Democracy and early childhood: diverse representations of democratic education in post-dictatorship Portugal

Abstract

Education systems are often expected to play a key role in developing, maintaining and promoting democratic values and behaviours. This is particularly apparent in Portugal where, after nearly half a century of dictatorship ending in 1974, democracy emerged as a central national aspiration, especially within Early Childhood Education (ECE). However, the ambiguity of the term 'democracy' has allowed policy makers, academics and educators alike to promote diverse understandings of its meaning. This article delves into the ambiguities of democracy, revealing its flexible and context-dependent nature through the diverse representations of democracy encountered in three early years settings in Portugal: a public (state) kindergarten, a not-for-profit kindergarten and a private kindergarten. Using interviews, documentary analysis and observations we illustrate the diverse ways in which democracy was represented in each setting. We classify these representations of democracy as structural, individual and collective. We argue that these reflect the different ideologies of the three types of schools that draw upon particular theoretical understandings and socio-political developments in Portugal's educational history.

Teachers’ ideas about children’s participation within Portuguese early childhood education settings

“…In western societies, discourses about children's rights tend to challenge ideologies of children as innocent or less competent to decide and exert influence (James & James, 2004). ECE teachers who participated in this study have diverse conceptions of children's participation, either reflecting its structural, individual, or more collective nature (Sousa & Oxley, 2019). Nonetheless, despite the growing recognition of children's right to participate, promoting children's participation remains a challenge (Lansdown, 2010;Prout, 2003), which is consistent with the high number of teachers focusing on the contextual constraints to the implementation of children's participation.…”

“…2007). Moreover, within the public context, Portuguese ECE teachers' beliefs seem to reflect rules and structures predetermined by adults, focusing on preparing children for future life and schooling, with fewer opportunities for children's choice (Sousa & Oxley, 2019). Importantly, previous research shows Portuguese ECE teachers in the public ECE sector are typically older (Pinto et al, 2014), which may help explain these findings.…”

“…In private non-profit centres, half of the teachers were represented in the Teachers Conditioned Responsibility profile. In Portugal, private non-profit centres generally aim at providing access and equal opportunities for children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, reducing social inequalities (Sousa & Oxley, 2019). It seems consistent with this mission, that in addition to their responsibility, teachers also consider children's benefits and child-level obstacles in their views on implementing children's participation.…”

“…We aimed to investigate ECE teachers' ideas about children's participation In comparison with other European countries (except for Spain), Portugal is a considered a traditionally collectivist society (Hofested, 2001), thus emphasising values of collective responsibility, cooperation, and shared decision making (Marchand & d'Orey, 2008). Moreover, children's rights, and specifically children's right to participate, are particularly relevant in Portugal, where after almost half a century of a dictatorship that ended in 1974, democracy related concerns (i.e., towards the protection and promotion of personal interests, fundamental rights, freedoms, and opportunities to choose and participate in decision making), in alignment with European and international discourses, emerged as a national mandate, shared by policy makers, academics, and ECE practitioners (Sousa & Oxley, 2019). In this study, we aimed to investigate Portuguese ECE teachers' ideas regarding children's participation, including the meaning of participation, the strategies to promote participation, the conditions needed to support children's participation and potential obstacles, and potential benefits of children's participation.…”