学校是民主的吗？

尽管我们想在学校教室中促进民主，但我们需要承认大多数学校不是民主的空间。如果我们回想起民主的“本质” - 平等和共同的决策 - 学校在学校的共同决策通常有限。政策制定者有时会决定课程，评估的形式和教师几乎没有话要说。例如，在Wales (United Kingdom)，，，，克罗地亚orAlberta (Canada)，，，，teachers reported that they were not consulted when curriculum changes were made.

即使老师更自治地决定课堂中发生的事情，学生通常也没有可能参与影响生活的决策过程。大多数儿童和年轻人都无法自由决定他们是否想上学，他们想学习一个话题或评估他们的方式。

However, even considering all these issues, there are opportunities in schools to create more participatory forms of governance. Teachers can create opportunities for students to participate in a meaningful way. It is important that teachers create spaces for students to express their views. But, to go beyond tokenistic gesturing, it is even more important that teachers are genuinely willing to capture and include students’ perspectives in school and classroom’s decision‐making processes. This can take different forms including student councils, class representatives, curriculum or lesson feedback surveys, involvement in school curriculum reviews, etc.

当学生以某种方式讨论和考虑不同的观点以使自己的声音很重要时，他们更有可能接受民主的生活方式。同样，当年轻人认为在做出学校或课堂决定时考虑自己的观点时，他们更有可能参与民主原则。而且，这些活动不仅可以使我们目前的民主受益。通过促进真正的机会参加学校和教室，年轻人学会了批判性地检查我们当前的系统并考虑民主替代方案。考虑两个例子，学生直接参与学校决策过程。

布朗，艾默生和卡科尼（2018）报道的第一个例子是荷兰五所下级中学。由于这些学校参与了欧洲伊拉斯mus Plus项目，学校实施了一种分四步进行课程谈判的方法。在第一步中，学生分别努力确定他们现有的知识和知识差距。在第二步中，小组工作的学生交换了他们的先验知识并开发了一个单词网络。

Later, in step three, each small group of students identified questions more relevant to them. In the fourth and final step, the whole class decided on the most relevant questions under the advice of the teacher who acted as a gatekeeper of external requirements. According to the researchers, the process of curriculum negotiation allowed students to exercise their right to have a say in matters that affect them (their curriculum) and to develop a range of democratic competences including cooperation, conflict resolution and communication skills.

第二个例子。英国的英格兰圣玛丽教堂（英国）被授予联合国儿童基金会在2018年的黄金“权利尊重学校奖”。该奖项授予完全嵌入《联合国儿童权利公约》原则中的学校中的学校，并将学生的参与视为关键方面之一。在他们的报告中，联合国儿童基金会称赞St Mary’s Church of England Infant and Junior School’s council。

The school council is democratically elected and meets periodically to input in schools’ decision-making. Children have influenced a range of decisions including staffing appointments, organizational procedures, and school’s facilities. The school, together with other partner schools, organise an annual residential visit for school councillors where children have an opportunity to exchange experiences, develop new ideas and plan further initiatives for their schools. According to the school themselves, their work around UN Rights has contributed to children’s positive attitudes towards diversity, support for justice and active citizenship.

References

Bron J, Emerson N, Kákonyi L. Diverse student voice approaches across Europe. European Journal of Education. 2018 Sep;53(3):310-24.

Kagan S. M.(2009). Kagan Cooperative Learning. San Clemente.

Council of Europe. Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture: Volume 1 Context, Concepts and Model. Available fromhttps://rm.coe.int/prems-008318-GBR-2508-Reference-framework-framework-competences-vol-1-8573-co/16807BC66C[2021年10月20日访问]

Sant E.危机中的民主 - 从测试结果中解开学校，使孩子有机会形成意见，对话，可从https://theconversation.com/democracy-in-crisis-unshackle-schools-from-test-results-to-give-children-the-chance-to-form-opinions-121958[2021年10月20日访问]

联合国儿童基金会。尊重学校的权利。可从https://www.unicef.org.uk/rights-respecting-schools/[2021年10月20日访问]