| This study addressed the problem inherent in reforming schools for democratic purpose when the concept of democracy has multiple, conflicting meanings. A review of democratic theory produced three conceptions of democracy--liberal, participatory, and community--contrasted across eight elements: beliefs about the nature of individuals and of the masses, views toward government, mode of participation, information access and dissemination, nature of problems and knowledge, size of population and territory, and values prioritized. The different democratic conceptual elements were then used in combination with content analysis methodology to analyze the most recent reform discussions in books written by three democratic school reformers: Revolutionizing America's Schools (Carl Glickman), Horace's Hope (Theodore Sizer), and The Accelerated Schools Resource Guide (Henry Levin). The study found that these educational leaders described democratic. education reforms primarily in terms of the community democratic conceptual elements while ignoring many elements of participatory and liberal democracy conceptions. For instance, liberal or participatory elements such as laws, elections to establish who rules, and government as mediator or enforcement mechanism, or highly prized values such as competition, stability, and order are deemphasized or ignored in the reforms proposed. The study discussed the potential problems facing consumers of these three democratic reformers' ideas if they ignore the complex democratic environment in which schools operate. The study also discussed the need for political and educational scholars to co-investigate, further, theories of democracy and education and make explicit the end goals that specific democratic conceptions serve in educational practices. Finally, the study proposed theoretical questions for further study. |
