 |
 |
|
SOCIETY
Democracy in the classroom When Wodonga South Primary School in north east Victoria trialled a different mode of teaching and learning, they turned to Charles Sturt University (CSU) to evaluate its success.
 Investigating democracy in the classroom: CSU researcher Jennifer Munday (left) with Jodi Grimmond. Photo: Elissa Cooke. “Democratic education” can see students helping to design curricula, run their own projects and even do their own grading (through objective contracted standards). In the case of Wodonga South, the CSU researchers are referring to the teachers deciding what to teach and how to teach it, and the students themselves learning by solving problems. It embraces freedom in the classroom and avoids overly prescribed education.
The two education researchers from CSU have found that, for the children, the results have been exceptional. Jennifer Munday, lecturer in the Murray School of Education says they are responding positively to the new teaching method.
“From the children’s perspective it has been fantastic because they have been engaged in learning which has really excited them and they think is relevant to their life. The work they produced was from their own research. They had worked out what they wanted to know, found it out and demonstrated that to the rest of the class.
“The teachers were able to say without equivocation that they felt there had been good results.”
John Rafferty, a fellow researcher and lecturer in the Murray School of Education, says that the findings of this research go against a lot of current thinking about school education in Australia. “We are in an environment at the moment that says to get the best out of a school, they have to be centrally controlled - teachers have to be controlled, content has to be controlled, and that is how we can get accurate measurement and testing done on kids.
“But what Wodonga South is showing is that teachers can have a lot of control, and we can also get really good results and measure good improvements. It brings us to this philosophical question about do teachers need to be controlled to get the required results from kids, or can we indeed give teacher’s autonomy?”
However, an unexpected and surprising finding emerged. John Rafferty says some teachers struggled with the pressure of on the one hand implementing the new teaching style, and on the other, meeting Victorian Department of Education requirements.
“It does put the teachers in a place of tension, some of what they are doing doesn’t quite match up with the existing themes in education of accountability that dominate the political landscape at the moment.”
Jody Grimmond is the Assistant Principal of Wodonga South. Ms Grimmond acknowledges that the three teachers involved did express some concern about the amount of freedom they suddenly had. She says they were “trying to come to terms, and be clear in their own mind, with what they were doing.
“We still work within department requirements and guidelines, and the students still participate in State-wide assessment. But we are also looking at good learning and how to make that happen. So rather than telling a teacher what to do, we fill their head with as much knowledge as possible so they can make informed decisions about what they do.”
CSU’s Jenni Munday says this is good for the teachers because “knowledge is power”, and Jody Grimmond agrees, saying “if we have enough knowledge, and we do that through our learning and our own experience, then we can confidently address the pressures some of the teachers are feeling.
“The Departmental school assessments are there as a point of reference, and they can assist us in what we do, so long as we do not let them dictate what we do. We are not going to ignore the Department’s data, because it is interesting to see how kids are performing comparatively between schools. You take on any information you can, so long as you have the confidence that comes from the knowledge and experience of how to use it.”
The practice of democratic education can lead to endeavors outside the classroom walls, for example, seeing students become involved in service activites. Ms Munday says now that the School has overcome the early teething problems caused by this new approach to teaching and learning, the time is right to take the experiment a step further.
“Perhaps the school can start to think about other inequities in the social structure of the school or the community they serve. Now that the children are being able to work in areas that have meaning to them, and the teachers are able to work autonomously, perhaps we can look further afield at not only what goes on in the classroom, but what is happening in the whole school or the entire community.”
Certainly the school is willing to look at taking the experiment further. They have invited the CSU researchers back to discuss their findings with the staff. Ms Grimmond says “it is great to get positive feedback which is useful to us. We feel we are on a journey with this approach, but going forward in a controlled way. Democratic schooling gives us more strength to stand on what we do.
“It is interesting that the CSU researchers see us as a progressive school. We see ourselves as being learners ourselves and are constantly reflecting and refining what we do, and looking at improved practice. So we are not necessarily striving to be different or out there, we are just trying to improve the school environment for kids and their learning.
“Currently the Victorian State-wide education strategy is looking at performance and development cultures in schools and I believe there would be some interest in this research because it is going well beyond the Department’s expectations. The staff is motivated to initiate new teaching methods rather than just following the texts or the requirements,” said Ms Grimmond.
David Cummins is a senior education officer with the Victorian Department of Education. He says the research is still in its early stages but “we are very pleased with what is happening at Wodonga South. They are known to look at innovative ways of doing things. And from my point of view it is excellent that CSU researchers have recognised there is substantial change. Having the imprimateur of an outside organisation opens it up to a greater degree of legitimacy for other schools to have a good look and see whether they can apply this to their own situations.”
But what is in democratic education for teachers? How can they also take advantage of this when dealing with competing pressures from parents, the Department and the school? CSU’s John Rafferty says democratic schools allow teachers to operate with professional autonomy, becoming participants in communitites of learners and important players in reducing issues of inequity in the wider community.
ends Author: Elizabeth Heath Publication Date: 26 Jul 2006
Editor's Note: Jennifer Munday and John Rafferty are researchers and lecturers with Charles Sturt University's Murray School of Education. Jodi Grimmond is the Assistant Principal of Wodonga South Primary School in North East Victoria. Media Note: Interviews and print quality pictures of CSU eduction researchers Jenni Munday and John Rafferty are available from CSU Media. Related Images:  |
|
|
