Can professional development contribute to the promotion of democratic classroom cultures? Perspectives for citizenship education from teachers in Cameroon

How can education contribute to the formation of democratic citizens and the promotion of a democratic culture? Creating spaces for democratic learning processes is a specific challenge for education, if the school environment... [ view full abstract ]

How can education contribute to the formation of democratic citizens and the promotion of a democratic culture? Creating spaces for democratic learning processes is a specific challenge for education, if the school environment is anti-democratic, dictatorial or authoritarian and if communication in school and in class is characterized by strong hierarchy as well as by a lack of participatory structures. Focus of the research was the question, whether and how professional development can contribute to the promotion of democratic classroom cultures. Therefore, a professional development programme in Cameroon was analysed, which aims to train teachers in creating learning spaces for their students (i) for participation in class and on school level, (ii) for critical reflection and (iii) for forming their own opinion. This programme follows a comprehensive understanding of democracy. On the one hand it focuses on the delivery of knowledge on key aspects of democratic communal life and on the other hand it aims to enable students to experience a ‘democratic way of life’ in class and in school (as emphasized by Dewey). The study was designed as cross-sectional control group design, comparing trained and untrained teachers. Besides a teacher questionnaire survey (N=292) also lessons were videotaped (N=15). The analysis of both data formats revealed that the trained teachers that participated in professional development activities enable students to experience participative democracy by using participatory teaching methods in class and by facilitating democratic student elections on school level.