Teacher and student discussions of research and democratically oriented classroom practice

The purpose of this dissertation was to study the responses of teachers and students to a discussion of research and democratic classroom practice. It was theorized that if teachers participated in a democratic discussion process of research on democratic classroom practice, teachers would translate their experience into democratic classroom practice.; Dewey's idea of education as the development of a democratic learning community provides the overall concept on which this study is based. Dewey suggested that teachers and students involved in democratically oriented discussions of theory and classroom practice benefit both education and society.; The Vygotskian theory of the ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development) provides the theoretical background for organizing the teacher discussion process. The group and each individual share the tools of problem solving. It is assumed that the internalized concepts developed in the discussion process will change the actions and perceptions of the individual.; In this study the teacher discussions of democratic classroom practice involved four themes. Research articles on these themes were discussed by the teachers. This constituted the first phase of the research process.; The second phase of the research process focused on teacher and student perceptions of whether democratic classroom practices were practiced in the classroom. Student and teacher journals, discussions, and results from a student questionnaire provided the sources of data for Phase Two of the research.; Phase Three of the research focused on the perceptions of teachers and students and the changes in democratically oriented classroom practices over time. All the same data sources mentioned in Phase Two were used, as well as the statistical results from the two administrations of a student questionnaire, and outside observations.; The study concluded that teachers were willing to discuss democratically oriented classroom practice and research focused on that practice, but that this did not change their classroom practices. It may be important for teachers to first deal with just the theory behind the practice suggested in the research before they discuss its practical implications.