Truly Injecting Democracy into the Classroom

Injecting democracy into a classroom is not an easy task. Despite the democratic society the United States of America prides itself on being, education is surprisingly much closer to being an autocracy due to its teacher centric classroom structure (never mind the large bureaucracy that looms over them). At the end of the day, the teacher is in control, dictating what the students do day in and day out with the hopes they will walk away more intelligent and wiser than they were when they first stepped into the room. From my experience, few teachers stray away from this structure following an old adage of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

That was until recently. In a course entitled “Teaching, Democracy and Schools,” my professor decided to turn the class on its head and give the students free reign on an assignment. The idea behind the assignment was for the students to design an ideal school, permitting it satisfies certain requirements. These requirements were far from crippling, truly allowing the students to design the school with few limitations. But the twist was not the assignment; it was the process in which the students could take to complete it. Options included: working alone, working in small groups, or (most radically) working as an entire class. Needless to say, it was not surprising (at least to me) what my class chose.

Now I get why these guys struggle to get things done.

Working as a class was clearly an exercise in democracy as now you have 24 voices that need to be heard and included into a single idea/project. Needless to say, things did not go very smoothly in the beginning. Organizing ideas, staying on task and overbearing desire to compromise slowed the process to a screeching halt. All too often people wanted to synthesize all the ideas and then attempt to mold them, however, it never went as planned. Additionally, splitting up work was nearly impossible because a lack of constant (or efficient) communication. When structure was finally installed, it was almost too late (praise the fates we had an extended deadline). Fortunate favored us as the concluding moments of the project went better than expected. Overall, if I have to say anything about how we did as a whole, I would say we were “impressive.” The process was unlike anything we ever did and we performed quite admirably all things considered, finding a means to complete the assignment while staying true to the vision we had…at least for the most part.

What is more interesting is how one considers the implications of implementing this class structure to an assignment in other classrooms. I say “other classrooms” merely because this was used in a classroom full of graduate students (many of which are like-minded) that seek to become teachers in some respect. What about a high school class of potentially diverse teenagers with a wide range of aspirations of lack thereof? Or a middle school classroom of volatile children with raging hormones? Or a bunch of overly energetic elementary students who may or may not love school at that point? This structure for an assignment would be very interesting to include in a curriculum because of the potential it has on the students. It could get the more apathetic ones involved. It could promote new ways to look at problems. Best of all, it gets democracy into the classroom, making all the students understand how our government and by extension society truly operates. The hidden curriculum here cannot be understated. It’s that important. It is just of matter of doing it and making it work. There’s the tricky part that I have to figure out.

Inequality in Schools and How We Could Fix It

Linda Darling-Hammond wrote a piece called “The Flat Earth and Education: How America’s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future” which focused a great deal on the startling amount of inequity and discrimination in schools today. I use the word “startling” for few words are apt as that to describe my feelings on how prevalent this problem is. Let’s not confuse my reaction with nativity, for I am not as ignorant to pretend there is not some degree of discrimination in schools. I was just surprised on how widespread it is and how damaging it can be.

Hammond pounds the reader with a number of statistics, including this not too shocking but above all, disappointing one: “Only about 17% of African American young people between the ages of 25 and 29—and only 11% of Hispanic youth—had earned a college degree in 2005, as compared with 34% of White youth in the same age bracket” (318). She drew this statistic for the U.S. Census Bureau from the year 2005 and it is very likely that the statistics have not changed significantly for better or for worse in the past eight years. Because of these limited graduation rates, many end up turning to crime for one reason or another and according to Hammond “nearly 40% of adjudicated juvenile delinquents have treatable learning disabilities that were undiagnosed and unaddressed in schools” (Hammond 318).

Hammond speaks about the classical fix for this problem: funding. However, unlike others, Hammond gives a solid reasoning beyond this: certain schools, particularly urban schools that have higher minority student populations, do not have the resources needed to tend to all students and their respective needs. As she writes, “Educational outcomes for students of color are much more a function of their unequal access to key educational resources, including skilled teachers and quality curriculum, than they are a function of race” (Hammond 320). This may seem a bit redundant, considering, this is what everyone who advocates for more school funding says. However, Hammond does speak the truth as she enters more detail, leading to the fundamental problem with educational reform: a lack of resources for the lower level students in less well funded schools. Tracking only serves to greater expand the achievement gap. In fact, Hammond is quite critical of tracking claiming that is not significantly benefit the higher tier students and only further does a disservice to the lower level students (Hammond 324).

With this all being said, Hammond does propose a few solutions. A new plan, really, and one can truly provide at least a foundation to better remedy this problem and take full advantage of increased funding, should schools ever receive such a thing. It begins with hiring more skilled, more knowledgeable teachers especially in subjects of high need, such as math and sciences. This is already happening in some districts, as math and science teachers are in higher demand as it is. The second aspect is improved teacher preparation, with better trains teachers with the skills needed to be a skilled teacher. This is a given, truly, and should already be included in teacher prep programs and teacher education. This comes more down to college reform, from my perspective, and is out of the hand of elementary and secondary schooling. The last aspect is something I am particularly fond of: support mentoring for new teachers. Veteran teachers can mentor younger teachers and provide them with much needed advice and knowledge they will not get in a classroom. This allows them to acquire much needed skills or ideas that can place in their own classrooms to improve the education for students. Taken as a whole, Hammond’s ideas would much better improve the condition of schools and take full advantage of any increased funding or reforms that may and hopefully will take place in the upcoming years.

First Dose of Actual Teaching

Despite being in a teaching program, I myself do not have a lot experience with formal teaching. I have taught before, but it was not in a traditional classroom. As a lifeguard instructor, I have taught people the basics of being a lifeguard, giving them the knowledge and skills needed to be certified lifeguards. It gave me a feel for what people a teacher entails. The arduous lectures, the difficult students and the pressure to make each and every student knows what they are doing to a high enough standard in order to pass the final tests.

But that is hardly what teachers would consider real teaching. So naturally, I was intimidated by an assignment for another one of my courses. I was to construct a lesson plan and present it in class with the goal of covering the vital aspects of the readings due for that week. This may not seem like a daunting task, as this is a common assignment in schooling. However, for whatever reason, I was panicking. Stressing out. I was all over the place.

Luckily, this was a group project so I was able to work with another student in the class. We were able to put our ideas together and prepared to the best of our ability. Last week was the moment of truth. Were we ready? Could we do it? I wasn’t sure. To be completely honest, I was convinced that we were going to fail miserably. No amount of optimism could be feigned.

Success.

Yet, everything went better than expected.

This was a pleasant surprise, making my first exposure to formal teaching almost positive. My public speaking, once a great weakness, served me well, which I credit to my numerous presentations in college and my experience as a lifeguard instructor. I was fairly well prepared with my knowledge and the activities that were included in the lesson plan were more than successful, resonating very well with the class as a whole. I couldn’t help by sigh with relief when it was all over.

A week later, there is a lot to draw from this experience. First off, lesson plans are not easy to construct. There is a lot to consider when writing a lesson plan. Activities to do, course material to cover, concepts to bring up, and goals to accomplish. I never actually wrote one and mine was ridiculously basic, but even then it was not easy to construct a great one. Secondly, the importance of preparation. I know how understand how much knowledge I need, how confident I am in my knowledge of the subject and how confident I present the information. Teachers need to appear to as an authority, so that students respect and believe in my presentation. It is fine for students to challenge the teacher, but I rather be as knowledgeable as possible. I do not want to be off-guard frequently, even if a challenge can be an excellent learning opportunity. The last one was the need to be engaging in lesson plans. Our activity was very engaging and the students ate it up, loving every moment. It made the class fun and educational. That is the ideal combination, really. We want our schools to be fun, but I never really knew why. Now, I know.

Looking Back: A Reflection on My Life as a Student

Autoethnography. A term I was not familiar with until a few short weeks ago. For class, I had to complete one, and it took one of my fellow classmates to put it into perspective for it to make any degree of sense.

A scrapbook.

Yep. This thing but school related.

More specifically, a scrapbook dedicated to my life as a student. The goal of the assignment was to reflect on past experiences a student in order to understand the type of teacher you are going to be. This is, largely, because what we experienced as a student molds our views on education and schools. I never put much thought into that, but then I realized that is really rather obvious and I just rarely considered the validity of that thought. But the reality is that I always said, “When I am teacher, I am going to do this and this because my favorite teachers did that and it worked for me.”

For the sake of this assignment, I focused primarily on my experiences as a high school student. I know many may say that college was the “best four years of my life” or speak to how influential college is for them, but for me it was high school that I credit for making me who I am today. This is not to say that I did not grow or be shaped by my experiences in college, as I did mature a great deal in those four years. But it was in high school where I started to become the person I am today.

The core idea of this autoethnography was to collect “artifacts” that shaped, reflect or relate to our experiences as individuals in democratic society, while connecting to education whenever possible. The basis of this assignment was to relate these artifacts to six domains: school, teachers/administrators, our friends/peers, the self, family and community. I had a great deal of trouble finding some, until a number of epiphanies hit me hard. High school yearbook, pictures, stories (with quotes from the classic “Billy Madison”) and my old soccer trophy (which I totally didn’t deserve) rounded out the items that guided this project.

Through this assignment, I learned a great deal about myself as a student and have a greater idea of the teacher I will become. As a student, I was told that education is important and that the more educated you are, the better potential you have to succeed. I was told that I had this potential since I was a child really, but was also told that the society I live in has hundreds of thousands opportunities before me, and it was up to me to find and take them. All I had to do was work hard, handle myself responsibly and then I can succeed. As a teacher, I aim to give my students these same life lessons and opportunities. I want them to be able to explore their options like I was able to and develop the skills and abilities to seize any opportunities that they see. That is what I feel is my job as an educator.

A brief reaction to "Teach"

The documentary, Teach, by Davis Guggenheim chronicles the lives of several teachers in a “slice of life” style direction, sampling some of the struggles they face as teachers as they briefly discuss their motivations for becoming educators, the struggles in their classroom and their hopes for the future of American education in the coming years. While not necessarily a startling film, it does present several realities about education in the United States, and subsequently dispels a few misnomers about teachers and teaching. In this regard, Teach is quite eye opening and is a highly recommend film for teachers, especially future ones, to view.

The accounts that Teach documents are similar, yet also very different. Each of the teachers experience struggles in the films whether it be because of struggling students, budget cuts, or even the extreme (but very real) case of child abuse and neglect. While these issues may have been dramatized for effect, these are all situations that educators will face. One could call it “the nature of the business.” Regardless, the difficulties presented in the film are very real and is something many people, to an extent future teachers included, do not realize that teachers face. Students can be difficult to motivate, control and connect with causing them to struggle in class. Curriculums can be limiting and inhibit individual teacher creativity. Budget cuts limit resources, teachers, and classes. And teachers are responsible to report child abuse, no matter how difficult it may be. Teach does admirably in bringing these harsh truths to light, revealing that the life of a teacher is much harder than people presume.

Fortunately, Teach does end on a high note. While the film feels grim at times and definitely makes one feel a wild torrent of emotions ranging from frustration to sympathy, Teach can also amaze and motivate. Amidst the images of adversity, they are images of hope. The documented teachers in the film are shown going out of their respective ways to tend to their students, providing the attention they feel they deserve. Regardless of the individual situation, the teachers make sacrifices for them. One stays after school to assist the student in his work. Another spends a fair amount of money on developing photos for her class. Another motivates students to speak out to the Board of Education due to impeding cuts threatening their ESL program. Another contacts the authorities because he suspects child abuse and is concerned for the boy’s well being. All these teachers go the extra mile for their students. In some cases, it is their responsibility as educators, but for the most part, there is no part of their job description to sacrifice so much for them. This film presents teaching as the noblest of professions as each of these teachers sincerely want their students to succeed, to become good people and hope that their education continues to push them forward on this path.  

One could say that Teach presents the image of the ideal teacher: selfless, mature, considerate, responsible and motivated by an intrinsic desire to do "good." They teach because they want to and the job truly feels rewarding at the end of the day, despite the difficulties they encounter. It sheds light on the plight of the teachers, but presents a blueprint on the type of teachers that the United States needs. Education has its fair share of issues, but with teachers like the those documented in Teach, there is light at the end of the tunnel.