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Children’s Participation . Overview of the Issues :. 1. Definitions - children’s public action and participation. 2. Why are theorisations of childhood important? 3. Bias and the dominant models of childhood. 4. Our country contexts – India, South Africa, Scotland
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Children’s Participation Overview of the Issues: 1. Definitions - children’s public action and participation. 2. Why are theorisations of childhood important? 3. Bias and the dominant models of childhood. 4. Our country contexts – India, South Africa, Scotland 5. Issues of power and governance 6. Ideas about competence - learning from children 7. Organisational issues 8. The ethics of children’s participation
Hart’s Ladder of Participation Hart, R. A. (1992) Children’s Participation: from tokenism to citizenship, Geneva: UNICEF Int. Child Development Centre.
1. Definitions - public action and participation. • Instrumental as stakeholders vs social transformation • Private sphere vs public sphere • Competence as agents of social change vs spaces and legal frameworks • Do we have examples of acknowledging (even financing?) children’s own forms of participation? • What examples do we have of children’s participation leading to policy impact? • What constitutional rights relating to participation are accorded to children? (does this translate into budgetary expenditure, other initiatives?)
2. Why are theorisations important? +ve/-ve +ve/-ve Influence ‘biases’ • Emergent policy • Research methods • Programmes & projects • Funding decisions • Enhanced Understanding • Lesson learning past present future
3. Bias and the dominant models of childhood. • The age bias – where are resources focused? • The protection bias - what are children’s own priorities? • The working child bias – who participates? • The family unit bias – have we understood the context?
4. Country contexts – India, South Africa, Scotland • South Africa – strong constitution with human rights’ focus – participation weakly theorised • India - strong civil society and progressive approaches. Media attention puts pressure on the private sector. Child advocates have gained policy prominence. • Scotland - ‘top-down’. Participation rights in legislation but lacks a strategy for sustainability. NGOs often implementers. Political engagement falls short of citizens. • How have predominant models of childhood and their relative status - influenced the extent to which children are engaged as public actors in different regions? • Why are there so few ‘grass-roots’ organisations run by children? • What are the range of adult roles in children’s participation?
5. Issues of power and governance • Children’s perceived place in society shapes the nature of participation • The power of social institutions and the power of individuals interdependent • Is access inevitably controlled by adults? • What do we understand by governance? • What processes support or inhibit children’s public actions? • How can political theories enhance our understanding of the process of children’s influence on policy? • Are there models of power that offer a more nuanced and complex account that moves us beyond polarizations?
6. Ideas about competence - learning from children • Development psychologists and stages of childhood • Articles 12 and 14 of the UNCRC • Limiting factor - adult or child competence? • How can the understanding from psychology help inform how we engage with children as social actors? • How can an enabling environment be created that is free from bias such as age, gender, economic background and caste?
Example –Child Rights Project • Working children • NGOs - Rugmark • Ministry of Labour • Central Carpet Industry • Donors - DFID • Sociocultural context • Law and custom • Children’s perspective – past and present histories • Organisational histories
Post Project Evaluation Ex Post Syntheses Monitoring Review Sectoral & Regional Syntheses Activity to Output Concurrent Evaluation Output to Purpose quarterly reporting OPR Organisational issues - DFID PCM PEC Design & Appraisal Project Submission Concept Note LF HS Identification Approval Completion PCR Implementation
8. The ethics of children’s participation • Are existing protocols and mechanisms to protect children sufficient? • Whose responsibility is it to ensure the transfer of knowledge into policy or practice? • How do current understandings of research ethics in relation to children affect their participation in research?
9. The impact of children as public actors • Empirical knowledge limited • Influence of history, cultures and policy processes • Local understandings of family and childhood • New theoretical models needed • What goals of social transformation are aspired to – and reached? • How to we judge the impact of children’s public action • – and from whose perspective?
