Browsing by Subject "Participation, ECEC, Education, Child-perspective"

Objectives. The social role of children has been established over the years and the strengthening of children’s participation is strictly based on international human rights obligations such as the Constitution Law and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Several theorists such as Hart (1992), Shier (2001), Lundy (2007) and Turja (2011) have also defined children’s participation creating different models. Although the importance of children’s participation and hearing children’s opinions are emphasized in several studies and reports (E.g., Karlsson, 2012; Stenvall, 2021; Turja, 2011; Weckström, 2021), it is not always implemented appropriately. The aim of this study is to describe children’s participation experiences and opportunities to participate in decision making. This study focuses on children in ECEC and in 6th grade in three municipalities with different demographical locations and population. Another purpose is to examine the role of adults in participation through children's narratives. In particular, the research makes use of Lundy's (2007) and Turja's (2011) participation models, where participation is seen as a multidimensional entity. The research focuses on the experiences of children in ECEC and children in the 6th grade of primary school to see how age affects those participation experiences. In addition, the review considers the effects of geographical location on the realization of equal participation. Methods. This thesis has been done as part of a sub-study belonging to a larger multidisciplinary research project that was commissioned and funded by the Ministry of Education: 'Multidisciplinary research project on the effects of demographic trends to education' and the sub study 'Equity, children's rights, and the child impact assessment.’ This study was carried out in workshop interviews with children and the data was analyzed using theory-based content analysis. Results and conclusions The data revealed many factors strengthening and weakening children's participation. The results of this study are linked to environments and communities. Children's participation is formed, and it culminates in community and respectful interactions.