Nurturing Young Social Studies Learners’ Notions of Democracy

When educators, families, and children come together in the classroom to share their diverse cultures, potential exists for learning concepts about democracy, citizenship, and social justice through an immersion experience of interacting together. By involving families and encouraging interaction among them, social studies teachers can organize opportunities to develop democratic learning environments. Such an environment can have a bearing on how children and their families experience a sense of community. Teachers who plan intentional interactions among families of diverse cultures where parents can learn from each other may modify parental child-rearing practices. The three basic parenting styles that can be associated with a young child’s social development are authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive types. It is through these parental exchanges that alternative parenting styles can be observed and possibly adopted. Early childhood social studies educators can support children and caretakers to envision a just and compassionate democracy.