What Is a Democracy School?
How can we define what makes a school "public" with democracy in mind, and what kinds of evidence could schools present to demonstrate that they have democratic foundations?
View ArticleCitizens as Co-Creators
This blog argues that any concept of democracy schools that has much impact will have to challenge the "consumer" identities which are now widespread, in education and in virtually every area of...
View ArticleSchools Are Democracy Sites, Not Chain Stores
I'm hoping for a conversation that might lead to greater agreement about what kind of democratic processes entitle a school to public funding.
View ArticleDemocracy Schools: Lessons From Escuela Nueva
This blog, answering Meier's question about what list of elements should be necessary for public funding, with democracy in mind, argues that democracy educators in the United States have much to learn...
View ArticleThinking Big: How to Expand Democratic Schools
How can we come up with a set of basic principles of democratic accountability and sufficient autonomy for our schools?
View ArticleFrom Rage to Responsibility
In this blog Harry Boyte asks how can a discussion of principles that should govern accountable, publicly supported schools include the idea that we are all responsible citizens and creators of...
View ArticleDignity and Respect in Public Schools
What would it take to operate schools so that all members of the extended community are treated respectfully? How might one express this as a "mandate" for any school that expects to receive public...
View ArticleTaking on Prejudice Against Working-Class Whites in Schools
In building a democracy school coalition, Boyte asks how we can address the widespread prejudices against working-class whites.
View ArticleHave We Lost Respect for Hard Work?
As Bernie Sanders reintroduces the word 'socialism' into our respectable political vocabularies, it's time to revisit a value system that respects all work that improves the world. The least...
View ArticleA Federal Initiative on Democracy in Schools?
What might be a federal policy for a new administration that would help create a school system for a democratic way of life?
View ArticleInviting Policy Ideas for Democracy Schools
We need to introduce policies that will turn schools into places where adults and youths learn to use their voices effectively, have respect and empathy for others, and discover what a community is and...
View ArticleFree Spaces in Democracy Schools
The work of creating and sustaining free spaces in and around schools, where there is room for people to develop public capacities ("democratic habits") and democratic intellectual life, is a crucial...
View ArticleTeaching Democratic Politics and Other Habits
Schools are hardly designed to encourage "confrontations" over our strongly held views in ways that, over time, lead us to reconsider our own opinions.
View ArticlePutting the People Back in Politics
Schools need to teach and practice "citizen politics," politics revolving around citizens, not politics revolving around politicians, professionals, or parties, if schools are to be true to their...
View ArticleSchools vs. Elections as Sites for Controversy
The absence of excitement about controversial ideas that the young demonstrate in school contrasts sharply with their excited reactions to Trump, Clinton and Sanders, etc.
View ArticleDemocratic Stirrings in Higher Education
Today, when higher education faces ferocious attack, we need a broad movement to revitalize the democratic purposes and practices of colleges and universities -- for the sake of the whole society.
View ArticleHow Habits Support Democratic Schooling
Deborah Meier describes the five "habits of mind," the basis of Boston's Mission Hill School.
View ArticleCitizen Professionals as Democratic Patriots
Discussing and advancing democratic habits can help us move from objects of change to agents of change. And the process needs democratic habits of work, a focus on "hands" as well as "mind," and also...
View ArticleWhat Defines a Public School?
Schools play the greatest role in sustaining the idea of democracy—and for this reason, we must rethink the qualities a public school should have.
View ArticlePutting the Public in Public Schools
At the University of Illinois last week, I was struck by how much leaders with vision in higher education understand that the broader citizenry needs to be brought into the conversation about public...
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