ABSTRACT
Deliberative democracy, as applied to educational contexts, consists of multiple types of gatherings and forums that bring diverse citizens together (often physically but sometimes virtually) to talk, listen, learn, and better understand their shared educational problems. These forums enable citizens to express their conflicts, build collective understanding, and make or shape decisions and policies for their schools. In localities around the United States, the public is experimenting with these practices on behalf of the future of their public schools. As Matt Leighninger writes in The Next Form of Democracy,
Over the last twenty years, ordinary people have developed new civic attitudes and capacities; they are better educated, more diverse, less apt to defer to government and other forms of authority, more adept at using new technologies, and more willing to take productive (or disruptive) roles in public decision making. 1
