Which of the following is not a democratic strategy in classroom teaching?

Teaching strategies are classified as democratic (learner-centred) or autocratic (teacher-centred). A democratic strategy gives students an active role — they question, decide, discover, or collaborate — while an autocratic strategy has the teacher transmit information one-way with students as passive recipients.

In the Lecture method, the teacher speaks and students mainly listen; there is little scope for students to question, choose their own path, or collaborate — a one-way, teacher-controlled structure. This is exactly the profile of an autocratic (non-democratic) strategy, so Lecture is the strategy that is not democratic among those offered.

• Project method: students themselves select, plan, and carry out a real task — full student decision-making, a democratic feature.

• Heuristic method: students discover the principle or fact for themselves through guided inquiry, so control of the learning process rests substantially with the student — a democratic feature.

• Brainstorming: every group member freely contributes ideas with equal standing and no early judgement — an inherently participative, democratic activity.

Each of the three alternatives places the student in an active, decision-making role, while only the lecture method keeps the teacher as the sole active party — confirming that Lecture is the odd one out.