Learn More About Promoting Democracy in the Classroom

Hello. It is great to be back here knowing that the course is almost over and that hopefully you have found a number of ideas and resources to keep you thinking and trying new ways to promote democracy in your classroom. Over these three weeks, we have examined different ways of understanding democracy. We have seen that whilst we may emphasise different principles like freedom, inclusivity, diversity, participation, justice, and openness, the essense of democracy somehow lies in ideas of equality and shared decision-making. And we know that democracy is not only about institutions, it is also about all of us embracing a democratic culture. We have discovered that there is evidence that schools are very important places to promote democracy.

As teachers, we have a unique opportunity and responsibility to educate children and young people on the values, attitudes, skills, knowledge, and critical understanding that can benefit democracy. No matter what we teach, we all can contribute to democratise or classrooms and our schools by considering what we teach, how we teach it, and how we assess it. We can also contribute to this democratisation by thinking about how we behave with others and how we regulate our institutions and communities. I’m not going to lie to you. Promoting democracy in our classrooms is hard. And you probably already know it. Whilst we hope that this course has offered you with some ideas and tools for reflection.

It is true that there are numerous challenges and we are afraid of facing discomforting situations. However, we can only promote democracy if we do it altogether. This is why we need you more now than ever. Working together, we can help each other to find better ways to respond to our present and future political and educational challenges. Thank you very much and hopefully see you in the future.