In the United States, we are all members of a Democratic society in which we have both the right and the responsibility to participate in our own governance.

How, then, do we expect our children and young people to learn and practice these skills? Some of these young people, able to participate in our Democratic process, may still be attending a school in which they need permission from an authority figure to eat, drink, and use the bathroom.

Almost overnight, we expect these young people to accept full responsibility for their lives and futures. Without ever being provided robust opportunities to develop these skills, young people are left to piece it together on their eighteenth birthday.

How could we restructure some of the schooling experience to help students develop the skills and thought processes that they will need to be effective participants within a democratic system? How do you teach responsibility, and care for one’s impact on others?

The same way that you teach or learn anything, as it turns out. Through experience. Students need the opportunity to make choices, to see how they impact those around them, and the freedom to mess it up when the consequences are small.

At Community Montessori, students choose what, when, and where they complete their work. Although work is required each day, students have the flexibility and responsibility to decide how they want to complete that work.

As students learn valuable lessons about responsibility to self and the community, they are also learning about setting and achieving their own goals. They learn to leverage resources (such as their teachers, peers, texts, etc.) to acquire needed knowledge to achieve their aims. They experiment and sometimes fail, learning lessons about grit and perseverance.

These skills are more important than learning a coding language or the particulars of how to use computers—being a self-motivated person who understands how to learn will allow students to become productive members of society who continue to learn and grow throughout their lives.

Having that intrinsic motivation enables students to succeed, regardless of where they decide to go and what they decide brings meaning to their lives.