Democracy and Citizenship in Early Childhood Social Studies Education: Perspectives Grounded on Kenya’s Competency-Based Curriculum

This qualitative study examines how early childhood and lower primary educators in Kenya conceptualize and describe their enactment of civic and democratic education within the framework of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC). Guided by a Critical Civic Relational lens, the study foregrounds democracy as a relational, ethical, and community-embedded practice rather than a discrete body of civic knowledge. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews, written reflections, and analysis of instructional artifacts, including lesson plans, classroom routines, assessment tools, and samples of student work. Findings indicate that educators perceive young children as capable of participating in democratic life through everyday classroom practices such as co-constructing norms, engaging in peer collaboration, exercising shared responsibility, and participating in culturally grounded civic activities. Civic learning was described as contextual and multidimensional, rooted in local knowledge systems, community values, and relational ethics. At the same time, educators identified structural constraints including large class sizes, limited professional development, and assessment pressures that shaped how democratic practices were realized. Rather than abandoning civic goals, teachers described adaptive strategies that embedded democratic values into daily routines and informal pedagogies. By centering educators’ perspectives alongside instructional artifacts, this study challenges deficit-oriented assumptions about young children’s civic capacities and contributes a Global South perspective to scholarship on early childhood democratic education. Implications are discussed for social studies educators, teacher preparation, curriculum policy, and future research on civic learning in early childhood contexts.