Purpose of the League of Democratic Schools:
To develop ongoing, sustainable mechanisms
for deepening our community's understanding and engagement around the
public purpose of schools in our democracy. This is done through networking teachers with democratic ideals and providing the groundwork for democratic curricula.
Guiding Beliefs:
The Wyoming League of Democratic Schools
believes that schooling is the ideal place to teach children and youth
the knowledge, skills, and attitudes condusive to living, working,
playing, and contributing in a democracy.
The League's purpose is to promote professional development for
educators and administrators that emphasizes the importance of teaching
democractic traits in schools, such as respect, cooperation,
open-mindedness, and responsibility.
League member schools help advance the Agenda for Education in a Democracy.
Characteristics of League member schools:
- Democratic purpose: LODS schools believe that the primary
purpose of schooling is to develop in young people the knowledge,
skills, and attitudes students require for successful participation in
our nation's social and political democracy.
- Student achievement: Students in such schools are successful academically and socially.
- Ongoing professional development: All members of the school community engage in continuous learning.
- Approaches to learning: League schools use a wide variety
of approaches to learning including engaging students with parents and
other adults within the community.
- Personalization: These schools deliberately personalize
the relationships among students, teachers, parents, and administrators
either by being small enough so that faculty members can gather as a
group for dialogue or, if larger, by making other arrangements to
facilitate communications among the members of the school community.
