Randall Allsop raised an interesting question to me that we never really had a chance to examine today, so I thought I might raise it up here on the blog. In speaking about natural vs. mechanical means of teaching, he asked "At what expense do we de-naturalize children?" This question is very pertinent to me, as an elementary level teacher. I think many of the issues we have discussed about critical pedagogy and the democratic classroom look different for the high school and university level than for the younger generation that is still very much in their naturalized state.
During the break, I was chatting with Laurie, and it occurred to me that as students go through various stages of development, a democratic classroom is going to take on a different shape. With very young children, there are just certain things that have to be established in their minds and the process of learning for an 8 year old is very different from that of the 17 year old high school student. Similarly, I was thinking that the ideal place for the democratic model might just be in that crazy world we call Jr. High. Think about it- kids are questioning just about everything at that point, so why not capitalize (I need a better word, but this is all that is coming to mind) on that potential learning experience?
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