Democratic Values and Democratic Approach in Teaching: A Perspective

Dipty Subba^1,

¹Assistant. Professor, Dept. of Education, Southfield College, Darjeeling, West Bengal, INDIA

Cite this paper:
Dipty Subba. Democratic Values and Democratic Approach in Teaching: A Perspective. American Journal of Educational Research. 2014; 2(12A):37-40. doi: 10.12691/education-2-12A-6

Abstract

This paper introduces the importance of Democratic Values and place the role of teachers in the present democratic world. India is the solitary country in the world where greater importance is attached to the teacher. Schools are places where democratic ideals such as equality, freedom, justice are instilled in individuals. Teachers are the ultimate instruments of change. For democracy to continue to thrive, children must be taught to value it as a way of life. The necessary skills for building democracy do not develop automatically in children. Teaching democracy means preparing children to become citizens who will preserve and shape democracy in the future. Therefore democracy should be a key aspect in every form of education at the earliest age possible. Children should learn about taking responsibility for their action. These educational outcomes are only possible through action. While key concepts of democracy should be understood by children, living and acting in a democratic environment is the only and the best exercise. Schools, institutions, children’s clubs and organizations and even families that respect democratic principles and have real democratic structures function as the best models to help children learn what democracy is about. The qualities like tolerance, acceptance, a wider view, global awareness, reflection and equal justice rests within the teachers to shape the child in all possible ways to face this competitive world of today. Teachers' beliefs, thoughts and decisions on educational matters occupy the major part of the psychological context of teaching process. Teacher educators should democratize their pedagogy so that their trainees learn understandings and skills of democratic practice throughout their training experience. The appropriate balance between critical components skills, knowledge and dispositions, on one hand, and an open, dynamic and critically engaged curriculum, and teaching and learning conceptual framework, on the other hand has not yet been attained.

Keywords:
Democracy Democratic Values and Democratic teaching

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Coladarci, T. (1992). Teachers' Sense of Efficacy and Commitment to Teaching. Journal of Experimental Education, Vol. 60, 1992. Retrieved May 20, 2010, from http://www.questia.com/.
[2]	Swars, S.L. (2005). Examining perceptions of mathematics teaching effectiveness among elementary preservice teachers with differing levels of mathematics teacher efficacy. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 32 (2), 139-147.
[3]	Eslami, Z. R. and Fatahi, A. (2008). Teachers’ Sense of Self-Efficacy, English Proficiency,and Instructional Strategies: A Study of Nonnative EFL Teachers in Iran. TESL-EJ, 11 (4) (March). Retrieved May 13, 2010, from http://tesl-ej.org/ej44/a1.pdf.
[4]	Caprara, G.V., Barbranelli, C., Steca, P., Malone, P.S. (2006). Teachers' Self-Efficacy Beliefs as Determinants of Job Satisfaction and Students' Academic Achievement: A Study at the School Level. Journal of School Psychology, 44 (6), 473-490.
[5]	Guskey, T.R and Passaro, P.D. (1994). Teacher Efficacy: A study of Construct Dimensions.American Educational Research Journal, 31 (3). (Autumn), 627-643.
[6]	Tschanen-Moran, M., Woolfolk Hoy, A., Woolfolk Hoy, K. (1998). Teacher efficacy: Its meaning and measure. Review of Educational Research, 68, 202-248.
[7]	Shechtman, Z. (2002). Validation of the Democratic Teacher Belief Scale (DTBS).Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 9, 363-377.
[8]	Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and Education, An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education. New York, Macmillan.
[9]	Secondary Education Commission, 1952-53.
[10]	Winfield, L. F. & Manning, J. B. (1992) Changing school culture to accommodate student Difference, in: M. E. Dilworth (Ed.) Difference in Teacher Education: new expectations (San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass).
[11]	Kincal, R., & Isik, H. (2003) Demokratik egitim ve demokratik degerler. [Democratic education and democratic values] Egitim Arastirmalari [Eurasian Journal of Educational Research]. 11, 54-58.
[12]	Doğ anay, A. (1997). Türk politik kültürü ve gençligin eğ itimi. Çukurova Üniversitesi Egitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 2 (16), 51-61.
[13]	Selvi, K. (2006). Developing a teacher trainees' democratic values scale: validity and reliability analyses. Social Behavior and Personality, 34 (9), 1171-1178.
[14]	Kepenekçi (2003) Demokratik Okul. Eğ itim Araș tıırmalarıı Dergisi, 11, 44-53.
[15]	Özpolat, A. (2010). Bir Toplumsal Değ iș me Paradigmasıı Olarak Demokrasinin Eğ itime Yansımaları: Demokratik Eğ itim. Milli Eğ itim, 185 (kış), 365-380.