coACTION_dsc_en

coACTION Project Page 20/27 Democratic School Culture Implementation at Arnstein levels 6-8: Teachers can establish structures of genuine participation in their daily work: • Partnership (level 6): The class council with decision-making powers is a central element in which pupils develop rules, resolve conflicts and help plan activities. This also includes the joint development of classroom rules or voting on excursion dates. • Delegated power (level 7): Responsibility for AGs, learning methods or project design lies with the children, with teachers providing advice. An example of this is when pupils themselves decide on project methods or objectives. • Citizen control (level 8): Children independently set up and run initiatives such as a school magazine, a school garden or a “ break time office ” for toy loans. One concrete example is the Paul Hindemith elementary school in Freiburg, where there are corridor parliaments and a school parliament in which pupils discuss issues and take responsibility. During a project week, pupils could plan a play independently, with the theme, roles, direction and performance in their own hands. Working groups or project initiatives such as a school company can also be fully or largely initiated by pupils and implemented independently. Contribution to competence building Genuine co-determination gives pupils the opportunity to develop key democratic skills: Values such as respect (every opinion counts), justice (everyone has rights) and solidarity (you can only move forward together). They develop attitudes of courage , responsibility , commitment and self-confidence because they feel that their voice counts. In the class council, they practise skills such as moderation , teamwork , decision - making , democratic discussion and compromise . At the same time, they acquire knowledge about how decision-making processes work and what rights and obligations they have as a class community. Their critical understanding grows through Attitudes Values Skills Knowledge