Support for Democratic Schooling: Classroom Level Change via Cooperative Learning

Abstract

This article focuses on the success of the instructional initiative of cooperative learning. It differs from other articles on cooperative learning since it views this instructional initiative as a part of recent school reform, specifically the democratic schools movement. As a classroom level reform initiative, the application of this universal pedagogical method is recommended as a vehicle for teaching democratic principles. However, the actual use of any instructional initiative is typically based on teachers' judgments about its viability. Therefore, we stress the importance of theory, research, and modeling when making judgments about the application of cooperative learning. We hope that this information will enable teachers at all levels to make positive judgments about the use of cooperative learning methods in the classroom. By doing so, teachers have the opportunity to support classroom-level reform toward democratic schooling.