Democracy Talk 

So said philosopher John Dewey a century ago.

But for many kids, going to school is just the opposite: students feel lost in overcrowded classrooms where they shuffle from one unrelated class to another. Not at Garza High in Austin, Texas, though. There, a group of teens called "Youth Mobilizers" bring education to life. In a class called "Youth Action for Educational Change," they receive academic credit for studying the role young people have played in bettering society, and research methods to bring quality education to all. The class is also an after-school job because Youth Mobilizers receive a stipend for activating their community in student-designed projects. "The idea," says Austin Voices for Education and Youth organizer Tim Eubanks, "is to empower youth who are equipped to make the world a better place." Currently, Youth Mobilizers are working to gather youth input into the Austin Independent School District school redesign process. Youth Mobilizer Ana Hernandez told Michael May of KUT radio that when she and her peers saw that most members of the planning committee "had been out of high school for a long time," they knew that they had to step in and get the voices of youth heard because "things have changed a lot."

So, she and her fellow Youth Mobilizers began to work with the school district to coordinate conversations on school redesign. They launched a PR campaign using PSAs, summer school announcements, and fliers. Their efforts are convincing students that their voices were not only welcome, but necessary.

As they successfully bring high school students to the table, both adults and teens agree that huge, impersonal schools should be broken into small learning communities. Youth participants bring forth the less tangible goal to improve the overall school culture. When they asked their peers what they desired most from their schools, the Youth Mobilizes hear again and again that youth wanted more respect from teachers and administrators, and to feel ownership of their education.

Their response echoes what Principal George Wood describes in Democracy's Edge as the biggest challenge in public education - "The issue is not test scores or dress codes - the issue is connection."

Wood - principal of an effective, democratically run public school in rural Ohio -- argues that students must be able not only to connect with what they are learning in and out of the classroom, but also emphasized the importance of connections among students and between students and teachers. Mutual respect is key, he believes, to effective learning communities. And he walks his talk: In his high school, respect is shown students by, for example, allowing them a say in the hiring of their teachers.

To learn more about movements for democratizing education see Chapter Ten of Democracy's Edge and visit:

Austin Voices for Education and Youth
Youth Mobilizers
Forum for Youth Investment
School Redesign Network
Federal Hocking School
Coalition of Essential Schools

February, 2006