Democracy
I have a manila file folder entitled “Democracy.” Underlined passages, jotted down notes, post-its stuck to specific paragraphs. I seek democracy, because I think about and talk about democracy’s connection to Westland’s mission a lot. Here are some excerpts from my democracy folder:
A New Yorker from November 18, 2019 on lowkey Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan: “Reading her opinions is really invigorating…She’s not trying to remake society so much as trying to remind us what our consensus guiding principles are, and how democracy is supposed to work.”
A note card with my scribbles listening to an eccentric bishop who visited my church. He described a Byzantine era practice of apologia, when two people of differing opinions share their perspectives, silently listen to each other, walk away, then think about what the other said, before exchanging in dialogue weeks later. I wrote in parenthesis: “democracy/dialogue.”
An article, “Experimenting with the World, John Dewey and the Early Childhood Classroom,” by Harriet Cuffaro: “Speaking of community in terms of oneness is misleading, for it may imply homogenization, whereas, in actuality, a community is made up of individuals with membership in diverse groups—of family, of class, of race, of gender, of religion. It is when these different memberships, with their varied perspectives, can be interwoven into a fabric of shared meanings and aspirations that community is born—when each person making his or her unique contribution participates in an undertaking meaningful to each and inclusive of all. For Dewey, the community that supports such movement and existence is a democracy. It is a way of life controlled by a working faith in the possibilities of human nature.”
Only recently inspired to interrogate my “democracy collection,” I realized that I am on a pursuit of communicating clearly what democracy means at Westland School and in the context of progressive education’s rich history. I want to make sure it is “more than a feeling.” (My dad owned a bar growing up and I had free rein of the jukebox during my mornings before afternoon kindergarten. “More than a Feeling,” by Boston was a favorite, so please feel free to hum along if you know it.) For Dewey, democracy cannot be separated from a dynamic, vital community. That’s where I primarily locate democracy at Westland: a democracy-community. When I peer through the windows of the Westland classroom and pull from my observations from this past month alone, I see democracy in constant action. It is our water.
Last week I happened upon a transition period right before a Group’s midmorning break. The teacher was closing the conversation by inviting children to take responsibility for their learning and build their own connections. When I entered, I heard the teacher ask [I have changed names]: “Does anyone want to add onto Gracey?” And: “James, what is your understanding about your responsibility tonight?” These questions deserve explication. The first question builds students’ muscles to connect to other people’s ideas. It can be tempting for young minds (and adult minds!) to be overly interested in the idea they have going in their head to share next, without really listening to the ideas of others. The second question she asked of her pupil encompasses child-centeredness. In many non-progressive schools, it would be more common to hear a teacher telling James what his responsibilities are for that night. In a democratic classroom, the children are invited into responsibility. The power dynamic is shared, not top-down. Children are becoming in charge of their actions. As such, each child’s arc is so unique here.
I then watched this teacher connect with a lingering student, and the conversation encompassed an idea of a teacher being a “warm demander.” I observed the teacher push the student to go deeper with their self-awareness and level of presence and participation in class. The moment provided the teacher an opportune time to give an impactful and wise speech about the importance of participating in class. It can be tempting for adults (certainly, me included) to impose long-winded chunks or even frequent pithy bits of wisdom upon a child (the empty vessel). Instead, I watched the teacher spend most of her time with this student pushing reflection, not her own agenda, about what she thinks is best for that child. I heard the teacher first say: “I want you to feel empowered to make choices that empower you.” Then the teacher asked: “What are strategies or skills where you can feel more present?” Some discussion ensued and the teacher added, “If you come up with something else, you can let me know. I just want you to know there are choices…” Again, it was about the child coming up with their options, not the adult simply providing the options through their tried-and-true adult experiences. When I reflected on this moment after the student left to play Four-Square, the teacher shared a metaphor: that a progressive educator is a mirror, reflecting back information to children for their own analysis.
Theodore Sizer wrote: “To be useful, learning must have a worthy purpose and become a habit. A trip down this road starts with the questions, ‘Why?’ ‘How?’ and ‘What?’—the major interrogatives in the English language. A wise person asks these questions virtually without thinking; a wise teacher guides their students to acquire the habit of asking them.” I saw these interrogatives in action. And it’s one way I see democracy in action at Westland: children becoming agents of their own learning and autonomous members of a democratic learning community. Children aren’t only invited to ask these essential questions of their studies, they’re invited to ask these essential questions of themselves.
Several weeks ago five children made a meeting with me to share their hopes that the library could house a more extensive graphic novel collection. They shared the dozens and dozens of signatures they had collected on their graphic novel petition and then each shared their perspective on the power that graphic novels have played in their journeys as readers. (I happened to have just finished Raina Telgemeier’s Smile at the time so I was feeling particularly down.) Deborah Meier, whose book The Power of Their Ideas, (the most important text of my undergraduate studies) wrote: “Without a radical departure from a more authoritarian model, one strips the key parties of the respect which lies at the heart of democratic practice and good schooling.” So in schools that value democracy, children must not only become agents of their own learning and develop the habit of asking “why?” (or not have diminished the habit of asking why), they must be invited to see themselves as agents of change and know they have access to effecting change because they have access to the people in power.
At Westland, again and again, I see children internally motivated to make the school–their school–the best version of itself. Not in an entitled, self-serving way, but in a thoughtful, caring way that serves the commonwealth of their school community. An essential element of democracy is caring about the community and then doing something about it. Paulo Freire (whose book was co-written with Milles Horton, We Make This Road By Walking was one of the most important text of my graduate school studies) wrote: “The more completely students accept the passive role imposed on them, the more they tend simply to adapt to the world as it is and to the fragmented view of reality deposited in them.” By giving these children the opportunity to talk about, advocate for, and care for a cause relevant to them now, the more automatic it will be for them to not accept the world as it is in their future. I admit, even though I try to think of the children we work with as children and not mini-soon-to-be adults, I had a flash in my office when speaking with these five children: doctors, human rights lawyers, researchers, politicians, educators. They were embodying Dewey’s community-democracy in action.
I sometimes get asked about the “Westland Bubble.” Colonel Francis Wayland Parker wrote, “A school should be a model home, a complete community, an embryonic democracy.” A bubble pops. A bubble isn’t strong and is temporary. An embryo, yes, is protective by nature. It’s safe and warm. But its purpose is to prepare for independence. So the next time someone asks me about Westland being a bubble, I’m just going to let them know it’s actually an embryonic democracy. I’ll add that Westland is a powerful learning environment where children get to try on and live out democracy so that they can apply democratic principles to their future schools, work environments, neighborhoods, and communities. As Dewey suggests, children must experience democracy to learn democracy. Children leave Westland with the academic identities and skills of social studies thinkers, scientists, writers, readers, mathematicians, wood-workers, public speakers, and artists. They also leave with the notion that they are citizens of Westland School. This is because of their experiences with democracy in action, and this will inform their future engagement.
A former student of mine, who as a slight side note wrote one of the most brilliant literary analyses I’ve ever read comparing the arc of a piano piece by Chopin to arc of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, was a physicist at heart. He studied physics in college and is now a physicist as an adult in his 30’s. He reflected in his twelfth grade year (his line is in my personal educational philosophy): “Wild curiosity drives me, but it makes sense to only study things that truly benefit myself and others. That is the responsibility of curious people.”
The responsibility of curious people! At Westland, there is a culture of children sharing their learning publicly. They live out the responsibility as curious people. Children here spread their learning for the edification of others’ own learning and growth. Curiosity is contagious. Last December I observed a group present their work to the group below them. These older students had just culminated their study with a phenomenal blockbuild. When they were sharing their learning, I noticed that they were as excited to share about the process of their build as much as the content of what they studied. One child, before sharing an exciting fact, said, “Maybe this can keep your mind popped up!” She knew how exciting it is to have interesting information, a new insight on how to view the world. Another child shared some of the struggle they encountered and how their group managed the struggle: “We encouraged each other. We had to move our structure! Then we had to break down a section which was hard...we basically just tried and tried and tried, then worked it out.” Not a bad summary of life: try and try and try, then work it out. Westland educators educate, of course. But they also–brilliantly–set up a learning environment so that the children are educating, the materials are educating, the classroom environment is, and the process of sharing itself is educating too.
I asked the teachers to share with me what democracy at Westland means to them. You will see common threads:
Democracy at Westland is best observed and felt inside the classroom. Whether the discussion is centered on social studies, math, writing, or any subject, the essence of democracy is overfilled throughout each group classroom. It begins with the essential questions of: “What do you know?” and “What do you want to know?” Based on these two essential questions the process of democracy at Westland begins as students race throughout their minds of ideas, thoughts, questions, and observations that they wish to share. The sharing process of these ideas, thoughts, questions, and observations is done deliberately as well so it resembles the democratic process. If you wish to share, then students raise their hands and once chosen, the rest of the students listen respectfully and attentively so when another student decides to share, they are given the same respect and attention that they received. Once ideas and thoughts have been shared, the discussion begins on what ideas the collective group agrees upon. This discussion is also done in a careful manner in such that every idea is heard and no idea is seen as better than another. It is a beautiful process that must be seen and observed to truly appreciate its impact on democracy at Westland.
Preparation for life in a democracy comes through conflict resolution through consensus process, mediation, and informal dialogue. To quote Dewey, the "strongest, political rationale" for democratic education is that it teaches "the virtues of democratic deliberation for the sake of future citizenship.” Democratic schools often have meetings open to all students and staff, where everyone present has a voice and sometimes an equal vote. Some of these meetings include parents. There is a democratic education belief that the drive to learn motivates children to become effective adults, that: “in democratic environments, they are social regulators” and that “Democratic education is concerned with equipping people to make real choices about fundamental aspects of their lives." Teachers and students work collaboratively to reconstruct curriculum to include everyone.
Democracy at Westland is having a voice and having the right to use it when making group decisions; as well as, the ability to amplify others' voices or respectfully disagree.
In its initial conception, Westland was created to foster and reflect democratic thinking and practice. We believe in the responsibility of the individual child within their group. Through the group process of problem solving and idea sharing, the child discovers personal power and thereby feels an influence on the world and becomes actively involved in it. This involvement of knowing that your voice is heard, translates to the entire community as well, especially the teachers. The administration, parents, and teachers are committed to the democratic process. There is transparency and honesty amongst all the participating members. There has always been a close working relationship between parents and the entire staff. Voices are heard, respected, and included in decision making, no matter the outcome. Even if all participating do not agree, and the outcome is not a consensus, the different perspectives are acknowledged and discussed. Progressive education makes a dedicated commitment to the practice of democracy in all areas.
Allowing space and time for every voice to be heard and considered. This is within the classrooms, between the classrooms, and among staff.
In the classroom, children understand that before a vote they will each have the opportunity to speak about and question the options before them. They compromise. They strategize. They learn to influence others by understanding what is important to others. They consider and adapt their individual preferences in the context of the group. They often are able to build consensus. The process leading up to an actual vote is most valuable. Children trust that their voices will be heard and that they all have a say.
Although there is ultimately, one decider, in most regards, many voices contribute to the decision making process. Everyone has value. Democracy.
Active engagement promotes active citizenry. Collaboration, interactions with the social environment, the “what” and the “what for” of curriculum. Finding the connections and interdependencies among people: Communication, participation, being in the world, experimenting in the world, making sense of the world. The jobs children do are real work. Communication requires partners who each will regulate and modify their activities to secure understanding. Each child sees self from the perspective of others. Shared activity, common purpose, shared communication, and multiple perspectives. I ask myself, “Will what I am planning encourage and support the just and inclusive perspective necessary for a democratic society?” Creating an environment where questions are welcomed. Co-creating curriculum.
Reasonable questioning of authority. Finding meaning. The understanding of how things work. The valuing of individual thoughts, opinions, and ideas.
Our teachers’ reflections certainly hold up our democratic core: the classroom. They also thread an important aspect of Westland’s democratic process, the adult community. A few weeks ago I heard Dorothy Leland, Chancellor Emerita of the University of California, Merced, speak at the California Association of Independent School’s Heads-Trustees Annual Conference. She encouraged the school leaders in the room to consider being as invested in the parent community as the student community. Our democratic setup at Westland naturally supports this notion, as we rely on the Westland stool to have three legs: educators/leaders, children, and parents. Democracy at Westland isn't just manifesting in the classroom. It is a parallel democratic process among the adult community, too. This is hard and the complexity of a democratic school shouldn’t be underestimated.
In early January the annual parent blockbuild took place. Oh, the glorious wonders of combining wine, block building, and thoughtful, engaged parents. Our theme for the night was once again “Los Angeles,” and one group of parents chose an unorthodox “structure” to build: The 10 and the 405 interchange. I admit, I was skeptical, but remained open. When I went over to the group, a parent excitedly shared their reference image:
Like this parent, my mind had grossly underestimated the complexity of this interchange. I haven’t been able to get the image out of my brain, nor the word “Interchange.” It’s a very democracy-ey word, and I immediately went to the notion of how we are constantly interchanging ideas here. This image has become one of my visual metaphors for me as a school leader. Sometimes I think the complexity of a school at work can be grossly underestimated, and especially a democratic school. Most schools are quite hierarchical in nature, so for schools that value democracy, there are additional layers (and layers) of complexity in regards to decision making and change. Collaboration becomes more intense. Input to a decision itself becomes more distributed. Critical and creative thinking about what we do and how we do it becomes more public. There are also, I would argue, deeper levels of engagement, investment, and care. A beautiful flipside to some natural congestion.
So the next time I might find myself impatient around process, as though I am delayed on the 405 trying to get on the 10 home, I will remind myself of the glory of it all: the taking in of multiple perspectives; the hard, good work of committees; the growth that comes from disagreement and debate; the increased self-awareness of grappling; the transformation that can emerge from active listening; the creativity of cognitive and identity diversity displayed with collaboration; and the satisfaction of serving the commonwealth. All of this is Westland’s beautiful democracy-community in action. And I will remind myself that eventually, we do get to a decision. We create new programs and policies. We do get there. We learn together, make decisions together, and ultimately support each other’s learning and growth, all in a democratic atmosphere. As Thich Nhat Hannh wrote, “I have arrived. I am home. My destination is in each step.” So really, home is also the democratic process itself at Westland. We are right at home in process. And so are children, which gives me hope. And because of it, I believe that we are doing right by them–and right by the democratic society that they will be inheriting, which is in the end, indeed more than a feeling.