2025 Theses Doctoral

Problems and Prospects of Democratic Design with Roundtable Discussion

Mishrikey, Joshua F.

This project investigates the relationship between participation patterns—namely, ones associated with equality and variety—in roundtable discussions and teachers’ perceptions of their democratic quality, and it does so through an integrative methodological approach. While discussion-based learning tends to promote democratic pedagogical practice, a limited amount of empirical research examines how the structural and content features of discussions, such as turn-taking patterns, influence teachers’ evaluations of their deliberative and equitable nature.

The empirical chapters analyze data from school observations collected via Dialogic, a web-based program that tracks discussion dynamics, alongside on-site observations and semi-structured interviews with seven teachers. Phase I employs regression analyses and multilevel modeling to explore how proxy variables for variety and equality, as well as controls, predict teachers’ democracy scores. Phase II uses inductive thematic analysis and descriptive quantification to examine how teachers perceive and facilitate discussions.

Results suggest that increased variety and equality in turn-taking positively correlate with higher democracy scores, though these factors alone explain limited variance. Furthermore, smaller class sizes brought with them lower perceived democratic quality. Phase II reveals that teachers often act as counter-majoritarian facilitators, suggesting that optimal discussions blend democratic participation with strategic teacher intervention. The study concludes that roundtable discussions function best as a “mixed-rule” format, balancing student-driven dialogue with teacher guidance to foster equitable and deliberative learning spaces. These findings contribute to understanding how structural and facilitative elements shape democratic educational practices.