Top ways to promote democracy
British Values in the early years are still a fairly new concept however they are highly important in creating an outstanding environment where children can grow up to be a respectful member of society. British values are made of four separate concepts – Democracy, Mutual Respect, and tolerance, Rule of Law and Individual Liberty. You can find out more about these here.
Children in the early years are incredibly observant and many might be aware of the recent election that has taken place so now would be a brilliant time to discuss real democracy in Britain and begin promoting it within the setting in many different ways across the day.
What is Democracy?
Democracy within the early years is all about teaching children that their opinions are important and that each child’s thoughts and feelings should be listened to and valued. Democracy is also about teaching children that sometimes we are given the power to choose and make decisions as individuals and as a group. Turn taking and sharing all come under democracy, much of democracy is promoted through personal, social and emotional development within the EYFS.
Although this appears to be a fairly difficult concept for children to understand, it is an important skill and notion that children need to fully understand. It is very easy to promote and much of this is done during daily practice without practitioners realising.
Top ways to promote democracy
- Polling station – As discussed above we have recently taken part in voting so creating a voting station in the role play corner would give children an understanding of what all the adults have recently taken part in. This shows the children how democracy works for adults. Although this is not expected by Ofsted and would not be part of the daily routine or work for children of all ages this may be a great activity to follow any interests in the election the children have been displaying
- Daily choice board – Give children the option to choose which activities they are having out during the morning session. Encourage them to respect other peoples decisions and discuss how children feel when the activity they would like isn’t chosen for that session. For example you might give children the choice over what goes in the water tray such as the water animals, funnels, dinosaurs etc… So that all children can display their choice even if they cannot verbally communicate use picture cards that the children can pick up or point to show their opinions.
- Song Board – This is great for children of all ages. Display picture cards of songs on the floor and allow children to pick up the card which shows the song they would like to sing. Similarly to above encourage all the children to respect the decisions made by their friends.
- Snack time – Get children to display a show of hands as to what they would prefer for snack. For example give them the choice between apple or banana and then take a vote. Whichever choice is the most popular that is what should be put out for snack. Talk about any feelings the children have when their choice isn’t what’s decided.
- Turn taking – This can be done in a variety of ways through games, letters and sounds activities and times when there are limited resources.
- Emotions – Help children to identify their emotions and talk about reasons for these emotions. Many emotions will be displayed by children in times when group democracy is promoted. Identifying emotions is an important step in children being able to manage their emotions. Find a list of resources to help promote this here.
These ideas can all be incorporated into daily routines or specifically planned for. Practitioners need to be aware of how and when they are promoting democracy in order to be able to evidence and discuss this should an Ofsted inspector arrive. Use this poster to help you provide evidence that your setting is promoting British Values whenever possible.