University Leadership: Preserving the Essence of Democratic Education
While we call our workplace the world of “higher education” we seem to have difficulty living in an elevated way where democracy is at the core of how we function. As leaders, many of us ascribe to democratic principles, but in my experience, the implementation of practices reflecting those principles are conspicuously absent in the classroom as well as in the board rooms and conference rooms of a campus. Even in the emerging post-pandemic world, not much has changed. We continue to teach and meet in ways that do not reflect the possibilities that democracy provides. We continue to teach and meet undemocratically.
How do we as educational leaders create and support democratic sites for our faculty, staff, and students?