The internalisation of basic democratic values among children in primary school

The stability of democracies depends substantially on the development of democratic attitudes and values among their citizens (Easton, 1975). For the development of basic values and as well as political attitudes and orientations, childhood and adolescence in particular have proven to be important phases (Döring et al., 2018; Watermann, 2005). Nevertheless, empirical research has for long time focussed on adolescence and young adulthood (Jennings et al., 2009). Instead, recent empirical studies have shown that "the foundation for values” is laid in childhood (Döring et al., 2018: 37). Following, initial studies have shown that democratic values can already be observed in children from the first grade onwards (Abendschön, 2010). Yet, there is still a lack of empirical findings on political socialisation processes in childhood (Becher & Gläser, 2019). In the field of research on basic values, the model of Schwartz has achieved international acceptance. He defines ten basic values and four higher-order dimensions: Openness to change, self-transcendence, conservation and self-enhancement (Schwartz, 1992). Various empirical studies have already shown that these core values also serve as a basis for political attitudes and values (Caprara et al., 2017). In addition, with the Picture-Based Value Survey for Children (PBVS-C) there is an instrument to measure the model within children (Döring et al., 2010). In addition to the generally small number of empirical studies on political attitudes in childhood, the relationship between political values and basic values in particular has not yet been investigated. This is where the present study comes in. Following on from the findings of Abendschön (2010) and Döring (2008), both basic values and basic democratic attitudes were measured in a standardised survey of children and their teachers in the third and fourth grades. The data can be used to gain important insights into the two relevant research questions: 1. To what extent can basic democratic values already be observed in children in primary school? 2. How can possible differences in the internalisation of basic democratic values be identified? Following on from the findings on the connection between basic values and political values, it can be assumed that the value dimension of self-transcendence vs. self-enhancement in particular has a crucial influence (Schwartz et al., 2010). This can possibly be transferred to a fundamental believe in democratic values. In addition, the children’s opportunities for participation and the person of the teacher could have an influence on the internalisation of democratic values. The analysis of approximately 400 children's questionnaires shows that children already have quite complex democratic attitudes, but in many situations tend to favour authoritarian decisions. It also shows that the preference for authoritarian decisions in particular correlates with higher-order basic values. For example, there are significant correlations between the preference for authoritarian decisions and the higher-order dimensions of conservation (positive) and openness to change (negative). In addition, preliminary calculations indicate that both the perceived opportunities for participation within the school and the attitudes and values of the class teachers have a significant influence on the internalisation of values in children.