Practicing Democracy at School: A Qualitative Analysis of an Elementary Class Council

Abstract

Advocates of democratic education argue that regular class meetings are essential to the school curriculum, offering students practice in democratic process as they deliberate issues that affect them. This article describes an experiment with regular class meetings over three years in a mixed-age upper elementary class. Students readily adopted the rudiments of parliamentary order and also invented democratic procedures to achieve their goals. Analysis of the minutes of 216 meetings suggested students' implicit goals were self-definition and consensus-building; explicitly they defended respect, fairness, and the right to work undisturbed. Negotiating standards for conduct, sharing information, and planning events provided opportunities for students to improve deliberation skills, develop empathy, and build community. The mixed ages in the class appeared to facilitate the development of moral reasoning. Students' inclination to imitate peers, however, suggests their need for help developing tolerance for minority positions and practice defending unpopular points of view.