Can We Teach What We Preach? Examining Teachers and Their Experiences With Democracy

• In Event: The Significance of How Educators Experience Democracy, and the Potential for Democratic Education

Abstract

1. Objectives or purposes
This paper presents a case study of education students in a Faculty of Education in Ontario, Canada (n=260), who completed a detailed, online questionnaire on their experiences, perspectives and perceptions of democracy in relation to education.

2. Perspective(s) or theoretical framework
I position this research within a critical conceptual framework, which helps raise questions about the meaning, relevancy and reality of democracy and political literacy. From whose vantage-point, for whose benefit, according to what ideological lens, to achieve what goals? Thus, the present era could be characterized as one in which democratic illiteracy is rapidly usurping the rhetorical narratives and undermining critical democratic and citizenship education work. How we understand oppositional thinking as well as how we encourage such free thought is critical to the shaping of a democratically literate, engaged and inclusive society (Cook & Westheimer, 2006; Freire, 1998; Portelli & Solomon, 2001).

3. Methods, techniques, or modes of inquiry
Through consultation with colleagues, we developed an appropriate invitation and administrative approach for the survey, which was voluntary and anonymous, and took place through online surveys. The surveys included open- and close-ended questions on pre-service teacher perceptions, experiences and perspectives on democracy and education. The Ontario sample includes roughly 13% non-Caucasian students, and the majority of respondents are female, under 30 years of age, and first-generation university students. The two campuses are geographically distant, with the one in the North having a particular focus on Northern Canadian life and Aboriginal peoples.

4. Data sources, evidence, objects or materials
Using data from an on-line survey the paper presents quantitative and qualitative analyses.

5. Results and/or substantiated conclusions or warrants for arguments/point of view
It is clear that a number of PSTs in this study are committed, engaged, and motivated to seek out what Freire, Dewey and others construed to be the essence of the educational experience. However, the majority of PSTs do not appear to be engaged, and have been willingly or unwillingly dissuaded from undertaking critical work, sometimes understanding that their lack of involvement, comprehension, empowerment and dispositions may adversely affect students (Westheimer & Kahne, 2004). One of the principle conclusions from this research is that how we experience, perceive, and engage with democracy, individually and collectively, will have an influence on what we do in the classroom, in the school-yard, in the school culture, and, generally, within the educational milieu. We also learn about how social justice is understood, and how it is connected to democratic education (Carr, 2010).

6. Scientific or scholarly significance of the study or work
This study builds on several other studies, advancing our knowledge and understanding of how democracy takes place within schools, and presenting recommendations to counter democracy and political illiteracy (Banks et al., 2008). A model of a spectrum of analysis for thick democracy and education for democracy practices was developed from this research, which can assist us in understanding the multiple dimensions at play when considering how we actually do democracy in education.

Author

• Paul R. Carr, Université du Québec en Outaouais