Democratic Classroom Leadership
Upcoming Educator Workshops
Preparing Global Citizens through Democratic Classroom Leadership Summer Institute –
Distance Learning Edition | More information
August 3 – 7, 2020 (Morning sessions) Register Now
August 10 – 14, 2020 (Afternoon sessions) Register Now
Preparing Global Citizens through Democratic Classroom Leadership Summer Institute : Level 2 & 3 –
Distance Learning Edition | More informationAugust 20 – 21, 2020 (Afternoon sessions) Register Now
Democratic Classroom Leadership Workshops
& Coaching for Educators
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- Prepare your students to be global leaders who effectively use the 4 C’s of the 21st Century skills: collaboration, communication, creativity (and innovation), and critical thinking.
- Lead your students to become civically engaged and empathetic citizens inside and outside of the classroom.
- Learn the fundamentals of classroom democratic leadership in a step-by- step process beginning the first day of school.
- Shift your teaching style from one of autocratic management to one of democratic leadership.
- Increase youth engagement, responsibility, and achievement.
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We offer a limited number of scholarships for many of our workshops, in exchange for volunteering prior to, during, and after our workshops. Please contact us to request a scholarship form.
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Participants are eligible to earn clock hours from the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Clock hours are provided free of charge to all educators that attend. Please feel free to contact us for more information.



Introductory Workshops
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This workshop enables teachers to more effectively implement democratic classroom leadership strategies and operationalize culturally responsive teaching via distance learning. Please see the take-aways below. *Partial Scholarships available for all who need it.*
261 educators have participated in the week-long Summer Institute. Of 261, 234 (90%) would recommend it to a colleague. Of that 90%, most indicated they would strongly recommend it. 25 (9.9%) said they may recommend it.
This Summer Institutes’ Take-Aways Specifically Address Distance Learning for Our Upcoming 2020-2021 School Year:
Structures for Equity & Inclusion & Culturally Responsive Teaching
Address and discuss issues of identity, race & equity and inclusion effectively so one can more effectively address one’s own biases (internalized superiority and/or oppression) resulting in students showing up as more whole human beings with their identities intact. And, raise awareness of how students can become active change agents for equity in and outside the classroom.Dual Language & ELL Immersion Strategies
Enable students to gain optimum comfort with languages by entering curriculum around students’ cultures and lived experiences.Class Agreements & Accountability
Create a process in which students collaborate to build curriculum and assessment norms, class-room environment and shared ownership of upholding those agreements with “loving accountability” for their community—moving the teacher from management and “control” (an illusion) to leadership and influence. THEN, move beyond reward & punishment; learn to use restorative practices including natural & logical consequences, encouragement; ie: methodologies based on mutual respect (“power with” rather than “power over”).Class Meetings
Establish a weekly circle forum to work out all “behavioral”, classroom climate issues [ie: opportunities for growth] and to build authentic relationships (student : student and student : educator) & to become a unified team.Community Building on the Positive
Create a powerful team in which all students are integral to the whole; use Theatre of the Oppressed to build group integrity, cooperation, collaboration and compassion. Enable true student leadership to emerge in classroom community. Learn how to build on the positive while ignoring the negative. Learn how to invest in relationships and get invaluable academic and social-emotional returns on your investment.Class Jobs/Roles
Share ownership and responsibility of class, teaching and community with students. Build a sense of belonging for each person.Culture of Critical & Systems Thinking Essential for Interdependent Cooperation
Facilitate community learning (a stake in the commons) in which students learn and practice leadership skills to address critical 21st century global issues.Understanding behavior
Learn to understand the student’s belief behind the behavior in their striving to find a place of belonging. Learn the four mistaken goals of behavior and how you can turn negative behaviors (“confrontational”, “annoying”, “withdrawn”) into positive opportunities for leadership. -
3 Ready-to-Use & Hands-On Strategies to implement tomorrow
Outcomes/Take-Aways:
Participants learn to build three basic building blocks of how to create a democratic classroom within which students learn the 4 C’s of 21st Century skills: collaboration, communication, creativity (and innovation), and critical thinking; students become civically engaged and empathetic global citizens inside and outside of the classroom. Educators learn how to use the following sequentially integrated strategies:Class Agreements: Create class agreements in which youth collaborate to create learning community curriculum and assessment norms, classroom environment and management– a system which invites a deeper level of self and group accountability to performance and behavior.
Community Building Through a Social Justice Framework: Create a powerful team in which all students are integral to the whole; use group grades and theatre of liberation to build group integrity, cooperation, collaboration and compassion. Inside the context of building a powerfully collaborative learning community, address and discuss issues of identity and diversity effectively to raise awareness of how students can become active change agents for equity both within and outside the learning community.
Class Jobs: Share ownership and responsibility of class, teaching and community with students. Learn how to lead, not manage, students to become co-leader-teachers. The result is that students become more invested in the learning community and by extension, their own academic success and that of their classmates.
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Outcomes/Takeaways
Structures for Equity & Inclusion & Culturally Responsive Teaching
Address and discuss issues of identity, race & equity and inclusion so one can more effectively address one’s own biases and internalized superiority and/or oppression; students begin showing up as more whole human beings with their identities intact; raise awareness of how students can become active change agents for equity in and outside the classroom.Class Agreements & Accountability
Create a process in which students collaborate to build curriculum and assessment norms, class-room environment and shared ownership of upholding those agreements with “loving accountability” for their community—moving the teacher from management and “control” (an illusion) to leadership and influence. THEN, move beyond reward & punishment; learn to use restorative practices including natural & logical consequences, encouragement; ie: methodologies based on mutual respect (“power with” rather than “power over”).Class Meetings
Establish a weekly circle forum to work out all “behavioral”, classroom climate issues [ie: opportunities for growth] and to build authentic relationships (student : student and student : educator) & to become a unified team.Community Building on the Positive
Create a powerful team in which all students are integral to the whole; use Theatre of the Oppressed to build group integrity, cooperation, collaboration and compassion. Enable true student leadership to emerge in classroom community. Learn how to build on the positive while ignoring the negative. Learn how to invest in relationships and get invaluable academic and social-emotional returns on your investment.Class Jobs/Roles
Share ownership and responsibility of class, teaching and community with students. Build a sense of belonging for each person.Dual Language & ELL Immersion Strategies
Enable students to gain optimum comfort with languages by entering curriculum around students’ cultures and lived experiences.Culture of Critical & Systems Thinking Essential for Interdependent Cooperation
Facilitate community learning (a stake in the commons) in which students learn and practice leadership skills to address critical 21st century global issues.Understanding behavior
Learn to understand the student’s belief behind the behavior in their striving to find a place of belonging. Learn the four mistaken goals of behavior and how you can turn negative behaviors (“confrontational”, “annoying”, “withdrawn”) into positive opportunities for leadership. -
Design your classes to create engaged civic leaders and global citizens.
Outcomes/Takeaways
Structures for Equity & Inclusion & Culturally Responsive Teaching
Address and discuss issues of identity, race & equity and inclusion so one can more effectively address one’s own biases and internalized superiority and/or oppression; students begin showing up as more whole human beings with their identities intact; raise awareness of how students can become active change agents for equity in and outside the classroom.Class Agreements & Accountability
Create a process in which students collaborate to build curriculum and assessment norms, class-room environment and shared ownership of upholding those agreements with “loving accountability” for their community—moving the teacher from management and “control” (an illusion) to leadership and influence. THEN, move beyond reward & punishment; learn to use restorative practices including natural & logical consequences, encouragement; ie: methodologies based on mutual respect (“power with” rather than “power over”).Class Meetings
Establish a weekly circle forum to work out all “behavioral”, classroom climate issues [ie: opportunities for growth] and to build authentic relationships (student : student and student : educator) & to become a unified team.Community Building on the Positive
Create a powerful team in which all students are integral to the whole; use Theatre of the Oppressed to build group integrity, cooperation, collaboration and compassion. Enable true student leadership to emerge in classroom community. Learn how to build on the positive while ignoring the negative. Learn how to invest in relationships and get invaluable academic and social-emotional returns on your investment.Class Jobs/Roles
Share ownership and responsibility of class, teaching and community with students. Build a sense of belonging for each person.Dual Language & ELL Immersion Strategies
Enable students to gain optimum comfort with languages by entering curriculum around students’ cultures and lived experiences.Culture of Critical & Systems Thinking Essential for Interdependent Cooperation
Facilitate community learning (a stake in the commons) in which students learn and practice leadership skills to address critical 21st century global issues.Understanding behavior
Learn to understand the student’s belief behind the behavior in their striving to find a place of belonging. Learn the four mistaken goals of behavior and how you can turn negative behaviors (“confrontational”, “annoying”, “withdrawn”) into positive opportunities for leadership. -
Design your classes to create engaged civic leaders and global citizens.
Outcomes/Takeaways
Structures for Equity & Inclusion & Culturally Responsive Teaching
Address and discuss issues of identity, race & equity and inclusion so one can more effectively address one’s own biases and internalized superiority and/or oppression; students begin showing up as more whole human beings with their identities intact; raise awareness of how students can become active change agents for equity in and outside the classroom.Class Agreements & Accountability
Create a process in which students collaborate to build curriculum and assessment norms, class-room environment and shared ownership of upholding those agreements with “loving accountability” for their community—moving the teacher from management and “control” (an illusion) to leadership and influence. THEN, move beyond reward & punishment; learn to use restorative practices including natural & logical consequences, encouragement; ie: methodologies based on mutual respect (“power with” rather than “power over”).Class Meetings
Establish a weekly circle forum to work out all “behavioral”, classroom climate issues [ie: opportunities for growth] and to build authentic relationships (student : student and student : educator) & to become a unified team.Community Building on the Positive
Create a powerful team in which all students are integral to the whole; use Theatre of the Oppressed to build group integrity, cooperation, collaboration and compassion. Enable true student leadership to emerge in classroom community. Learn how to build on the positive while ignoring the negative. Learn how to invest in relationships and get invaluable academic and social-emotional returns on your investment.Class Jobs/Roles
Share ownership and responsibility of class, teaching and community with students. Build a sense of belonging for each person.Dual Language & ELL Immersion Strategies
Enable students to gain optimum comfort with languages by entering curriculum around students’ cultures and lived experiences.Culture of Critical & Systems Thinking Essential for Interdependent Cooperation
Facilitate community learning (a stake in the commons) in which students learn and practice leadership skills to address critical 21st century global issues.Understanding behavior
Learn to understand the student’s belief behind the behavior in their striving to find a place of belonging. Learn the four mistaken goals of behavior and how you can turn negative behaviors (“confrontational”, “annoying”, “withdrawn”) into positive opportunities for leadership. -
Objectives: The goals of the workshop are to provide tools for language teachers to create a democratic classroom learning community in which students feel compelled to collaborate and communicate with each other in the target language.Audience: K-16 Chinese and other language teachers (The workshop will be conducted in English)This interactive workshop will engage participants to explore hands-on strategies to build a democratic classroom in which students embrace the target language in unprecedented ways because they are relating to one another and taking on ownership of their learning in entirely new ways. Workshop participants will learn to build a democratic classroom within which students learn the 4 C’s of 21st Century skills: collaboration, communication, creativity (and innovation), and critical thinking; students become civically engaged and empathetic global citizens inside and outside of the classroom. Participants will learn how to use the following sequentially integrated pedagogical strategies:
- Class Agreements: Create class agreements in which youth collaborate to create learning community curriculum and assessment norms, classroom environment and management—a system which invites a deeper level of self and group accountability to performance and behavior.
- Class Meetings: Establish a weekly forum in which student leaders and Educator leader work out all “behavioral”, performance, classroom climate issues as well as a space to build unprecedented authentic relationships (student to student as well as student to educator). The result of which is a return on investment for content and achievement in academic and affective domains.
- Community Building: Create a powerful team in which all students are integral to the whole; use group grades and theatre of liberation to build group integrity, cooperation, collaboration and compassion.
- Class Jobs: Share ownership and responsibility of class, teaching and community with students.
- Peer Accountability Structures: Lead class to create a learning community in which students hold each other accountable and elicit the best from one another for both behavior and learning outcomes.
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4 Hands-On Strategies for K-12 Educators Developing Democratic Classrooms
Outcomes/Take-Aways:
Participants learn to build the basic building blocks of how to create a democratic classroom within which students learn the 4 C’s of 21st Century skills: collaboration, communication, creativity (and innovation), and critical thinking; students become civically engaged and empathetic global citizens inside and outside of the classroom. Educators learn how to use the following sequentially integrated strategies:Class Agreements: Create class agreements in which youth collaborate to create learning community curriculum and assessment norms, classroom environment and management– a system which invites a deeper level of self and group accountability to performance and behavior.
Class Meeting: Establish a weekly forum in which student leaders and Educator leader work out all “behavioral”, performance, classroom climate issues as well as a space to build unprecedented authentic relationships (students to student as well as student to educator). The result of which is a return on investment for content and achievement in academic and affective domains.
Community Building: Create a powerful team in which all students are integral to the whole; use group grades and theatre of liberation to build group integrity, cooperation, collaboration and compassion.
Class Jobs: Share ownership and responsibility of class, teaching and community with students.
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Gain the basic understanding of all negative human behavior and how to work with each student who seems out of reach — whether it is the student who demands your undue attention, the student who likes to show their power over you, who goes as far as taking revenge out on you, or the student who seems hopelessly withdrawn and unwilling to do any work or participate at all.
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Understand the fundamental differences between praise and encouragement. Praise is disempowering yet prevalent in our homes and schools. Learn to build on positive and to minimize mistakes. Our society is obsessed with pointing out mistakes which leads to discouragement and disengagement.



Intermediate Level Workshops
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This year, we are offering one section of Level 2 & 3 via ZOOM with options to earn 6 -24 credit hours. *Partial Scholarships available for all who need it.*
Prerequisite: Participants from previous Summer Institutes are invited to this 2-day workshop to deepen their understanding of the theory and implementation of democratic classroom leadership practices.Educators will gain:
A deeper understanding of behavior – including: using family constellation; decoding the child’s private logic; employing the class meeting to solve all conflicts effectively; winning over traumatized or withdrawn students by addressing mistaken goals.More hands-on skills to empower classes to “make sure that everyone gets it” resulting in a close-knit learning community.
Greater depth and fluidity with restorative practices.
TAKE-AWAYS to build relationships with distance learning:
Structures for Equity & Inclusion & Culturally Responsive Teaching
Address and discuss issues of identity, race & equity and inclusion effectively so one can more effectively address one’s own biases (internalized superiority and/or oppression) resulting in students show ng up as more whole human beings with their identities intact. And, raise awareness of how students can become active change agents for equity in and outside the classroom.Dual Language & ELL Immersion Strategies
Enable students to gain optimum comfort with languages by entering curriculum around students’ cultures and lived experiences.Class Agreements & Accountability
Create a process in which students collaborate to build curriculum and assessment norms, class-room environment and shared ownership of upholding those agreements with “loving accountability” for their community—moving the teacher from manage-ment and “control” to leadership and influence. Move beyond reward & punishment; learn to use restorative practices including natural & logical consequences, encouragement; ie: methodologies based on mutual respect (“power with” not “power over”).Class Meetings
Establish a weekly circle forum to work out all “behavioral”, classroom climate issues [ie: opportunities for growth] and to build authentic relationships (student : student and student : educator) & to become a unified team.Community Building on the Positive
Create a powerful team in which all students are integral to the whole; use Theatre of the Oppressed to build group integrity, cooperation, collaboration and compassion. Enable true student leadership to emerge in classroom community. Learn how to build on the positive while ignoring the negative. Learn how to invest in relationships and get invaluable academic and social-emotional returns on your investment.Class Jobs/Roles
Share ownership and responsibility of class, teaching and community with students. Build a sense of belonging for each person.Culture of Critical & Systems Thinking Essential for Interdependent Cooperation
Facilitate community learning (a stake in the commons) in which students learn and practice leadership skills to address critical 21st century global issues.Understanding behavior
Learn to understand the student’s belief behind the behavior in their striving to find a place of belonging. Learn the four mistaken goals of behavior and how you can turn negative behaviors (“confrontational”, “annoying”, “withdrawn”) into positive opportunities for leadership. -
This workshop builds upon concepts learned in the week-long summer institute and focus on refining teachers’ skill in building effective class meetings and class jobs as well as build a deeper understanding of Adlerian principles in order to improve the way teachers react “in the moment.”
Principles covered include, 4 mistaken goals, logical & natural consequences, putting them in the same boat, and other Adlerian concepts that participants bring up. The workshop will include minimal presentation time and instead, provide ample time for role playing, practical discussion, and hands on application of the tools and concepts covered in the workshop.
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Prerequisite: Participants from previous Summer Institutes are invited to this 2-day workshop to deepen their understanding of the theory and implementation of democratic classroom leadership practices.
Educators will gain:
A deeper understanding of behavior – including: using family constellation; decoding the child’s private logic; employing the class meeting to solve all conflicts effectively; winning over traumatized or withdrawn students by addressing mistaken goals.More hands-on skills to empower classes to “make sure that everyone gets it” resulting in a close-knit learning community.
Greater depth and fluidity with restorative practices.
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See student (and human) behavior through an entirely new lease. Learn how you can turn negative behavior into positive outcomes and how to understand the student’s belief behind the behavior so that your interventions can be more effective.
Outcomes/Take Aways:
Participants learn to identify the four mistaken goals of behavior and how we co-create conflicts. Participants learn how:
- to address students needing undue attention
- to side-step the struggle for power
- to defuse the anger on both sides, and
- to get withdrawn, “hopeless” students re-engaged.
Professional Development Workshops for you School
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FCLC will design a tailor made workshop to suit the needs of your staff and/or school community.
Learn More
Democratic Classroom Leadership Learning Community
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DCL Strategies include:
• Restorative Relationship Building & Problem-Solving Practices
• Class Agreements
• Class Meetings
• Community Building
• Class Jobs & Roles
• Understanding Behavior from Social Justice FrameThe DCL Learning Community Engages Educators to:
• Explore a hands-on culturally responsive and social-emotional pedagogy strategies for building inclusive, equitable, and democratic learning communities.
• Address the opportunity gap by enabling all students to and their place of belonging and embrace their learning and their relationships with peers and the educator in unprecedented ways.
• Build student leadership skills via the 4 Cs of 21st Century skills: collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking.
• Develop their practice in domains 2 (Classroom Environment) and 3 (instruction) of the Danielson framework.Optional Services:
• 1/2 Day Refresher Workshop (3 hrs)
• 1 Day Refresher Workshop (6 hrs)
• Observations & Coaching (as needed)Contact FCLC for more info and to set dates. Consider partnering with another school(s) to offset costs.


