Fields and Principles of Democratic Governance of the School

Abstract

The research question is to identify participant’s(school society’s) perception of the barriers in implementing democratic governance into Georgian schools. To examine this the research will focus on:

1.             Studying the principles of democratic governance in different schools.

2.             Studying the views of school society to understand their views/perspectives on the importance of introducing democratic governance

3.             Making recommendation for Georgian Schools how to face these barriers of implementing democratic governance in schools

This study was a convenience sample of teachers, students, and parents from six secondary schools located in the Republic of Georgia.  The target segment of the Survey were six schools in Western Georgia (3 public and 1 private school in Batumi, 1 private school in Kutaisi, 1 public school in Kobuleti). 105 teachers, 123 students and 112 parents were surveyed.

As this study has shown, the democratic process of school governance has much promise.  Because children learn in a social environment, when democratic governance becomes a part of the fabric of the school, it becomes a type of hidden curriculum.  Students then can learn more about democracy, because they see it in action and live it through their experiences.  By allowing parents to have more say in the educational process, this assures that minority populations are not marginalized or ignored, but they can have a say in the education process as well.  When a school director allows the BoT, and through it teachers, parents, and students to have meaningful input into policy decisions, this not only lightens his load, but also increases commitment on the part of all parties concerned.  When these groups all participate in the rule- and policy-making process, they will have a higher commitment to making sure that it is a success.  It is hoped that the knowledge gained through this study will be valuable in helping Georgian school members to see the areas where there are challenges, and use the recommended approaches in order to improve schools and move them towards democratic governance, which will benefit not only students in school, but society at large as well.

Keywords: Democratic Governance, Relationships, Curriculum, School environment.,