Twice a week I have been observing an 8th grade teacher at Goshen Middle School. I continue to be impressed with how my teacher makes US History relevant to her students. Yesterday in class she was attempting to explain the difference between a monarchy and a representative democracy. It was obvious that most of the students were not interested in the difference. To help put the idea into terms that the students could understand she brought up an issue they had talked about at the beginning of class.
Right before class started my teacher had told a student to spit out his gum. He wanted to know why they couldn't chew gum in class. She told him that it was a school rule. Next she explained that the decision to ban gum from school was made by school administrators, much like a king or ruler in a monarchy would make a decision by themselves that was then passed down to everyone else.
My teacher had the students brainstorm a better way for decisions to be made. They discussed how it wouldn't work for the entire school, students, teachers, and administrators to try to come to a consensus. Instead a better idea would be to have one or two students from each class speak on behalf of the entire classes wishes. Bam! All of a sudden the idea of a representative government goes from being abstract to concrete!
What a great teaching moment!
FYI: Blue countries have a representative democracy.
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