The role of social and psychological resources in children's perception of their participation rights

Abstract

Children's participation rights are recognised across the world. However, we still have relatively little empirical evidence on children's views of these rights and on the necessary conditions to effectively realise them. This study set out to explore how children assess their participation rights in school, and whether these assessments vary as a function of social and psychological resources, which constitute the preconditions for practicing participation rights. The sample included 1,006 children (48.8% female, mean age = 11.71 years) who were enrolled in the penultimate or final year of public primary school in Geneva, Switzerland. A majority of these children reported that they could exercise their participation rights in school. Furthermore, results indicate that children's assessments of their participation rights did not differ systematically across classes, schools, or city districts.However, these assessments were significantly related to social and psychological resources, including children's subjective well-being and feelings of safety, a perceived climate of social non-discrimination, and the presence of a person of trust in the school environment. In conclusion, this study goes beyond previous research by examining both children's views of their participation rights and to what extent they depend on social and psychological resources. The study also provides original empirical evidence on the extent to which children's participation rights are implemented in practice.

The subjective importance of children’s participation rights: A discrimination perspective.

“…Our findings also suggest that children who perceived discrimination in their school environment attached more importance to the right to express views and the right to be heard, than children who did not perceive such discrimination. These results relate to evidence illustrating the psychological undercurrents of children's views of participation rights (Burger, 2017;Magalhães et al, 2016). Psychological theory suggests that fundamental needs for belonging and relatedness must be satisfied in order for any individual to thrive and participate in social life (Baumeister & Leary, 1995).…”

“…However, given the relatively wide age range in each grade, the two covariates were not redundant, as confirmed by variance inflation factors < 1.9. In addition, considering that children who feel insecure in school perceive their participation rights as being less well realized, and that safety needs must be fulfilled before children can fully use their participation rights (Burger, 2017), we also assessed children's feeling of safety. We assumed that children who feel lower levels of safety will participate less actively, and thus be more likely to see their participation rights as being curtailed.…”

¿Qué Piensan Estudiantes de Primaria Bonaerenses y Madrileños sobre la Participación Escolar?

“…El reconocimiento al derecho de participación de estudiantes, especialmente en la infancia, ha sido planteado desde hace años, tanto desde algunos trabajos e investigaciones pioneras en este campo (Dewey, 1916;Melton, 1980), como desde organizaciones internacionales como la ONU a través de la CDN (Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre los Derechos del Niño, 1989). De hecho, en los últimos años se han realizado una serie de estudios relevantes sobre los derechos de participación en la infancia y adolescencia (Burger, 2017;Campos, 2015;García-Pérez y Montero, 2014;Giné et al, 2014;Ochaíta y Espinosa, 2004;Robles, 2015;Ros, 2009;Seguro, 2016;Susinos y Rodríguez-Hoyos, 2011).…”

“…Sin embargo, encontramos que hay un menor número de estudios sobre participación en el ámbito educativo en los que se analicen las ideas que tienen los propios estudiantes acerca de su participación en la escuela (Coiduras et al, 2016) o sobre la percepción de sus derechos (Burger, 2017;Seguro, 2016). Y menos aún se encuentran estudios sobre las representaciones de estudiantes desde una perspectiva de las tres dimensiones de Justicia social (Juanes, 2018;Sainz, 2017).…”

“…Si bien los derechos de participación en la infancia son reconocidos a nivel global (Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre los Derechos del Niño, 1989), parece que todavía en la actualidad existe una falta de reconocimiento social y educativo de la infancia como una etapa donde los niños deben ser vistos como personas activas en la sociedad, por lo que deberían ser tratadas como ciudadanas y ciudadanos del presente y no del futuro. Al igual que existe un interesante debate sobre cuál es el alcance real de los derechos de participación y de lo que significa la participación escolar, tanto a nivel conceptual como en las prácticas pedagógicas (Burger, 2017;Coiduras et al, 2016;Larkins, 2014;Percy-Smith 2010Thornberg y Elvstrand, 2012).…”