The ‘Doing Democracy’ Project:An Overview of Scope & Findings

Dr David Zyngier Monash University

Dr Marc PruynMonash University

Dr Paul R. Carr Lakehead University

‘Doing Democracy’: Today’s seminar

• Introduction– A brief overview– History of the Project– A chat with Dr Paul Carr

• Methodology– The URL & global partners– The survey & participants

• The literature– Discourses of ‘democracy’

• Findings– Australian ‘democracy’– US ‘democracy’– Democracy & the classroom

• Next steps– Expansion of the Project

Intro: History of the project

Intro: The Doing Democracy Global Doing Research Project

A comparative and contrasting study of education students, teachers and their educators in Australia, North America, South America, Africa, Asia and Europe.

The research explores three themes:

1. Predisposition among teachers is to understand democracy and politics in a thin way

2. Potential for teachers to do thick democracy in education3. Teachers understanding of the importance of power and

difference in relation to democracy

The focus of this research study is how education supports, cultivates and engages in/with democracy.

Method: The URL & global partners

http://doingdemocracy.ning.com/

2011

Method: The survey & participants

What do Pre-service Teachers, Teachers & Education Academics think about Democracy?

• Over 2000 respondents• Australia, Malaysia, Canada, US, Argentina,

Peru; so far...• Future research results from Bosnia,

Romania, Finland, Turkey, Greece, South Africa, Israel/Palestine, Pakistan ...

The Literature: Discourses of ‘democracy’

Theoretical Framework

• Barber’s Strong Democracy (Barber, 2004),

• Westheimer and Kahne (2003) Kinds of Good Citizens - responsible, participatory and justice oriented

• Gandin and Apple (2002) Thin & Thick Democracy

• Carr (2010) Does your vote count? Critical pedagogy and democracy

What is a Democratic society?

Your view: A Wordle or Beautiful Cloud

Is your country a Democratic society? Why? Why not?

Is the USA a Democratic society?

Are elections important to Democracy?

Should teachers strive to promote a sense of democracy in students?

Continuum of Democracy: Based on ideas from Nelson and Guerra (2007) and Kahne and Westheimer (2003) and Westheimer and Kahne (2004).

Thin democratic discourses

• Contributing food to a food drive• Organising a food drive

Thick democratic discourses

• Explore why people are hungry and act to make decisions about and solve its root causes (Westheimer & Kahne, 2004)

Findings: Australian ‘democracy’

Is Australia a democratic society?

AcademicsPre-service teachers Teachers

         

Not very Somewhat Very

Is Australia a Democratic society?

Students: The government listens to what the majority of

people want; minority will always be dissatisfied; minority hold the power & the voice in major decisions; people don't have full freedom because of

economic or social status especially the Indigenous

Teachers: We are free to vote & speak out on issues that

concern us; people have the right to vote, freedom of

speech, a voice, ability to sit in parliament, council meetings...

Academics: [We have] elected government, where participation

does not depend on wealth; some groups of society are not

treated equally; groups of Australian society that are invisible or discriminated

against through policy & the attitudes; wealthy have

disproportionate power...

Findings: US ‘democracy’

Is the US Democratic?

AcademicsTeachersPre-service teachers

         

Not very Somewhat Very

Is USA a Democratic society?

Students: many people live in violence & poverty; wealth is poorly distributed;

imbalances of power seem more pronounced in the US; great

inconsistencies in approach to human rights; have so little sense of the value of

their voice in the nation; they are not motivated to vote...

Teachers: People elect those in power - they have a elections; they espouse

themselves to be very democratic; they offer less support to unemployed; low

income earners & do not provide universal health support...

Academics: too much accumulation of power in the hands of one person;

democracy has gone wrong; imbalance of power which distorts the actual outcomes of elections and decisions; large sections

of society seriously disadvantaged & invisible; dictators were given red

carpets...

Findings: ‘Democracy’ & the classroom

AcademicsTeachersPre-service teachers

Should teachers strive to promote a sense of democracy in students?

         

Not at all SomewhatMost

Definitely

Should teachers strive to inculcate a sense of democracy in students?

Students: Should feel empowered to take their say & make a difference;

teachers are capable of manufacturing or nurturing any value in students; it is very important for the students to feel they are

a part of a democratic classroom; students should feel that they have a

voice that will be heard...

Teachers: I adopt a democratic approach; it's important to support students in developing an understanding of how

country is run, how decisions are made; it is very important for students to

understand that their opinions count; is imperative that teachers educate students

about democracy, not only the words & voting system, but in educating them to be concerned, involved & contributing citizens

of our country...

Academics: It is the best gift I can give the students I teach; an essential role of all university teachers; teachers are in a

perfect position to inculcate democratic values in students, despite being dictated to by less democratic forces; teachers have a responsibility to be ‘cultural connoisseurs’ & critics & should be prepared to facilitate the

continuity of those traditions...

Next steps: Expansion of the project

‘Doing Democracy’

What would Thick Democracy look like?

Expansion...

• Extending more into...– The Americas– Asia– Africa– Oceania– Europe– Middle East– Indigenous communities

• Funding...– Monash– Foundation– ARC linkage– Canadian equivalents

• Team linguistic support...– English– French– Spanish– Hebrew– Urdu

Discussion

• 1) How do we understand the perceptions, experiences and perspectives of democracy and education?

• 2) What would a thick democracy look like in school education system for you and your students?

• 3) What are the implications of a thick democracy in schools?

• Questions?• Comments?• Suggestions?

Contact David: david.zyngier@monash.edu