Democratic Schools

Abstract

Within this paper, I am going to synthesize the most effective implementation of democratic principles applied within a school setting. The end result I hope to achieve is to make schools more responsive and relevant to their stakeholders and the communities they reside within. Through examples of effective implementation, I will show that democratic schooling principles, despite limitations, function as catalysts for altering power dynamics in schools, making schools more adaptive and stakeholder-focused. Democracy is not a silver bullet, however evidence points to the notion that democracy within schooling has many beneficial effects for students and teachers alike.