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coACTION Project Page 6/27 Democratic School Culture This enables democracy to be perceived not only as an abstract subject in the classroom, but also as a concrete everyday experience. Such an environment promotes not only cognitive but also profound social-emotional learning processes, from which the entire school community benefits. Basic psychological needs form the foundation for emotional access to democratic values, attitudes, skills and critical knowledge. If these basic needs remain unmet, especially in terms of safety or belonging, people are limited in their ability to engage in higher cognitive or social learning processes. Democracy education can then remain merely superficial, as it can be taught in theory but not deeply internalized. !"#$ The fulfillment of these needs is therefore a necessary prerequisite for democratic education to go beyond pure knowledge and lead to an emotional attachment to democratic principles. True participation according to Sherry Arnstein As early as 1969, Sherry Arnstein developed her pioneering model “ A Ladder of Citizen Participation ” , which draws a clear distinction between genuine participation in decision-making and merely symbolic participation. Her model divides participation into three main areas: Non-participation, Bogus Participation (Tokenism) and Genuine Participation. The higher the level on this ladder, the greater the actual influence of those affected. The participation ladder can serve as an important diagnostic tool for your school to assess the authenticity of participation processes. It illustrates that a sustainable democratic culture cannot emerge without a conscious effort to transfer power and shift institutional power dynamics.