Browsing by Author "Turunen, Siri"

During the last years participation has become a topic reaching great interest in the field of educational science. The increased emphasis on childrens’ participation in the latest curricula of 2014 is one example indicating participations’ increase in popularity. Regarding comments in educational science, participation seems valued, yet at the same time studies and reports indicate that childrens’ possibilities to participate and get their voice heard at school leaves room for improvement. In addition, children are not well informed about their possibilities to affect issues that consern them. This bachelor’s thesis has been conducted as a literature review and the databases used are from educational -, social- and sosiological fields. The study begins with defining the consept of participation, which turns out to be a rather complex concept with many interpretative meanings. Also the consepts of citizenship and agency are introduced. This literature review discusses reasons impeding students’ possibilties to participate. A significant issue children face is what Gretschel calls ”quasi-participating” (näennäisosallistaminen). Another problem children face is that they are not given opportunities to participate because it is not considered important. The issues stem from social reasons such as how children are seen and how childhood is definied. Social discourses of children consider ideas such as ”children as future citizens”, ”children as the object of care” and ”children as adolescents”. Another dilemma is the extent of the consept, where various activities and action may be put into practise under participation’s name. This has lead to a situation, where children are compelled to take part in various kinds of projects that are ostensibly ”participative”, but the intentions behind them do not advance equality. As a solution to the poor participation possibilities this study proposes that teachers should be critical and acknowledge the mechanisms that cause ”quasi-participating” and ignoring childrens’ participation. Along with increased critical thinking this study presents solutions how teachers can improve school practices towards a more participative approach in three ways: teachership and interaction, democratic atmosphere and pedagogical ideas. These aspects contribute in the school’s development towards a more participative environment for children.