Authors Note: This post is about the democratic process it is not a commentary on political parties, affiliation, or ideology.
Education and Democracy, what does one have to do with the other? After all, isn’t education about coming away with measurable transferrable skills? Isn’t democracy a vehicle for decision-making?
Yes and no, yes part of education can be to develop skills that one can use in a variety of situations. No, education is only about skill acquisition. To view education solely through this lens is reductionist and misses the fact that education isn’t something one finishes it’s a lifelong process. Barely scratching the surface, education is a process of discovery, about who we are as individuals, and collectively, what our interests and talents are, and how we learn best.
Yes, democracy is a vehicle for decision-making. No, democracy isn’t just about decision-making. Much like education, much of democracy is about the process. 1
Democracy holds the promise of representing the voice of the people, all of the people. There are examples of a democratic process where majority and minority voices are represented. The Iroquois Confederacy 2 is a good example of this.
An example of this could look like: You’re in a group of people about to vote on whether a new road should be built in town to alleviate traffic. You voted against it along with a number of other people, because the new road will be built close to your home and you are worried about the noise and traffic. In a model that represents all voices the concerns of those who voted against it would be represented and addressed. In a total majority rules model the concerns of those who voted against it would not be addressed in most cases.
What does this have to do with education?
The way one experiences education has a big influence on how one participates in a democratic process. It wouldn’t be hard to find current examples of how some democratic processes have become about the needs of one group of people, and only that group at all costs.
Much of this may be attributed to how these individuals experienced education. The education experience of many has been an authoritarian model based on little choice, even when there is choice it is often symbolic, rudimentary, or a ruse. “You can do this now or do this later.”
The type of education that many have experienced is based on competition not collaboration, is rooted in a top down model where decisions that affect the many are made by the few. These practices can become unconsciously habitual.
Imagine instead being part of a democratic process in one’s education where all voices are represented. Would that change the way one approaches the democratic process? It’s important to note that it is not necessary to go to a school or a particular location to participate in the democratic process it can be and is experienced anywhere.
A persistent argument is that this is not a causal relationship. 3 The argument is that because one experiences a process where all voices are represented in their education it doesn’t guarantee this will be their modus operandi (MO) in a democratic process. This may or may not be true. However, we do have evidence what the outcomes of how not having this experience manifests.
As Thomas Jefferson may have said “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.” Just as vital is how the citizenry is educated. There are many ways to learn and be educated, models that do not allow for decision-making where all voices are represented are not the only options. These models have been tried for over a century it’s time to give others a try for the sake of a democracy where all citizens have a voice.
There are different types of democracy, naming and explaining every one of them is outside the scope of this post.
https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2023/09/the-haudenosaunee-confederacy-and-the-constitution/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/computer-science/causal-relationship