Democratic Classroom

After reading about a democratic classroom it reminded me of the ways corporations get their companies to produce.  It has been a long known fact that if you have a mechanical task for employees to accomplish it will relate directly to the monitory amount made. For example: Take a group of people and pay them based on performance. The people with the least production gets the lowest pay, the people with the average production get middle pay, and the people with the greatest production get the highest pay.   The result would be predictable; people worked hard and tried to get the highest pay possible according to their abilities. On the other hand, if you give a cognitive task to the same group and offer the same monetary values, as before, the top level of pay is not reached.  So why is this? 

According to Karl Marx’s, “Workers were most satisfied when they were able to make key decisions about their job. Under capitalism, workers were alienated from their labor because the employer tells the worker what to do and how to do it. Thus, the harder the worker works, the more alienated he becomes, even if he makes lots of money.”  (Media to teach and learn with, recommended by professors everywhere, 2010.)  The worker has no connection to the work he/she is performing; it is just a meaningless task and when cognitive task are presented further alienate results and performance declines even greater.   It is the purpose and the exploration of the task that allows the worker to be part of something greater than oneself.  All learning must have a purpose to it.

Why am I talking about the work force and the performance that occurs?  It is this type of capitalistic, authoritative scenario where students are forced into learning without meaning that is occurring in the classrooms of today.  Just a Campbell says “The present curriculum is too often divorced from students’ actual lives and experiences.” (Campbell, 2010)  It does not have a purpose to the student’s lives or the world to which they live in.  They get up in the morning and go to school, just like their parents get up in the morning and go to work.  While they are at school, they fill that same alienation that most of the parents fill when they go to work.  Then when they go home, they try to recover from the day and find some activity that brings meaning to their lives.  

To bring meaning to a student’s life a purpose for learning must be set-up in a safe and inviting classroom.  This classroom should promote the student to have a purpose in life and move to the point of self actualization.  Self actualization “is a person's need to do that which he or she feels they are meant to do.” (Maslow's Hierarchy - Online Leadership Training)  When talking democratic classroom each student must have a purpose of being there and what to be there, and if other levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy are not meet then the learning process is not really occurring.   Take for instance this scenario.  If Billy, is being bullied and is hungry before he comes to school.  Billy is not going to care about what is being taught.  He is more concerned with where and when his meal will be coming (Biological) and why cannot fit into the group (Safety, Loved, and Belonging).  So, how can we expect a student to perform in the classroom if they are not feed, feeling safe, being respected, loved, and have high self esteem.

What things can be done to promote a democratic classroom?  The first thing that I do at the being of the year is go over a few of my rules in the classroom and then have the students come up with their own rules for the classroom.  My rules include thing such as classroom preparation, homework, attendance, disruptive behavior and consequences, plagiarism or cheating with consequence, and respectful behavior. The rules are then gone over and discussed with the students allowing them to have a say in the matter.  The rules are then finalized when both the students and I agree on the rules.    I remind them that the rules must address each of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, too which I explain them to class.   By doing this simple act, I give some of the control over to the class and allow them to be a self governing community.

Then I have the students write me a simple essay, create a PowerPoint, or make a video on “What they want to get out of the class?”  I do express to them that getting a passing grade is not acceptable.  I ask them to think about what in Science intrigues them the most and to elaborate on it as much as possible.  I believe that this allows the students to use whatever creative means to get their point across and I also allows me the ability to help shape my curriculum around the needs and wants of the students. For in a democratic classroom it is the student’s classroom and we are the facilitator.

Another thing that I think helps promote a democratic classroom is allowing the students to work in cooperative learning groups when doing projects.  For example, my ninth graders had to make a machine that had the ability to make the letter x and erase that letter by using only the momentum of a small wooden ball.   I separated the groups into different abilities but I allowed the students to separate out the jobs of designing and building the machine.  Not only does this allow them to communicate with each other, just like a real world job, but it also allows them to critically think and problem solve. 

I also have students work on individual projects.  I take one week every semester and tell the students to pick something that they use in their everyday life and try to make it better.  For example, I had a student that had a baby that year and she made a pacifier that landed upright every time it was dropped.  She stated that it had taken her all of 24 hours to come up with the idea and create a solution. The student was excited about what she had made and her attitude towards the class change.  From that point on she now was asking questions and engaging conversations within the class. It is amazing how smart students are and what they can come up with when a real life problem is set in front of them.

I believe that in a democratic classroom the teacher must give up the authority figure and start to facilitate the classroom in a secure and accepting manner that realizes the potential in every student.  I also believe that the classroom is a place that must consideration the opinions of all students and compromise on best solutions to problems that may arise.  Just like a democratic society all ideas and beliefs must be taken in consideration when decisions are made.

Campbell, D. E.  (2010). Choosing democracy: A practical guide to multicultural education. Boston,
 MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Media to teach and learn with, recommended by professors everywhere.. Web. 7 Jul 2011. http://mindgatemedia.com/lesson/great-performance-is-motivated-by-purpose-not-profit/

MindTools.com, . "MindTool.com." Using Maslow’s Hierarchy Building a happier, more satisfied team. © Mind Tools Ltd, 2011. Web. 7 Jul 2011. <http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_92.htm>.