Democracy

Benjamin Levin, in his article, The Educational Requirement of Democracy, defined democracy as that which involves participative processes at the action level. His thought is that democracy is about this idea that people should be involved in making decisions that directly affect them. John Dewey, who I am studying on a regularly basis these days, had much to say about democracy and education.

Dewey attempted to link education with democracy because he believed we prefer democracy because it promotes a better quality of human experience for the maximum number of people. Dewey felt strongly that the traditional school had grown out of a nontraditional social order, and not an order where true democracy reigned supreme; the new school needed to reflect this true democracy. Dewey called his new schools, democratic schools; they were to be schools for all with a broad social environment, broader than anything the child could experience anywhere else. The major ingredient in Dewey's school was the most interesting. Dewey believed that each student must understand objects, events and acts in ways that provide the student the means to participate in society. Dewey calls this "social intelligence."

What does it mean to have social intelligence? I think Levin would say that it has a lot to do with how much authority one has to exercise. Before one can exercise authority one must learn to wade through situations via study, inquiry, debate, discussion and decision. This is democracy at its purest; it is a process that involves conflict and disagreement that leads to agreement and decision. Trustworthy authority is that authority that withstands challenges. Levin writes, "We cannot abolish authority, or give it away, but we can and should create in our institutions the conditions that allow authority to be challenged, and to be taken over by others who are ready to use it well, because it is what is required for a democratic society to operate." This is what builds social intelligence and provides the means to act in ways that are participatory in society. If we do not allow this action to exist in our schools how, then, can we hope to have it prevalent in our society.

If we remove social intelligence from our schools then we produce a culture void of debate, disagreement and conflict. At first glance, some would say this is Utopia; but upon closer examination, this is anything but Utopia. A culture where everyone gets along and no one argues is a culture dominated by one idea, and one where all other ideas are banished. The education we offer our children carries with it our statement on issues like authority. The discipline we use in our schools with our students communicates to them our views on authority and who gets to be involved in the decision making process. Does this mean that we turn over control of our schools to our students? No, and Levin would not advocate such an action either. But, he would say that a good idea is still a good idea whether it comes from a faculty member, a principal, a student or a parent. Levin writes that, "We can start to treat students as community members with a stake in what happens, and as people who can and will learn as they deliberate and act."

In sum, Levin advocates and Dewey would agree that the practice of democracy is tied closely to a school and its program. The decisions we make are made in the deepest parts of our souls. Often, when we are apathetic in regard to a decision we need only look within for the reason why. Levin believes that for a democracy to develop a realistic stance toward the world that democracy must require and produce high ideals, and high ideals are only found deep in your soul. Their formation begins in the early stages of development inside the process of learning... inside education.

Ideals are not formed by math, science or English, but by the teaching of those subjects to a student by an adult who is trusted to instill this information. It is the process, but it is much more. It is also the relationship between a teacher and a student that builds ideals in conjunction with the family. This teacher/student relationship is one of the first relationships built outside of the family structure. The student will learn about trust, respect and empathy in this relationship as the student experiences things first hand. It is this process that actually teaches ideals more than the products of the disciplines taught. This is where we create the ideals that provide us the foundation to make the hard decisions that ultimately build individual character and trustworthiness. Dewey linked education with democracy because education produces democracy, and a democracy will only work correctly if those living by it live according to deep rooted ideals like character and truth.

Can democracy survive without education? Dewey and Levin have their answers. What is yours?