Democracy thrives on participation (Endeward et al. 2016). The active engagement of citizens in society depends on their political understanding, which requires both knowledge and political awareness. This awareness is cultivated from childhood (Marci-Boehncke, Rath & Rusch 2023), as "childhood is not a politics-free zone, and children's lives are by no means apolitical" (Belwe 2005). Children enter the school system with prior exposure to political education, but where does this early political understanding originate, and what socio-political knowledge do they possess?

The interdisciplinary research project PoJoMeC at TU Dortmund, funded by the Federal Agency for Civic Education, investigates these questions. The project emphasizes the relationship between media and world understanding (Goll et al. 2023), as media act as "mediators of the world and generators of worldviews, shaping our perception of reality" (Rath 2014). This is particularly significant in the context of politics. Mass media and the communication about them plays a critical role in early childhood education. This is also reflected in the educational principles for children aged 0 to 10 in North Rhine-Westphalia by highlighting media as one of the crucial "influences in the constantly evolving world of children" (MFKJKS 2016).

This paper presents the findings from the first phase of the PoJoMeC research project, focusing on how socio-political knowledge is acquired through media, family, and early childhood education institutions such as kindergartens. The study also examines the role of daycare centers as the first non-family institution providing democratic experiences for children (vbw 2020, BMFSFJ 2020).

Authors:
Raphaela Tkotzyk, TU University Dortmund, Germany
Johanna Lategahn, TU Dortmund University, Germany
Gudrun Marci-Boehncke, TU Dortmund University, Germany
Thomas Goll, TU Dortmund University, Germany
Eva-Maria Goll, TU Dortmund University, Germany
Michael Steinbrecher, TU Dortmund University, Germany

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. phil. Raphaela Tkotzyk is currently an Assistant Professor of German and Media Didactics at the Institute of Diversity Studies, TU Dortmund University, Germany.

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