accepting orders)

Respect for equal justice under law (if there is no justice, we have no recourse other than self-interest, which is ultimately self-defeating)

Respect for civil discourse (the art of conversation is central to the moral art of democracy)

Recognition of the need for E Pluribus Unum (dealing with the tensions between the pluribus and the unum –group and individual rights and responsibilities)

Free and open inquiry (the ability and inclination to inquire into all aspects of the workings of society)

Knowledge of rights (if we don’t know what our rights are we have difficulty exercising them)

Freedom (the power to exercise freedom and the insight to value it)

Recognition of the tension between freedom and order (the freedom that is not license and the order that is not oppression)

Recognition of the difference between a persuaded audience and a more thoughtful public

Ecological understanding (the only way for democracy to survive is for the larger environment to survive)

Comment by Thomas Garrod on March 7, 2009 at 1:40pm

Interesting. I'm not sure that my concept of democracy in schools is the same as yours. Stephen Brookfield addresses the concept of democracy in the classroom in his wonderful book titled, Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher. I've always felt he was in the right in thinking that teachers should not be at the center of class, but instead, on the fringe, with learners at the center. He also suggests that teachers should allow learners to collaboratively establish classroom rules. This does not mean that the teacher has no veto. This requires a certain trust in the good intentions and intelligence of learners. I have always found that when the group takes part in forming the rules, there is much better compliance.

Comment by rob williams on February 1, 2009 at 1:49pm

LODS...Glad to see we have a means to keep in touch and connected. Looking forward to our dicsussions and sharing of ideas.

Comment by Ann Foster on January 31, 2009 at 12:49am

Sam,
Thanks for the slides, they will be very useful and they will add to Dick's suggestion about the self study; they add the dimension of leadership needed for this work.

Comment by Sam Chaltain on January 30, 2009 at 11:34pm

Hey all,

Here are the slides from my presentation today. Looking forward to seeing everyone in the morning!
Seattle 2009.ppt

Comment by Dick Clark on January 30, 2009 at 4:19pm

The indicators loaded in the preceding comments may be helpful to a school wanting to do a self study regarding the extent to which the dimensions of the Agenda for Education in a Democracy are being implemented

Comment by Dick Clark on January 30, 2009 at 4:17pm

Some Indicators 41102.doc

Comment by Dick Clark on January 30, 2009 at 4:13pm

I hope that this works as a medium for League Schools and others concerned about educating children in a democratic society