DOCSLIB.ORG

MISSION HILL SCHOOL 67 Alleghany Street, Roxbury, MA 02120 [email protected] S617-635-6384 Fax 617-635-6419

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
MISSION HILL SCHOOL 67 Alleghany Street, Roxbury, MA 02120 Missionhill@Boston.Kl2.Ma.Us S617-635-6384 Fax 617-635-6419 MISSION HILL SCHOOL 67 Alleghany Street, Roxbury, MA 02120 [email protected] S617-635-6384 Fax 617-635-6419 Deborah W. Meier, Co-Principal T, Brian Straughter, Co-Principal Dr. Thomas W. Payzant, Superintendent February 28'h, 2005 Boston Public Schools 26 Court Street Boston, MA 02108 Dear Dr. Payzant, Attached please find the School Quality Review for the Mission Hill School and also our Faculty Council's response. The time our community spent organizing for the SQR is useful as it forces us to review our work and identify areas of strength and potential for growth. We have benefited greatly by having an experienced group of educators provide us with such a thoughtful evaluation. Many of their commendations and recommendations are areas we also identified as we prepared for the evaluation. When you present our SQR report to the joint BPS/BTU Steering Committee, please accept my request to participate in this conversation. Having a dialog together with the written documents will add to understanding the work of Mission Hill School. Please let me know if and how we can make this possible. Respectfully Sub Brian Straughter, for the Mission Hill School Community cc: Charlotte Spinkston, Co-chair / Mission Hill Governance Board Boston Pbublic Schools 26 Court- Streert, Bosto, MA 02108 Dr. Thomas Payzant, Superintendent Mission Hill School Response to School Quality Review Introduction There are many things about Mission Hill School that the team captured during their three day visit. There were many high scores in the report as well as areas that were observed with potential for growth. Out of the five major focus areas, our lowest score was 3.1 and our highest was score 3.5 (an indication that our school is doing quality work). The team identified in the report that they "learned that everyone places the individual needs and welfare of students at the center of planning and thought; that everyone works incredibly hard and for long hours to realize their shared vision of serving these students; that every member of the community is respected, caring and supportive of each other." These are words that do describe our school. We thank the team for their thoughtfulness. Following is our response to the School Quality Review report. We have reflected on the many insightful commendations and recommendations to make our school even stronger. While three days is a short amount of time for an outside team to wholly understand our school, our comments here may help produce a clearer picture of Mission Hill School. Focus Area #1 Vision and Context (3.3) Mission Hill by design is staff governed which forces the principal to give up much of the traditional hierarchy and distribute that leadership among the fulltime teaching staff. It means that teachers must be willing to think and act like a principal in addition to their responsibilities as classroom teachers. It is why the school purposefully shares the responsibilities of the principal with the teachers to make up our Faculty Council. We all own the vision and the long range planning of the school. Our Statement of Purpose, which was adopted in 1997, still holds strong today. As the SQR team described, "the ideals in this Statement of Purpose are evident in everything the school does." From when parents first come to learn about the school to our weekly Newsletter, our vision of a well educated person and democratic ideals are promoted. Similarly, our Habits of Mind and Habits of Work are an important part of our vision. Trying to help students, teachers and parents internalize our habits are difficult and take time. We do expect that students will challenge us in many ways; to be feisty and not just compliant. Ongoing discourse helps lead to growth, understanding and better 'h decision making. As observed when the SQR team talked with the 8 grade students, our approach is effective in leading students to use these habits and "think without even knowing." The teams recognized the ease we have promoting Be Kind and the difficulty helping students learn how to Work Hard. Our school uses protocols for giving feedback on quality work; from both students and teachers. We also support the philosophy and practice drafts as an important path leading to quality work. We will investigate how we can be more explicit with students about achieving quality in their work. Focus Area #2 Governance, Leadership and Budget (3.5) The founding-Planning Committee of the Mission Hill School believed strongly that those most responsible for teaching the students should be in positions for making and implementing important decisions. By placing teachers in these decision making roles, they would have to think beyond their class of students and make decisions based on the best needs of the school. There would be no "us" and "them", as typically observed in many hierarchical schools. Mission Hill would share decision making so the fulltime teachers would buy into the philosophy. The school was founded on this strong and unusual philosophy and with the caveat that the staff makes all curricular decisions. These are cornerstones-our brick wall. This wall is what makes Mission Hill a strong school for our students (and by extension, for education reform). All of our meetings are open (see exception in Focus Area #4), and we have many documents that govern the school (i.e., Governance Document describes the role of the Faculty Council, Parent Council and Governance Board). We understand our cornerstones - means of governance - are sometimes difficult for people who are not part of our Faculty Council. The SQR report captured this for "several" parents. The staff is open to suggestions and criticism, but we must keep the decision making to the ones most directly working with the students. We will investigate here how to help families feel more connected. An area we feel that was difficult for the team to deeply observe the school relates to the many ways in which we examine student work. Five hours are spent each week on student achievement, staff development and school business. Student data is disaggregated and reviewed throughout the year in Work Groups and Houses. We identify how students are progressing in the grades and identify gaps in our practice. We also spend time together to talk about this work school-wide. This is in addition to the daily assessments teachers conduct to document student's needs and progress. See Focus Area #3 for more information. We recognize there will always be some families that will have "means and expertise" and will get their child additional resources. That goes for any school no matter how effective it may be. We understand this is important for some families, and our school is committed to making sure that all students are achieving regardless of how fortunate their family may be. To ensure that all children receive equitable and adequate resources, we hold a weekly student support meeting staffed by a team of experts-teachers, principal, learning coach, family therapist, psychologist, occupational therapist, and others. These meetings focus on strategies and best practices, and at times outside referrals, that promote a child's success in school. As far as we know, no family feels we are not watching out for their child, and many structures in the school are designed to make sure no child slips through the cracks. The recommendation to hold training for the selection of students to the Governance Board is excellent. We will also extend this to a training for the entire board. Focus Area #3 Teaching and Learning (3.1) This is the heart and soul of any school evaluation -how well does the school go about the teaching and learning of students. In many of your comments in this section, and throughout the report, words describe our school as having high standards, helping students develop habits in their learning and taking responsibility for their work. It's wonderful that the team observed these qualities, and we appreciate the addendums from two of the team members. Though this section received a cumulative score of 3.1, our very unique governance design, curricular approach, and organization of the school may not have been adequately understood by all committee members. We believe our teaching and learning is very strong and our graduate records are impressive. We submitted several documents that describe our evidence of student progress. In a school our size, it does not make sense to have data "disaggregated across sub-groups." We are too small. Thus our information is often school-wide and can be broken down in any ways we wish. Last year, for example, we looked at habits of mind and work by race to help us examine our own biases in assigning grades to students. This important work is continuing this year as part of our professional development. Student achievement is also monitored through data including reading tapes that occur twice a year; writing samples used to assess student's competency with unassisted work; and BPS math mid-year and end-of-year assessments. These assessments are scored and reviewed by staff to look for patterns in our student's growth throughout the grades. Regular class work and participation is also assessed by each teacher on a daily and on- going basis. Our professional development work is structured around the principle that teachers are the individuals who know their colleagues work best and are the ones best in the position to assess and improve practice (the tenets of Roland Barth). Thus we do, in fact, present our curriculum plans and methods for documentation each year to each other and interns.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Where Is Citizenship Education in the Age of Common Core State Standards?
    University of North Florida UNF Digital Commons Department of Leadership, School Counseling & Educational Leadership Faculty Publications Sports Management 12-1-2015 Where Is Citizenship Education in the Age of Common Core State Standards? Paul T. Parkinson Matthew Knoester Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/lscsm_leadership_facpub Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons, and the Educational Methods Commons Recommended Citation Parkinson, Paul T. and Knoester, Matthew, "Where Is Citizenship Education in the Age of Common Core State Standards?" (2015). Educational Leadership Faculty Publications. 4. https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/lscsm_leadership_facpub/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Leadership, School Counseling & Sports Management at UNF Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Educational Leadership Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of UNF Digital Commons. For more information, please contact Digital Projects. © 12-1-2015 All Rights Reserved Critical Education Volume 6 Number 22 December 1, 2015 ISSN 1920-4125 Where Is Citizenship Education In The Age Of Common Core State Standards? Matthew Knoester Paul Parkison University of Evansville Citation: Knoester, M., & Parkison, P. (2015). Where is citizenship education in the age of Common Core State Standards? Critical Education, 6(22). Retrieved from http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/criticaled/article/view/185901 Abstract There was a time in United States history when the central argument for investing in public education was to ensure that voters were sufficiently informed about the issues of the day to make wise decisions: education for self-governance. According to multiple sources, voter ignorance remains a serious concern and this may be a factor in why the political system in the United States is not more responsive to the needs and preferences of the electorate.
    [Show full text]
  • Progress and Promise
    Progress and Promise Results from the Boston Pilot Schools January 2006 Center for Collaborative Education Center for Collaborative Education Center for Collaborative Education 1135 Tremont Street, Suite 490 Boston, MA 02120 www.cce.org 617.421.0134 phone 617.421.9016 fax Progress and Promise Results from the Boston Pilot Schools January 2006 Center for Collaborative Education The views, findings, and opinions of the authors in this article do not necessarily reflect those held by the Boston Public Schools. Design and production: Conquest Design, Inc. Copyright 2006 by the Center for Collaborative Education, Boston, MA. All rights reserved. Contents Executive Summary . .iv Introduction . .1 The Purpose of Pilot Schools . .2 Key Features of Pilot Schools . .3 Expansion of Pilot Schools Network . .4 How Pilot Schools Fit into the National and Local School Reform Landscape . .5 Why Examine the Pilot Schools’ Outcomes? . .6 Pilot School Student Demographics . .8 Characteristics of Pilot Schools . .13 Pilot School Student Engagement and Performance . .17 Indicators of School Engagement . .17 Indicators of Student Performance . .20 Conclusions . .26 Implications for Other Schools and Districts . .29 References . .33 Appendix A: Methods . .35 Appendix B: Methods for School Characteristics . .40 Appendix C: 2003–04 Pilot School Outcomes by School . .42 Appendix D: Boston Pilot Schools/Horace Mann Network Vision Statement; and Principles and Practices . .46 Appendix E: School Lists . .48 BPS Schools . .48 Exam Schools . .48 Schools Excluded from the Data Set . .49 Acknowledgments . .51 Executive Summary ew research conducted by Boston’s Center for Collaborative Education Ndocuments significant achievement by students who attend the city’s Pilot Schools.
    [Show full text]
  • Jenerra Williams and Geralyn Bywater Mclaughlin
    IMPORTANT DATES AND REMINDERS Family Council Zoom Gathering - Monday March 30 8:30pm (see details on the last section of the newsletter) All Boston Public Schools are closed until May 4th due to the pandemic. Find resources and the latest information at https://www.bostonpublicschools.org/coronavirus March 27, 2020 Volume 23, Issue 26 ​ Humanity Dear Mission Hill School Friends, Families, Students and Staff, Last week we had a tremendous positive response from families about the weekly newsletter. It was a true indicator to Jenerra and myself that keeping up this weekly tradition will help our community stay connected and feel supported in these uncertain times. The format might look a little different some weeks, and we ask you to be flexible about your expectations. This week, we have news from our specialists and teachers outside of the classroom. Keeping our humanity and grace in the middle of all of this, is one thing we are working hard at. For example, our March report cards were due to be sent home today. It became clear to us as school leaders, that given how much the lives and jobs of our teaching staff has changed in the last two weeks, it did not make sense to keep this deadline in place. It just was not reasonable. Our Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) made the decision to extend the report card writing time one week, and we thank you for your patience and understanding. Our humanity comes into play when thinking about the learning that is happening now. At Mission Hill School we understand the importance of taking care of students' social/emotional needs as well as their academic needs during this unprecedented time of school closure.
    [Show full text]
  • Geralyn Bywater Mclaughlin
    IMPORTANT DATES AND REMINDERS Friday, September 27, 9:45-10:15am Friday Share (open to all) September 30 - October 11 Listening Conferences - Please check your classroom schedule for your family’s time. Tuesday, October 8 Dr. Brenda Cassellius, Superintendent visits MHS ​ ​ September 27, 2019 Volume 23, Issue 4 Learning From You Dear Mission Hill School Friends, Families, Students and Staff, Starting Monday, October 30th our school will begin a two-week window for the fall “Listening Conferences.” This is our annual opportunity for classroom teachers to hear from families and learn about your children. We call these meetings Listening Conferences as they are a chance for us to learn from you - the experts on your ​ ​ child(ren). Students attend the Listening Conferences, and together the team will talk about expectations and set goals for the year. If you are not sure when your Listening Conference is, please contact your child’s teacher as soon as possible. Jenerra and I have been having Listening Conferences as well. Ours have been with Mission Hill School staff members. As new leaders, we are spending time listening and learning from the educators we work with. Each conference is unique, and we set the stage by making sure each person can use the time as they need. We offer prompts and questions such as: Tell us about what is going well... What challenges are you working through? How can we support you? What questions do you have for us? For new leaders, these conferences are an investment in our partnership with our colleagues and are key to our democratic school - a place where everyone’s viewpoint is important and every voice matters.
    [Show full text]
  • Access, Equity and Activism: TEACHING the POSSIBLE! Progressivenational Education Conference Network New York City October 8-10, 2015
    1 Access, Equity and Activism: TEACHING THE POSSIBLE! Progressive Education Network National Conference New York City PEN_Conference_2015.indd 1 October 8-10, 2015 9/29/15 2:25 PM 2 Mission and History of the Progressive Education Network “The Progressive Education Network exists to herald and promote the vision of progressive education on a national basis, while providing opportunities for educators to connect, support, and learn from one another.” In 2004 and 2005, The School in Rose Valley, PA, celebrated its seventy- fifth anniversary by hosting a two-part national conference, Progressive Education in the 21st Century. Near the end of the conference, a group of seven educators from public and private schools around the country rallied to a call-to-action to revive the Network of Progressive Educators, which had been inactive since the early 1990s. Inspired by the progressive tenets of the conference, the group shared a grand collective mission: to establish a national group to rise up, protect, clarify, and celebrate the principles of progressive education and to fashion a revitalized national educational vision. This group, “The PEN Seven” (Maureen Cheever, Katy Dalgleish, Tom Little, Kate (McLellan) Blaker, John Pecore, Lisa Shapiro, and Terry Strand) hosted the organization’s first national conference in San Francisco in 2007. As a result of the committee’s efforts, the Progressive Education Network (PEN) was formed and in 2009 was incorporated as a 501 (c) 3 charitable, non-profit organization. Biannual conferences, supported by PEN and produced by various committees, followed in DC, Chicago, and LA, with attendance growing from 250 to 950.
    [Show full text]
  • Overview September 2006
    The Essential Guide to Pilot Schools Overview September 2006 Center for Collaborative Education The Essential Guide to Pilot Schools Overview September 2006 Center for Collaborative Education The views, findings, and opinions of the authors in this article do not necessarily reflect those held by the Boston Public Schools. Design and production: Conquest Design, Inc. Copyright 2006 by the Center for Collaborative Education, Boston, MA. All rights reserved. Contents Preface . .1 Essentials . .2 Progress and Promise: Results of the Pilot Model . .32 Pilot Schools in Context . .38 The Power of a Network . .47 Getting Started . .68 Acknowledgments . .82 Appendix . .84 Notes . .96 Bibliography . .100 As districts and schools across the country look for ways to improve educational opportunities for all students, beginning the Pilot School path is a journey worth taking. The Guides Project The Essential Guide to Pilot Schools is an introduction to the Pilot/Horace Mann Schools, a group of 20 innovative schools within the Boston Public Schools* that are achieving strong results. The Essential Guide project grew out of an increasing interest in Pilot Schools, and through text and Web- based guides aims to make the Pilot model accessible to a wide audience in districts and schools.† In this first guide, The Essential Guide to Pilot Schools: Overview, readers will learn the essentials of Pilot Schools, including autonomy, accountabili- ty, small size, and a commitment to equity. Readers will discover data on Pilot Schools, how Pilot Schools fit into the school reform context, and the power of the Pilot Schools Network. Finally, readers will learn steps for starting Pilot Schools in other districts and schools.
    [Show full text]
  • FALL FORUM NOVEMBER 7-9, 2014 SAN FRANCISCO Fall Forum 2014 30 Years of Common Principles and Uncommon Schools
    30 YEARS OF COMMON PRINCIPLES AND UNCOMMON SCHOOLS COALITION OF ESSENTIAL SCHOOLS FALL FORUM NOVEMBER 7-9, 2014 SAN FRANCISCO Fall Forum 2014 30 Years of Common Principles and Uncommon Schools Dear Friends, Welcome to the celebration of 30 Years of Common Principles and Uncommon Schools! When the organizing committee for this year’s Fall Forum sent me this year’s theme I must admit that my eyes misted up just a bit. Could it really be 30 years of CES? And then I began to recall all the colleagues and friends that make up my memories of Fall Forum and the work of CES. All the schools that I know of that are, in their uncommon ways, making the world a better place for children and their families. The exhibitions of learning I have seen, portfolios I have read, advisory meetings I have sat in on, graduates I have heard give testimony to their school, and teachers telling me about the love they have for their work. Honestly, I get choked up again just writing those sentences. When our founder, Ted Sizer, began CES it was, I believe, in an elevator with several school leaders who shared a common belief. They shared belief that public education in our nation is absolutely vital to the preservation and advancement of our republic. Further, they knew that such an education required schools that were engaging, child centered, honored the work of teachers, and made students stand and deliver when it came time to show what they know. Beyond that they knew, from their years of experience, that reforms at the time (remember A Nation At Risk?) were not going to get us to those schools.
    [Show full text]
  • Provider Name Licensing Region Street Address 1 City Zip Code
    Licensing Record Type Provider Name Street Address 1 City Zip Code Region Name 1 Root Childcare Western 63 Myron St. West Springfield 1089 Large Group 1-2-3 Grow Child Center Western 48 BARRE RD Hubbardston 01452-1208 Large Group 1-2-3 Grow Child Center Inc. Central 109 ALLEN ST Leominster 01453-2904 Large Group 1-2-3 Grow Child Center, Inc. Western 145 Mechanic St Barre 01005-1154 Large Group 123 Grow Child Center, Inc. Central 134 BURNCOAT ST. Worcester 1605 Large Group 123 Grow Child Center, Inc. Central 838 West Broadway Gardner 1440 Large Group 123 Grow Child Center, Inc. Central 341 ELM ST Fitchburg 01420-2301 Large Group 21st Century Bruce School Northeast 135 Butler Street Lawrence 1841 Large Group 21st Century Tarbox School Northeast 59 Alder Street Lawrence 1841 Large Group 5 Senses Northeast 1381 MAIN ST Reading 01867-1172 Large Group A Bright Beginning Northeast 52 TURNPIKE RD Rowley 01969-2122 Large Group A Bright Beginning Too Northeast 132 NORTH ST Danvers 01923-1242 Large Group A Brighter Future Child Care Western 83 MAIN ST Indian Orchard 01151-1103 Large Group A Brighter Rainbow Northeast 862 BOSTON RD Billerica 01821-6217 Large Group Southeast and A Child's Place Pre-School Cape 49 School St Whitman 02382-1904 Large Group A Child's View Metro Boston 56 PLEASANT STREET Dorchester 2125 Large Group A Child's View Early Learning Center Metro Boston 11 ASHMONT STREET Dorchester 2124 Large Group A Childs View Early Learning Center IV Metro Boston 618 WASHINGTON STREET Quincy 2169 Large Group A Happy Healthy Start Daycare Southeast and Preschool Cape 428 Walnut Plain Road Rochester 2770 Large Group A Kangaroo's Pouch, Inc.
    [Show full text]
  • A SCHOOL on a FARM (What One Family Can Do)
    The Magazine of Alternative Education Education Revolution I s s u e N u m b e r F o r t y F o u r Spring 2006 $4.95 USA/5.95 CDN ∗ ∗ E a s t H i l l S c h o o l ∗ ∗ A SCHOOL ON A FARM (What One Family Can Do) PLUS: THE VALUE OF THE THINGS THEY LEARN w w w . E d u c a t i o n R e v o l u t i o n . o r g Education Revolution The Magazine of Alternative Education Spring 2006 - Issue Number Forty Four - www.educationrevolution.org The mission of The Education Revolution magazine is based on that of the Alternative Education Resource Organization AERO, which produces this magazine quarterly, is firmly (AERO): Building the critical mass for the education revolution established as a leader in the field of educational alternatives. by providing resources which support self-determination in Founded in 1989 in an effort to promote learner-centered learning and the natural genius in everyone. Towards this education and influence change in the education system, AERO end, this magazine includes the latest news and communications is an arm of the School of Living, a non-profit organization. regarding the broad spectrum of educational alternatives: public AERO provides information, resources and guidance to alternatives, independent and private alternatives, home students, parents, schools and organizations regarding their education, international alternatives, and more. The common educational choices. feature in all these educational options is that they are learner- centered, focused on the interest of the child rather than on an arbitrary curriculum.
    [Show full text]
  • Margarita Muñiz Academy School Innovation Plan January 2018
    2017- SY 2018 Margarita Muñiz Academy School Innovation Plan January 2018 0 Submitted on: May 25, 2017 Submitted by: Dania Vázquez for Margarita Muñiz Academy Table of Contents Section Section Title Page Number I School Information Sheet 2 II Executive Summary 4 III Mission, Vision, and Statement of Need 9 IV Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment 24 V Operations 57 ● Building ● Schedule & Calendar ● Leadership, Staffing & Professional Development ● Policies & Procedures ● Projected Budget VI Capacity of Applicant Group 63 VII Timetable for Expansion 72 VIII Measurable Goals 74 IX Attachments 78 1 I. School Information Sheet Current School Name Margarita Muñiz Academy Proposed School Name (if changing) Current Grades 9 to 12 Proposed Expansion 7 to 12 Contingent on Facility Approval Current School Address 20 Child Street, Jamaica Plain, MA Proposed School Address 20 Child Street, Jamaica Plain, MA Primary Contact Dania Vázquez, Headmaster Name/Address/Phone/Fax/Email 20 Child Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 781-424-8640 Cell 617-635-8198 School 617-635-7835 Fax Proposed School Expansion Year(s) September, 2019-20 Expansion Plan Overview School Year Grade Levels Total School Total Number of Enrollment Staff 2017-2018 9 to 12 300 28.5 FTE 2019-2020 7 and 9 to 12 380 to 390 39.9 FTE 2020-2021 7 to 12 460 to 470 45 FTE Will this school serve students from multiple districts? Yes √No Attachments Item Dual Language Policy School Profile Grade Guide for Universities Sample Schedule 2 Budget Planning Administrator Resumes Letters of Support 3 II. Executive Summary A. Current School Mission The Margarita Muñiz Academy is the first dual-language high school in the Boston Public Schools dedicated to preparing citizens and leaders who are fluent in English and Spanish.
    [Show full text]
  • You Too Can Be a Rebel
    You Too Can Be a Rebel Item Type text; Electronic Thesis Authors Garibaldi, Lino Paúl Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 10/10/2021 03:27:17 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/625321 YOU TOO CAN BE A REBEL by Lino Paúl Garibaldi Cisneros ____________________________ Copyright © Lino Garibaldi 2017 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the SCHOOL OF ART In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS WITH A MAJOR IN ART EDUCATION In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2017 2 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR The thesis titled You too can be a rebel prepared by Lino Garibaldi has been submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master’s degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that an accurate acknowledgement of the source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship.
    [Show full text]
  • Dewey's Democratic Conception in Education and Democratic
    Educational Studies in Japan: International Yearbook No. 13, March, 2019. pp. 55-66 Dewey’s Democratic Conception in Education and Democratic Schooling: Lessons from the United States for Japan in a Time of Democracy in Crisis Naoshi Kira† Democracy is in crisis around the globe, especially in the United States due to the results of the presidential election in 2016; it is now a bitterly divid- ed society. In this context, this article reviews the democratic conception in ed- ucation presented by John Dewey as his Democracy and Education celebrated its centenary also in 2016. A few key concepts of Dewey’s ideas and structural features of democratic schooling were combined to develop a conceptual frame- work to analyze democratic schooling. Then, two U.S. democratic schools were comparatively analyzed using the conceptual framework, including participation in a small diverse community. This study concluded that democratic schooling has enormous potential to educate citizens who can become the eff ective agents of change desperately needed in the larger society, although the number of schools which systematically implement it is limited due to various obstacles. Lessons for Japan include the idea that giving students the authority to decide what to learn and how to learn it can lead them to take responsibility for their own education. There is anecdotal evidence that many graduates of the first democratic school examined here work in service and social justice professions, so further research is needed to pursue this theme along with others.
    [Show full text]