Conference Papers

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This paper summarizes the results of an experiment in democratic education. For a course on democratic theory, the classroom was treated as a laboratory for analyzing practical experiences in democracy. The key premise of the experiment was that students could gain insight about democracy by critically analyzing and reflecting upon experiences within the classroom. For example, what can we learn about the relation between power and participation in electoral arenas by focusing on the same relation as it appears in classroom discussions? Similarly, what can we learn about the relation between citizen development and participation by analyzing the relation between student development and participation in classroom activities?

Beginning with a traditional, undemocratic pedagogy, the classroom was progressively democratized. Students eventually controlled all aspects of the course including its design, its content, daily activities, and peer evaluation. In addition to the focus on course design and process, students also discussed readings in democratic theory. The experiment produced mixed results. On the one hand, students demonstrated considerable commitment, creativity and ability to design and do the course themselves. Students reported high degrees of learning and satisfaction. On the other hand, there were some abuses of power by students such as a tendency among some students to avoid work, and time constraints undermined the critical focus on course process in favor of other concerns.

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Teaching Politics is published by William J. Ball (ball@tcnj.edu)