Paper Summary

Perspectives on Democracy in Education as a Framework for Understanding Teachers’ Beliefs

Sat, April 14, 8:15 to 10:15am, Vancouver Convention Centre, Floor: Second Level, East Room 17

Abstract

This is a conceptual piece that discusses three perspectives on democratic education found in a review of literature. These perspectives are presented and defined in a way that illustrates the relationship each has with democratic living. It is argued in this paper that democracy as a concept is often unclear in the minds of educators and presents a unique definitional problem for researchers, teacher educators, teachers, and students. This problem can be mitigated in part by working to understand what these individuals believe about democracy and how those beliefs might influence teaching and learning in educational contexts. This three part framework can be one way that those beliefs can be understood.

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