American Schools

The Art of Creating a Democratic Learning Community

By (author) Sam Chaltain Foreword by Sandra Day O'Connor

Publication date:

16 November 2009

Length of book:

184 pages

Publisher

R&L Education

Dimensions:

238x162mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781607092537

In American Schools, Sam Chaltain interweaves the leading ideas from the education, business, and scientific communities to outline a framework for leadership that helps educators and organizational leaders create the optimal conditions for transformational change. By pairing a rich theoretical framework with the stories of communities that have, over several years, tried to create more democratic learning communities, Chaltain does what any reader of this book will have to do - provide enough structure to empower people to do their best work, and enough freedom so that each person's inherent creativity can be unleashed.

Chapter 1 Foreword
Chapter 2 Introduction
Chapter 3 Prologue: Ways of Seeing (and of Being Seen): The Art of the Democratic Learning Community
Part 4 Part I: Theory
Chapter 5 Reflect (or, take the time to know "who's there?")
Chapter 6 Connect (or, make the connections that let you "see the whole board")
Chapter 7 Create (or, remember that "people only support what they create")
Chapter 8 Equip (or, equip people with the understanding, motivation and skills they need to see their new ideas through)
Chapter 9 Let Come (or, practice "urgent patience" to let the school's shared vision come naturally into being)
Part 10 Part II: Practice
Chapter 11 Fairview Elementary School (Modesto, CA)
Chapter 12 Nursery Road Elementary School (Columbia, SC)
Chapter 13 Monadnock Community Connections School (Keene, NH)
Chapter 14 Epilogue: Ways of Seeing (Teec Nos Pos, AZ)

Our country's ongoing commitment to democratic principles can only be actualized if democracy lives in our public schools. This book reveals how schools can help students and teachers see and hear one another, create a strong community, and develop the sensibilities and skills for democratic life. It provides a framework for democratic leadership that is accessible, actionable, and grounded in good pedagogy.