Democracy in Action in Elementary School: How to Infuse Principles of Democracy in Everyday Teaching and Learning

If we want children to grow into active citizens - people who will participate in the democratic process, they need to experience the foundational principles of a democratic society in childhood. The elementary school classroom provides many opportunities to model and help children experience many core tenets of democracy in action.

This professional development experience will provide educators with many practical strategies for living out several core values of a democracy: 

• Belonging: In a democratic society, all people have value and have important roles to play in the community.
• Student voice: Students should feel a sense of agency, empowerment, and autonomy.
• Equity: All students should have access to a high-quality learning experience.
• Responsibility: With group membership comes responsibility to the group.
• Civil discourse: Students must learn key skills of effective and respectful communication.

Educators will explore practices such as co-creating rules with students, how to facilitate an effective class problem-solving meeting, how to help all children feel welcome and valued in a learning community, and many more. To be clear, this work is not about how to teach children about a democratic system of government; rather it is about how to create a classroom culture that comes closer to living out our country’s democratic ideals.

Asynchronous: 3-6 hours on your own time between August 17 and October 21st.

Synchronous: 1.5 hours live via webinar with Mike Anderson, October 22, 4:00-5:30 p.m.

Mike Anderson

Mike Anderson has been an educator for more than 25 years. A public school teacher for 15 years, he has also taught preschool, coached school swim teams, and taught university graduate level classes. He now works as a consultant providing professional learning for teachers throughout the US and beyond. In 2004, Mike was awarded a national Milken Educator Award, and in 2005 he was a finalist for NH Teacher of the Year. In 2020, he was awarded the Outstanding Educational Leader Award by NHASCD for his work as a consultant. A best-selling author, Mike has written eight books about great teaching and learning, including What We Say and How We Say It Matter: Teacher Talk That Improves Student Learning and Behavior. When not working, Mike can be found hanging with his family, tending his perennial gardens, and searching for new running routes around his home in Durham, NH.