International Journal of Education for Social Justice, 2020, 9(2), What do Primary School Students of Buenos Aires and Madrid Think about School Participation?

The present study aims to find out the ideas that 4th and 6th grade Primary Education students in Madrid and Buenos Aires have about school participation. 153 individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with girls and boys aged 9 and 11 from both countries, in which they were asked to resolve a specific dilemma regarding democratic participation in schools. The results show that girls and boys in 4th and 6th grade of primary school in both cities mostly maintain a conception of participation from an approach that emphasizes the role of personal autonomy in democratic decision-making, in contrast to a focus more centered on authority and merit. There are also gender differences in the representations of school participation in both samples, as well as differences by city in these representations. We conclude by highlighting the importance of investigating how different children's representations develop and coordinate when they interpret and evaluate social reality based on their own experiences with particular cultural practices and educational contexts, in order to account for participation, decision-making and social justice.