Vidhya Shankar

DEMOCRACY IN THE CLASSROOM

‘ Democracy ’ model classroom is simply one that provides the minimum conditions for collaborative intellectual engagement among students and dialogical engagement between students and teachers when these attributes are considered important to accomplishing the objectives of a particular course.Creating a Democratic atmosphere in a class room may mean creating community in the classroom and fostering a safe environment in which students are empowered to make choices ,giving them opportunities and providing them with rich ground from which confident ,self-directed ,successful students thrive and grow .It also means creating an atmosphere were students from all stages and phases of a society is treated with respect and dignity .In such a classroom the role of the teacher is to create an atmosphere were the students are ready to listen to him/her attentively and willing to change or amend their point of view in the light of the new information or a more persuasive argument . This requires good listening skills, some ability to empathize or see things from others point of view .But this is not an easy task because each and every student in the class room a has his /her own way of viewing thing and most of them may not be willing to change (in this matter we can say a classroom is a miniature of a society.).In order to overcome this the teacher can use examples that illustrate both the positive functions and negative Posing questions of intercultural misunderstanding and intolerance as pervasive, with concrete examples. Giving concrete examples of instances where overcoming the intercultural intolerance has had positive outcome. Encouraging students to debate one another rather than the teacher; redirecting class discussion into student-student debates when possible rather than student-teacher debates Taking the time during the course orientation session(usually the first class)to discuss the role of opinions in the classroom and to reassure students that diverse opinions are encouraged and valued.
ROLE OF THE TEACHER
The role of the teacher is that of an instructor To bring relevant information and knowledge into the classroom as well as the tools by which the students can acquire their own information. To set the ground rule for mutually respectful dialogue. To provoke critical thinking among participants in the dialogue.When we talk about democracy another important component related to it is ‘freedom’ .As we all know democracy and freedom go hand in hand so in order to bring a democratic atmosphere in the classroom the teaching learning method should become child oriented and not teacher centered .the children should be given more freedom of thought and should be given apt opportunities to develop not only their academic abilities but also their extra curricular activities .so we can conclude by saying that the way of education introduced by Mahatma Gandhi was in a way democratic. In a democratic classroom there should be opportunities for the students and their reasonable needs should be taken seriously. And to be treated respectfully and fairly. Conducting class meeting is a good way to enable the student to share their thoughts and solve classroom issue on their own .The teacher should make it a point to make class meetings a formal process and conduct it regularly. She/he should create a positive atmosphere in the class room and the teacher should trust the ability of the students to lead meetings ,participate in discussions choose solutions and make decisions .