This study documents the reflections of an instructor's seeking to transform an Adult High School Diploma class into a democratic experience. The study used a reflective autoethnographical approach, a genre of writing and research, which displays multiple layers of consciousness, connecting the personal to the cultural. Six research questions guided the study, focusing on democratic characteristics and learning. The methodologies used for collecting and analyzing the data involved Participatory Action Research, Reflective Ethnography, and a Case Study Approach.
The study used the concepts of Kurt Lewin's work in Organizational Change, Edward Relph's research in Place and Placelessness, and Pearl and Knight's research in democratic education. The literature review examines the principles of democracy and its relationship to democratic schooling. The educational researcher and college instructor are the same person. She reflected on herself as an Adult High School Diploma Program Instructor, creating a U.S. History class based on democratic schooling principles.
The autoethnography examines a democratic class from the reflective perspectives of the Six "I's": The Structural "I," The Retrospective "I," The Humanistic "I," The Emancipator "I," The Critical Pedagogy "I," and The Ideal "I." Each of the Six "I's" correlates to one of the six research questions posed in this study. The Six Levels of the Personal "I" provide distinct lenses through which to analyze the data collected.
The reflective ethnography analysis points to three issues. First, in the creation of democratic learning one has to negotiate inherent, contradictory, organizational constraints, and explicit and implicit institutional rules. Secondly, the preparation of youth to be responsible for democratic learning requires that students experience a sense of freedom and engagement both personally and educationally. Thirdly, creating a democratic classroom is both a process of unfreezing past behaviors and practices and introducing new possibilities of democratic learning.
Not everything runs smoothly or even near perfectly in a democratic classroom, but that is the point. A democratic classroom is dynamic and is open to nurture and encourage the possibilities within each student. Growth is often filled with some uncertainty and pain, but when there is trust and caring present, it is easier to birth change.
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