Archive for February, 2007

Deborah Meier and Diane Ravitch

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007

These two educational leaders, one progressive and one more conservative, are again teaming up following their notable article in Education Week, published May 24, 2006.

This time they are co-writing a blog analyzing educational policy. The blog carries the same title as their article, and can be found at this link: Bridging Differences.

Thus far both Meier and Ravitch have introduced themselves and set the tone for their future postings. It should be interesting. While Meier has been a beacon of inspiration and hope for many progressive educators over the past decades (see her books The Power of Their Ideas and In Schools We Trust, Ravitch has been a leading educational historian and proponent of increased national standards in education, and has written many books of her own, notably Left Back and The Great School Wars.

Both of these individuals have powerful voices that are important to the educational debate. I find much more to agree with and draw inspiration from in Meier’s perspective that education must enable all children to develop the habits of mind and heart necessary for leading a good life in a democratic society. The more conservative Ravitch does, according to the original Education Week article, agree with that goal; however Ravitch, unlike Meier, believes in the primacy of national standards to help achieve that goal. Meanwhile I strongly agree with Meier’s call for locally-designed authentic assessments that connect to that larger goal of enabling students to become active citizens in a democracy.

Nonetheless, having read many articles and books by Meier and seeing her speak several times, it seems to me that she downplays several essential aspects of a more progressive and democratic educational approach. While Meier’s call for education for democratic citizenship is an important distinction from the current emphasis on preparation for college and the workforce, there is a larger and more humanistic goal that she seems to ignore. That is, that education ought to enable young people to develop holistically (personally, socially, intellectually, physically) toward happiness and life fulfillment. Nel Noddings (Happiness and Education, 2004), among others, describes the importance of discussing the idea of happiness in educational goal-talk.

Moreover, while Meier speaks to the importance of more autonomy for teachers to create relevant curricula for students, I believe she places too little emphasis on the value and importance of students directing their own learning. Freedom and democracy must exist for teachers AND for students. What is more, freedom and democracy for young people is important not only for the results of such an education, but more fundamentally because such freedom is a human right, for young people as well as older people.

Nonetheless, Meier is an important voice, especially with her experience and insight into working with low-income and minority neighborhoods, and her dedication to creating a more progressive public educational system. Perhaps this blog with Ravitch will help explore the possibilities and potential extremes of building this more progressive vision.

Welcome to the Democratic Education Blog

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007

Hi all,

Welcome to the Democratic Education Blog.

This blog is intended to be a resource for news, research, and advocacy related to democratic, freedom-based education. Democratic education, loosely defined for this blog, is an educational approach grounded in respect for human rights and a broad interpretation of learning, in which young people have the freedom to organize their daily activities, and in which there is eqaulity and democratic decision-making among young people and adults.

This blog will reference and comment on current educational happenings around the world from the perspective of democratic education. News and research specific to freedom and democracy in education will be included, as will news and items of interest that relate in some way to the values and practices of this educational approach.

The hope of this blog is to provide up-to-date news and research so that supporters of democratic education will have the resources they need to promote and expand educational freedom for more young people around the world.

I openly and warmly welcome all suggestions, questions, and especially comments. In no way do I or this blog claim to be a universal spokesperson for freedom-based education. Please join the dialogue so that we can continue to examine the theory and practice of democratic education and strategize how we can create a more progressive, democratic, freedom-based education and society.

One note on the subtitle of the blog – I have become increasingly aware of and frustrated by how our society upholds the concept of freedom so highly (the Bill of Rights, personal freedom, political freedom, etc), yet when it comes to education our societal commitment to freedom ends. Therefore, I want this blog to emphasize that education, the life-long process of living and growing, is where the idea of freedom ought to begin.

Thanks for stopping by,
Dana Bennis

ps – Kudos to Andrew Chen for starting “Generative Focus” and linking up this blog on that site. Check out generativefocus.org, which discusses the larger societal vision of which democratic education is one essential piece.