A Democratic Phenomenon: Emerging Adolescent Programs in Montessori Schools

Theories of democratic education make the assumption that democracy’s virtue lies in its inclusiveness, its ability to incorporate previously disenfranchised groups into its political decision making process. However, these theories typically focus solely on the redistribution of power between administrators and teachers, instead of applying their guiding principles to students as well. This exclusion of students is then justified by the assertion that adolescents lack the qualifications necessary to share power in the school’s political process. Thus, theories of democratic education usually conclude that while schools cannot be democratic, because power cannot be shared among all participants, schools that are more inclusive of teachers come closer to the democratic ideal than others.