Participatory Education for Democracy

[Skip Zilla]

Editor Mark K. Smith introduces InfEd's discussion of "participatory education" in his 2001 article titled Education for Democracy. Smith focuses on the work of two great 20th-century educators, John Dewey and A.S. Neill, briefly discusses the experimental self-governing Summerhill school (Wikipedia article), and provides a short reading list.

(an additional Wikipedia "category" article: "Democratic, Sudbury model, and free schools")

Perhaps Smith's InfEd article can serve as a starter for a continuing discussion on how the practice and content of education might better prepare us to participate in and value democracy.

"We can conclude that ‘political education’ – the cultivation of the virtues, knowledge and skills necessary for political participation - has moral primacy over other purposes of public education in a democratic society. Political education prepares citizens to participate in consciously reproducing their society, and conscious social reproduction is the ideal not only of democratic education but also of democratic politics."
(Gutmann, A. (1987) Democratic Education, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. p. 287)

How might we proceed from here?

[Connie Weber]

These are points from the infed Education for Democracy page that are particularly relevant to me in my studies and aims right now, particularly with reference to new classroom and school designs.

School organization

“Classical (Direct) Democracy
Schools are viewed as communities in which the problems of communal life are resolved through collective deliberation and a shared concern for the common good.”

contrasts with
“Contemporary (Representative) Democracy
Schools are organized around a pyramidal structure.”

“A key feature of Dewey’s argument was his concern for ‘social intelligence’ (or social consciousness). Through its cultivation human beings began to develop ‘the capacity collectively to enlarge their own freedom and to create a more desirable form of social life’ (Carr and Hartnett 1996: 59).”

The part about "a shared concern for the common good" needs exploring. What does this mean? I'm thinking of Howard Gardner's "GoodWork Project," for instance. Could we collect some resources that examine the creation and nurturing of positive contributions to one's on local environment, and simultaneously, the world?

[Vincent Mespoulet]

hmm, i agree with Connie when she speak about "a shared concern for the common good", but i'm very embarrased with Gutmann sentence given by Skip when he said "Political education prepares citizens to participate in consciously reproducing their society, and conscious social reproduction is the ideal not only of democratic education but also of democratic politics.".
Democracy is with no doubt the most beautiful invention of Political Philosophy, but i don't know perfect democracy, it is an ideal, an utopia, a skyline to reach. You can't improve democracy if you are involved in a social REPRODUCTION. Maybe we have to teach to our students how to improve (and so change) democracy. And the main tool of democracy since Ancient Greeks Times is dialog, dispute, management of consensus and dissensus, in a word, what we are doingin this ning ;-)

[Skip Zilla]

Vincent, I believe you've read into what Gutmann is saying what he is not saying at all. Your enthusiasm for trigger-happy disputation would take us all on a tangent rather than keeping our attention focused on the heart of the matter--radically changing minds and hearts so that real, local changes in educational practices are possible. Intellectualism is a trap, a blind alley, that does prevent change from happening. It is often far from actual personal awakening to actionable possibilities that are truthful and beautiful.

[Vincent Mespoulet]

ok Skip, i restrain my desire to know what you mean by "intellectualism" to focus on the difference i feel (maybe i'm wrong but A. Gordon is quite unknown in France and we learn a lot from John Dewey) a difference between what i know about Dewey and what i'm reading about Gordon.
Do I have the simple right, here, to feel this difference ? When Dewey wondered if our school were connected with our democratic ideal, he stressed that schools didn't give students the means to contest/justify them... It seems to me, Skip, that, according to Dewey, democratic school is first of all a school where students can speak, ask, call in question because they have to learn at school what they'll have to do later outside the school: living in a political society where they will be aware virtues of common respect and tolerance, and in th same time where they will be aware of their rights. in other words, Dewey thought that education have to put students in link to the same authority they'll meet later in global society. This authority is authorithy of the Law, id est of the Reason. So it is not Authority of the father, nor the teacher, authority of God nor anyone, but authority relayed by A SHARED CONCERN FOR THE COMMON GOOD...

[Skip Zilla]

I am annoyed, Vincent, that we are having this unnecessary exchange at all. Had you actually read the link to the InFed article, you would not have replied what you did. This volleying of useless posts has nothing to do with having a real discussion. Please read before writing. I don't intend to respond to any more of this thread you've unfortunately opened. If you want to discuss the merits or demerits of having participatory classrooms and schools in preparation for becoming participatory citizens in a democracy, I certainly will respond. But this exchange is nonsense and leads nowhere because it stems from a baseless premise not tied to the reading of the originally posted material.

[Connie Weber]

Hi Skip and Vincent,

I think you guys have a lot of agreement in your views about what the world needs. Can we continue the discussion in a gentler way? I'm thinking that what led to the trouble is what "conscious social reproduction" actually means. The "conscious" side of it: does that mean actively seeking out information, discourse, and pathways for action? It may be the "reproduction" side of it that made things unclear. There's much more to discuss.

I like what's happening on the Kenya forum, about people learning how to make a difference. Does that fit in here, too? Can "a shared concern for the common good" be something that is sought within one's own political system and also across the world?

Skip, if I'm taking the discussion down a divergent path or sideline, let me know. I'm thinking the discussion could be quite broad, but maybe you have a particular goal in mind?

You wrote to Vincent: "the heart of the matter--radically changing minds and hearts so that real, local changes in educational practices are possible. Intellectualism is a trap, a blind alley, that does prevent change from happening. It is often far from actual personal awakening to actionable possibilities that are truthful and beautiful." I don't think we're talking about an "ism" here (intellectualism) but rather about sharing knowledge and philosophy. I see those as closely connected to matters of heart.