Democracy learning in a preschool context

The aim of this chapter is to discuss democracy learning as expressed in everyday interactions between teachers and young children in Swedish preschools. The discussion is based on three empirical studies and concerns how a communicative action, characterized by specific qualities, might move hierarchical structures of power in teacher and child interactions and also how these qualities can support children’s democracy learning. These qualities are conceptualized as closeness to the child’s perspective, emotional presence and playfulness. A conclusion is that these qualities contribute with important aspects for democracy learning, i.e. equality, respect and mutual understanding. The chapter also recounts the conditions under which these qualities appear in data related to the contrasting concepts asymmetry versus symmetry, employed in Habermas’ (1995) theory of the communicative action. The purpose is to highlight this theoretical framework from a critical point of view and scrutinize the how-aspect of the communication as a didactic issue