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Democracy in the classroom?

Article Excerpt
Abstract

Democracy is a highly desirable but contested concept in education. However, little is known about how current and future educators perceive, experience and relate to democracy, which could have a significant impact on how students learn about, and become involved in, civic engagement and democracy. This paper reports on a study of 129 College of Education students, finding that they generally have a narrow conceptualization of democracy, primarily focused on electoral politics, only weakly connecting it to education. Social justice, in particular, was highlighted as requiring more attention.

Introduction

Educational systems and governments have become increasingly concerned with standards, accountability and high academic achievement, as evidenced by the No Child Left Behind legislation (Essex, 2006), but it is unclear how the concept, experience and reality of democracy is to be interwoven into the educational experience (Westheimer and Kahne, 2004). In the debate on the purpose of education, some research has focused on the "decline of civic education and the willingness of young people to assume active citizenship roles" (Corporation for National and Community Service, 2005:1), or the disengagement from the formal political and voting process (Patterson, 2003). If there is agreement that democracy should somehow be cultivated and infused in education (Alexander, 1999), the evidence on how educators should do so is not abundant (Westheimer and Kalme, 2004). This study explores the perspectives, experiences and perceptions of current and future educators, who are students at a university in Northeast Ohio, in relation to democracy in education. This research attempts to further our understanding of how educators conceptualize, experience and approach democracy, and, moreover, how this might frame how they teach about, influence, and engage in democracy, which will undoubtedly have an effect on students, inside and outside of the classroom. Research questions:

* What are the perspectives, experiences and perceptions of College of education students in relation to democracy, especially within the educational context?

* What are the implications of how College of Education students perceive, construct and interact with democracy?

* How do current and future educators understand and relate to social justice within the context of democracy?

Research Sample and Methodology

The university at which the study was undertaken is an open-enrollment, state university in Ohio, with approximately 13,000 students who reside primarily in a five-county encatchment area. Many of the students represent the first generation in their families to attend university. This area has a significant African-American population, with the surrounding suburbs being predominantly White. Approximately 85% of the overall student body, and an even higher number in the College of Education, is White. In November and December, 2005, approximately 400 College of Education students were asked to consider completing a detailed questionnaire containing 28 open- and closed-ended questions....

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