Young children’s perceptions and practices of democracy in an early years setting, Scotland

This substantive paper is based on a study conducted at the University of Edinburgh. It investigates young children’s (aged 4-5) understanding of democracy. Considering democracy as a multidimensional concept which is more than form of government, this exploratory project aimed to examine the perceptions and daily democratic practices of young children in a nursery setting. The findings are drawn from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a nursery setting in large Scottish city. The qualitative data was analysed through the thematic analysis procedures. As a result of this study, three themes are identified: collaboration, respect and participation. The findings highlighted that children’s democratic practices are exercised and perceived dominantly in a collaborative, respective and participatory way in their daily lives.

The intelligibility and applicability of democracy by all sections of society are important. The impact of early ages on the future is remarkable and the knowledge and skills gained in these years are vital. In terms of education of young children in nurseries, this paper reveals the importance of applying democratic activities to sustain children’s inner capacities. This could lead to further curriculum contents and learning processes which emphasises collaboration, respect and participation in terms of enabling democratic practices in early years settings. To this end, the findings of this study could give an insight for early years practitioners to widen children’s spaces for taking part in.

Conducting ethnographic methods with very early ages is starting to be highlighted practice between researchers in childhood studies and education since it enables children as social actors who take an active part in shaping the form that their own childhoods take. Counter to dominant stereotypes about young children being unable to take part in democratic practices, this ethnographic research highlighted children’s views on democracy for further educational and social policies affecting their position in everyday lives. In this way, ethnography as a methodology could grow not only to describe the researched phenomena but also to have a key role in shaping the concepts and practices with direct contribution of its participants. Thus, the key contribution is about stressing ethnography as a method for participation and making young children’s voices heard.

Following principles have enforced within the ethnographic part of this study. The world of children was reached with the help of a gatekeeper. After the forms of consent were collected from families as an obligation, verbal consents were obtained from the children. Many of the children were curious and have already stated that they wanted to have a ‘nick name’ for my notes. Participatory observation was done with children in the nursery every day for 1 month and all activities were attended including forest school sessions. In this way, a rich data about the daily routines/patterns of children in this nursery and the location of democracy in these patterns were reached. During the process, the researcher diary was used to provide reflexivity and the validity and reliability of the data were increased.

Besides the positive aspects of ethnography that research diary provided, the personal challenges that I have experienced were reflected through this. As a researcher from another culture, it took me a long time to get used to the environment and to understand the dynamics within. For instance, language was a barrier at first but then I realized that it has enrichen and deepen my relationship with children every time when I ask about the examples or explanations for a certain thing. Additionally, the ethnographic part of the study constructs different concept and questions related to my current doctoral research about children’s decision-making processes and adult-child power dynamics within these processes. This clearly addresses the power of ethnography for further curiosity of the researcher within its principles and dynamics.