PATTERNS OF PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS IN INVESTIGATIONS WITH DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES IN CLASSROOMS (LEARNING, TEACHING).

This study focused on the identification of patterns of personal relationships that were documented in a series of thirteen investigations involving a Theory of Democratic Processes in Classrooms. Descriptive summaries and analyses of the various investigations were sought with the intent of identif...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: WILDE, LOIS VICTORIA.
Other Authors: Barnes, William D.
Language:en
Published: The University of Arizona. 1984
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10150/187900
http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/187900
Description
Summary:This study focused on the identification of patterns of personal relationships that were documented in a series of thirteen investigations involving a Theory of Democratic Processes in Classrooms. Descriptive summaries and analyses of the various investigations were sought with the intent of identifying additional concepts and insights which might contribute to the theory. The investigator sought answers to the following questions: (1) What investigations were undertaken? (2) How were the investigations conducted? (3) What were the major findings of the investigations? (4) What patterns of personal relationships were reported? (5) What implications for the theory have occurred as a consequence of the investigations? A review of related literature dealt with descriptions of personal relationships in classrooms which tended to foster democracy in education. Literary references for such descriptions included the thirteen investigations identified and used in this study. Literary considerations regarding the Theory of Democratic Processes in Classrooms were evolved regarding each of the categories employed as an analytical framework. One chapter of this study was devoted to detailing information regarding the date, author, title, problem statement, assumptions, methods, and findings of each of the thirteen investigations. The data chapters presented the findings of the coded results of the various investigations. In the final chapter, patterns of personal relationships concerning concepts and insights derived from the investigations were reported. Among the concepts and insights concerned with these patterns, the following seemed most heuristic: (1) Democratic processes tend to be experienced in an environment where there is daily interaction; where individuals seem to be in charge of their own choices; and where persons seem to accompany each other in a supportive manner, and (2) When democratic processes are experienced, persons tend to develop their maximum potential; learning appears to involve intrapersonal explorations of interests; and an atmosphere of freedom and trust tends to allow for mutual respect and concern.