Children's right to participate in early childhood education settings: A systematic review

Abstract

Children's right to participate is considered pivotal for establishing a culture of democracy and citizenship. Although this not a new concept, its application remains a challenge. This review aims to map peer-reviewed empirical research conducted on children's right to participate, in center-based early childhood education settings, from 1980 on. A systematic literature search was performed and 36 studies met the inclusion criteria. Findings suggest a limited number of publications, conducted mostly in northern Europe countries, in the education field. Regarding definitions and theoretical backgrounds, sociological, legal, democratic, and educational discourses converge. There is a prominence of qualitative studies, a greater focus of research on ideas about participation, and, to a lesser extent, a focus on practices to promote participation. There is more emphasis on teacher's perspectives and practices, with few studies relying on children as informants, and limited sound measures to assess children's participation. Future research should rely on multiple informants, and investigate associations between this right and children's individual outcomes.

The Bases of Montessori Pedagogy as a Facilitating factor for Child Development in Burkina Faso and Spain

“…Furthermore, their willingness to learn and improve through external consultancy in both contexts results in more qualified educational practices, which at the same time help to fulfill the following commitments: a) positioning the child as someone who experiences numerous and personal transformations (Montessori, 2019;Vogler et al, 2008;Woodhead, 2006); b) organizing education to help children and providing skills and values to educate for humanity and; c) offering a non-generalized education as children's rights and individual development are safeguarded. These commitments are linked to fostering cooperation rather than competition (Colgan, 2016;Gross & Rutland, 2019) and focusing on offering children the opportunity to participate in their educational development which also benefits social participation processes (Correia et al, 2019).…”

“…Holfester (2018) argues that concepts such as textbooks, exams, grades, rewards or punishments only provide a dependent instruction. Cooperation rather than competition among children (Colgan, 2016;Gross & Rutland, 2019) should be transmitted to educate for humanity, offering children the right to participate in their educational development as it benefits their social participation processes (Correia et al, 2019;Ongoren & Yazlik, 2019).…”

Teachers’ practices mediate the association between teachers’ ideas and children’s perceived participation in early childhood education

“…Among the few studies addressing teachers' practices towards the promotion of children's participation (Correia, Camilo, Aguiar, & Amaro, 2019), some noted the importance of teacher-child interactions. Specifically, there is evidence suggesting the importance of teachers' sensitivity (e.g., Freitas Luís, Andrade, & Santos, 2015;Mesquita-Pires, 2012;Pettersson, 2015;Salminen, 2013), active listening, reinforcement of children's talk (Alasuutari, 2014;Theobald & Kultti, 2012;Tholin & Jansen, 2012), and stimulation of discussions based on common rules and effective classroom management (Salminen, 2013).…”

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: “Where are we at in recognising children’s rights in early childhood, three decades on …?”

“…On the other hand, a group-focussed standpoint may exist, in which children's rights are underpinned by a democratic perspective. For example, implementation and education for children's rights can be linked to theoretical ideas about global citizenship (Pierce et al 2010); an emphasis on the future (Correia et al 2019;Zachrisen 2016); and preferred attitudes of selflessness and altruism (Brantefors and Quennerstedt 2016). The view of "benefit-for-the-greater-good" is often not seen as being relevant in the lives of young children.…”

“…Pedagogical approaches do not always attend to children's views and opportunities for participation, especially in the case of young children (Lansdown et al 2014). Challenges in this area relate to constraints to do with organisational systems (Correia et al 2019) and long-held debates regarding the developing capabilities of young children (Lansdown 2005). In this volume, Sirkko et al (2019) challenge teachers to consider how their classroom practices may unintentionally reduce children's participation, contribution and agency.…”