Democratic Bankruptcy: Three Programs to Help Prevent It in Our Schools

Abstract

Introduction Are many of America's public schools advocating an open classroom environment to invite students to engage in an expression of their opinions on current issues? Are many of the curriculums used in America's public schools reflective of opportunity for students to research, formulate opinions, recite rationally, and promote deliberation? Are many of America's teachers modeling a practice in their teaching to help foster support for values, participation in political discussion, and civic engagement? We believe that no is the answer to these questions though there are important exceptions that we discuss in this article. We fear that our schools are on the verge of what we call democratic bankruptcy or the loss of ways of teaching, learning, and deliberation, and we argue that emphasis upon programs such as we discuss here can combat antidemocratic tendencies in our In social studies classes specifically there has long been a call to help students develop into responsible citizens of tomorrow's world. According to Walter Parker interaction in schools can help students enter the social consciousness of puberty and develop the habits of thinking and caring necessary for public life (2005, p. 348). Recently John Rossi (2006) has argued that preparing students to discuss public issues lies at the core of our democracy. Peter Cookson (2001, p. 42) suggests that is always personal, passionate, and difficult--the opposite of training, regimentation, and standardization. Education is never linear, but creative and continuous. The search must begin for ways to incorporate programs that are designed to allow students to practice the habits of inquiry, fairness, empathy, critical analysis, rule of law. This process can be related both to American citizenship as well as global citizenship. In this article, we shall discuss three such programs that foster these habits of inquiry: We the People, Choices for the 21st Century Education, and Doors to Diplomacy. We shall show that the roots of these programs are in John Dewey's social philosophy, most clearly stated in his favorite book, Democracy and Education (1916). Educators should be careful about eliminating programs that help develop deeper and richer understanding of the principles of our democracy. These programs are at risk of being eliminated when schools try to adhere strictly to the requirements of a standardized federal agenda, such as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2002. According to the Center on Education Policy (2007), since NCLB was instituted in 2002, 36 percent of surveyed school districts reduced time for teaching elementary social studies. That percentage increased to 51 percent in districts with failing schools. While this relates directly to elementary schools, Jeff Passe (2006) notes that this loss of instructional time in the social studies at the early stages of a learner's development has a direct effect on secondary social studies teaching. Passe further states that it is well documented that high-stakes competency tests have influenced the quality of social studies education at the secondary level. Teachers have begun shifting emphasis from higher-level concepts to lower levels such as recall and comprehension to reach students who enter the secondary social studies classroom without ever having been exposed to most of its basic concepts and skills (p. 189). Social studies at the lower level have long been referred to as the 'bump,' or superfluous subject in the elementary grades, but it is now disappearing from the school day (Passe, p. 189). Sam Wineburg (2006) echoes this finding, bringing to our attention that during a time of crisis social studies can be expendable (p. 402). James Lick High School in San Jose, California, eliminated social studies from the ninth grade curriculum, citing the need to acquire more time to learn and practice reading and writing. …