Abstract
In the United States over the past 50 years, basic knowledge about government functions has steadily declined, and voter apathy has increased. Waves of education reform have narrowed the curriculum to focus on those subjects measured by standardized testing, leaving little room for civic education. To counter these trends, schools must (re)claim their role in preparing citizens for participation in democratic life. This chapter reports on three related practices – school government, dialogue, and assemblies – to help students and others in the learning community develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to be informed and engaged citizens and potentially more inclined to commit to social justice action. Colegio Naleb’, an independent school near Guatemala City, is the site of an ongoing study. The data analyzed and presented in this chapter were gathered through interviews with the school’s founder-director, electronic questionnaires completed by students and graduates, field observations, and document review. The findings include (1) description of the three-branch school government and its founding documents; (2) description of dialogue for conflict resolution and problem-solving; (3) explanation of 3-week rotation of government, dialogue, and assembly; (4) students’ and graduates’ understandings and beliefs about democracy; (5) students’ perceptions of school climate; (6) influence of school experiences on graduates’ personal development; (7) graduates’ beliefs and dispositions related to civic engagement; and (8) dissemination of the school’s model. Educators in the United States and other countries could learn from Colegio Naleb’ how to create and sustain structures and practices to foster citizenship development and civic engagement.
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Borden, A.M. (2020). Learning by Doing: Practices in a Democratic School in Guatemala that Foster Citizenship Development and Civic Engagement. In: Mullen, C. (eds) Handbook of Social Justice Interventions in Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29553-0_65-1
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