Stumbled on this in Google+ from Benjamin Wilkoff about the consensus process being used at Occupy Wall Street.
This has potential for so many questions and discussion topics with students.
- What is actual democracy?
- Is the current government of the United States a democracy?
- Whose voice is most important in an democracy?
- For PBL it is a great example of how student groups should function.
- What are the weaknesses of this form of government?
- Does this scale to a national level and what would that look like?
- How can we make sure more opinions are heard and given a true seat at the table before decisions are made?
- How can we implement the consensus model in schools?
- How could the consensus model be used in your classroom?
- How could the consensus model be used with students in curriculum planning and design?
I wonder how you'd teach about democracy in Utah? Even if not in Utah, their stance on democracy is worthy of discussion:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51390319-76/bill-compound-constitutional-curriculum.html.csp
@Raymond
ReplyDeleteBased on that short story I have no problem teaching that the United States is a Republic as long as it does not prohibit from also teaching about democracy, socialism, capitalism, etc. In truth the United States is none of these things in their "pure" form and is a hybrid of many ideas/systems.
Some other questions this brings to mind:
ReplyDelete- Citizens in the U.S. have to be 18 to vote. Should people have to reach a certain age to participate in direct democracy?
- How would you prepare people - or "educate" them - to participate in this process? What intellectual and social skills do the participants need for a General Assembly to work?
Here is an interesting read: The Intellectual Roots of Wall St. Protest Lie in Academe - http://chronicle.com/article/Intellectual-Roots-of-Wall/129428/
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