Possibilities and Limits for Democratisation in Education

This paper aims to consolidate the major themes which emerge from the contributions to this special issue on democracy and education. It traces links between democracy in education and wider social formations, and charts possible directions for the processes of democratisation. It asks whether such moves are just a 'democratic face' to mask economic neo-liberalism, or represent real shifts towards social justice and equality. The paper looks first at the connections between democratisation of schooling and three dimensions of the social structure in a country: the political system and governance; wealth and poverty; and gender relations. It draws the obvious conclusion at this point that education is necessary but not sufficient to achieve radical change in these areas. Secondly, the paper synthesises nine of the emergent processes and avenues for democratisation in education: definitions of democracy; legislation and policy for democracy; decentralisation of education; teacher education; teacher unions and networks; governing bodies and parental participation; student associations and networks; partnerships with outside agencies; and research. The conclusion raises another set of questions about strategy within education, with so much clearly depending on the history of democracy (or its absence) in a country, and on what sorts of definitions, networks and allegiances are possible. Internationalisation and 'cosmopolitan democracy' will certainly become increasingly important in establishing the values involved, and comparative education has a significant role to play here.