Practices/2, Japan: The Exploration of Four-Year-Olds Potential: Focusing the Democratic Meeting During the Sports Festival Day

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to describe the initial encounter of a democratic meetings between children and their preschool teacher and to examine children’s involvement in democratic practices during class activities. Democratic meetings are defined as those providing participants with the opportunity to care for, expand and share each other’s experiences. We examined the practices of Japanese preschool education, with an emphasis on learning, careful listening and empathy amongst children. This research is based on the idea that every child has agency and can be understood as an equal participant in everyday life. Research found that children’s potential can be reflected in their expression of feelings and their attainment of goals, as well as through their interactions via indirect engagement with teachers.