ABSTRACT
This chapter considers more general points applicable to the practice of teaching in schools. Democratic teaching makes more demands on the teacher, who must be able and ready to pick out the children's own ideas and experiences, to help to focus partly-formed conclusion and to work with the children in building up their knowledge and autonomy. Class teaching, for instance, is a valuable forum for the primary presentation of new material, or demonstrating, putting individual ideas into perspective, integrating the products of separate group learnings, etc. Behaviour modification in the western world has been concerned with the direct reinforcement of positive or 'good' behaviour of individual children in the classroom, in order to improve work output. The earliest education provides the first guided opportunities to explore and learn social and perceptual skills. Discoveries can be made by the child working alone, but there is always a friendly teacher to learn and talk with nearby.
