In August, the newly forming democratic Joan Rubin School was lucky enough to get some front page publicity in The Metro. It has boosted interest in the project tremendously, though I feel the article leaves quite a bit of room for questions and confusion.
As I've been speaking with people, a point of confusion about schools like these is about rules and structure. There are plenty of rules, and those create a structure for members of the community in a democratic school. The difference is that rules are determined authentically and out of necessity, and by those whom they effect, as opposed to by those "above" them (a concept that can be appreciated by students AND teachers in today's world..) The Judicial Committee and School Assembly processes in this model allow students to exercise their rights to both make choices for themselves provided that they aren't infringing upon the rights of others, and also a consistent and predictable forum for presenting issues they have with others who they believe are infringing on their rights.
When I think about the so-called "soft" skills that innately exist in interacting with others regarding allowed and disallowed behaviors are ones that I always wished I could address with more time, attention, and consistency in my classrooms. Isn't this a more real-world, relevant skill than many in the Common Core?
As I've been speaking with people, a point of confusion about schools like these is about rules and structure. There are plenty of rules, and those create a structure for members of the community in a democratic school. The difference is that rules are determined authentically and out of necessity, and by those whom they effect, as opposed to by those "above" them (a concept that can be appreciated by students AND teachers in today's world..) The Judicial Committee and School Assembly processes in this model allow students to exercise their rights to both make choices for themselves provided that they aren't infringing upon the rights of others, and also a consistent and predictable forum for presenting issues they have with others who they believe are infringing on their rights.
When I think about the so-called "soft" skills that innately exist in interacting with others regarding allowed and disallowed behaviors are ones that I always wished I could address with more time, attention, and consistency in my classrooms. Isn't this a more real-world, relevant skill than many in the Common Core?
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