Conference Program

Interactions between young children are key to understanding how the foundations for participation and belonging are articulated from early childhood. Various pedagogical approaches agree that educational democracy requires environments that guarantee pupils' dignity, promote genuine forms of participation and address the structural causes that give rise to exclusion or inequality. These premises find an obvious parallel in the role that daily interactions between children in the early years of life play in the nursery school context, as they shape relational spaces where autonomy, negotiation, peer care and coexistence are at play.

Firstly, children's interactions constitute early practices of freedom and democracy. Democratic and critical pedagogies, represented by authors such as Dewey and Freire, argue that democracy is learnt by living and practising it in everyday life, especially in relationships (Dewey, 1997; Freire, 2000). From this perspective, children's spontaneous interactions—negotiating meanings, listening and being listened to, managing conflicts and exercising autonomy—become experiences that anticipate incipient forms of agency and democratic coexistence.

A well-designed early years setting, as a mindful context, is a space where participation and individual responsibility in collective endeavour are put into practice, and not merely a place where rules or values are taught in an abstract way.

Secondly, educational research indicates that participation, voice and trusting relationships become protective factors against early school leaving, especially in contexts characterised by social inequalities. When, from early childhood, environments are provided where the child is listened to, cooperation is promoted and relationships are valued, conditions are created that foster well-being, educational continuity and a bond with the school.

In this context, a significant contribution is made through a qualitative study that analyses in depth the interactions between children aged 1 to 3.5 years in nursery school. Through a process of direct and systematic observation, the relational network that emerges from the children's daily lives is described and classified, and the nature, the duration and complexity of interactions in natural situations, offering a glimpse into the richness and diversity of these early forms of relationship that are the basis of a participatory and democratic education.

The results reveal the richness, variety and sociocognitive value of these relationships, demonstrating that children learn from and with their peers and that their interactions constitute mechanisms of mutual learning, the construction of agency and socio-emotional development. This empirical corpus reinforces the idea that true democratic education begins in the early years of life by showing that early interactions operate as genuine practices of freedom and coexistence, anticipating forms of participation and social engagement characteristic of participatory education.

In summary, interactions between young children can be understood as the first manifestation of a daily democratic practice. These experiences foster the building of bonds and the creation of caring and belonging environments, thus contributing to the prevention of future inequalities. Indeed, the need is highlighted to address early childhood as a privileged space for promoting democratic education practices from day one.