Democracy Education II

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

In Democracy and Education II, we will take the relationship between democracy and education from the realm of theory and discussion to the place where the rubber meets the road >> in real schools and school communities, among students, teachers, administrators, parents, community members, and government officials. We will travel on two investigative paths simultaneously, driven by two sets of questions: • What is the democratic process around American K-12 education? Who is part of that process, and how is the process in evidence on the ground in the business of schooling? • What do we teach about democracy in K-12 schools? Why and how do we teach it, and what results do we expect? Since K-12 education is happening here and now, these investigations will take place in real time. This course has a CBL component. You will use schools across the District of Columbia as your laboratory. You are expected to attend a DC City Council meeting and at least one other DC community meeting that we will discuss further on. In particular, this course reflects a partnership with Two Rivers Public Charter School in northeast DC. You will learn from TR faculty and students both in class and on the Two Rivers campus.