Establishing Child Centred Practice in a Changing World, Part B

Listening to and considering children's voices shows respectful regard for children's needs, interests and experiences, and helps discern what is meaningful for them in a particular subject or situation. Creating opportunities for the expression of children's voices implies child-centred practice: recognising children as active agents, with evolving competences and capacity to understand, think and choose with some degree of autonomy, thus being able to influence decision-making. Therefore, the commitment to listen to children's voices represents a fundamental step towards empowering children and supporting their participation rights. Importantly, children have the right to be heard and to have their voices considered from the earliest ages, in their significant relational contexts, such as early childhood education and care (ECEC). Listening to and valuing children's multiple voices in ECEC can be done in many ways, ensuring the context, children's background, characteristics and preferences are respected. In this chapter, we address the specificities of listening to children's voices and taking them into account in ECEC. We discuss common challenges that may prevent the full expression and consideration of children's voices, and ways to overcome them, to ensure children's meaningful participation in what matters to them and support them in becoming active citizens in society.

This study investigates the process of praxeological transformation developed in an early childhood institution using context-based staff educational practices as strategy to support the professional development of educators. It aims at developing a pedagogy that recognises and legitimises children as full-right citizens, thus valuing their competences to participate.

The context-based staff educational practices were taken in an ecological perspective thus recognising an interconnection between professional development, curriculum and organisational development. This is a longitudinal case study (four years) framed in a qualitative constructivist approach, using action research, context-based staff development and participatory childhood pedagogy as means to change educational practices. It is founded in the principles of the Childhood Association's pedagogical approach for children learning and teachers' development, as well as on the Effective Early Learning Project as a reference for monitoring and evaluating quality co-construction. The main objectives of the study were defined around the reconstruction of children and educators' images, to create democratic participatory understandings of central actors that will develop a situated pedagogy of respect and learning. The reconceptualisation of the image of the child, based on the listening of his/her voices, has been key for their right to participate and a professional motivation for kindergarten teachers to change their daily professional practices. The data gathered reveal the understanding of children as competent persons and active learners who construct complex forms of thought and action. This long process of learning led the participants to realise the importance of participatory childhood pedagogies.

This chapter aims to further conversations around child-centred practice by considering the potential role of pupil voice within education. It explores the impacts of creating space for authentic pupil consultation in my own primary classroom upon my understanding – as teacher-researcher – of my class' experiences of teaching and learning. It outlines my use of pupil views templates (PVTs) (Wall & Higgins, 2006) to gain insight into children's thoughts, feelings and spoken interactions, and how this informed my professional practice as an educator, in order to move beyond pupil consultation as mere ‘lip-service’, and towards developing more meaningful engagement based on an acknowledgement of children's perspectives, as well as their right to express these views freely in all matters pertaining to them (UNCRC, 1989). As such, this chapter provides an exemplar of the reflections that can be gained through using PVTs to ‘listen’ to children, and the impacts this had upon the co-construction of our classroom culture, with implications for pupils' metacognition, the role of educator as a metacognitive role model and ultimately for children's agency and control over their own learning. Whilst my own use of PVTs is situated within an education context, the description of the ways in which this approach can be used has relevance for professionals in other fields who wish to gain greater insight into children's perceptions and experiences.

Schools exist because of the children they educate but examples of their voice influencing their education in an authentic manner can be rare. This chapter outlines the importance of pupil voice and defines the key aspects of authenticity. It uses the themes emanating from this definition as examples of establishing practices to support pupil voice in the classroom. Such practices are based upon the findings of a pupil voice study into the experiences of 14–16-year-old children in physical education (PE) lessons. This PE project was driven by the pupils and adult voice was militated in order to enhance the authenticity of the findings. The project empowered children to raise and discuss the issues they deemed important and find their own solutions without steering or influence by their teachers. The implementation of these findings in one school demonstrated the dynamism and potential of learning based upon child-centred practice.

This chapter explores the notion that paying regular, systematic attention to children's voices in unstructured, open-ended contexts, such as that offered by forest school, may support genuine child-centred practice. It suggests ways in which such practices may be developed even within structured institutional contexts, such as mainstream school. It notes the tendency of the outcome focused dominant model of education to silence children's voices and explores alternative child-centred approaches to education (such as Reggio Emilia), drawing upon the author's experiences both as a teacher and facilitator of a child-led forest school programme. It explores both forest school research and pedagogical practice that amplifies children's voices. Ultimately, it suggests that the practical application of forest school approaches could spread respectful listening practices beyond education and into other childhood disciplines.

Advocacy for child participation has been enhanced by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (1989). The UNCRC as a legislative mechanism for countries to implement children's rights to participation is not without problems as argued by many. Children's agency is crucial in enhancing their participation but agency itself cannot guarantee participation as child participation is relational and intersects with the institutional, social, cultural, economic and political landscapes. This is greatly reflected during the coronavirus pandemic when children have played a big part in tackling the national and global crises by showing their resilience, sympathy and willingness in fitting into the unprecedented ways of life and schooling.

This chapter uses a reflective case study to explore the intersection between agency of children and factors that facilitate and also challenge children's participation in homeschooling practices during the COVID-19 pandemic in England. The reflective case study reveals that agency of young children's participation in homeschooling was constrained by the pandemic, which also triggered off possibilities for children alongside family members to interpret learning differently and translate homeschooling practices via creative engagement with learning resources and pedagogical approaches. The reflective case study also tells a family narrative about children's participation in homeschooling during the COVID-19 pandemic as a journey with a prime focus on holistic learning and well-being by addressing the key role of play, friendship and connection with nature.

Evidence (Barry, 2001; Lansdown, 2010) suggests that children often do not have the opportunity to claim their participation rights and instead the focus of professionals can sometimes be solely on the child's rights to protection or assumed needs. This imbalance results in their voices, views, opinions and input potentially being missed and unheard when concerning decision-making processes that impact on them in their day-to-day lives. This chapter will explore social pedagogical theory and social pedagogical practice, as well as values, children and young people's participation, cultivating empowerment, developing positive and authentic relationships, creating opportunities for holistic learning and working alongside children and young people in a child-centred way to bring about a positive change in their lives and increase their happiness and well-being.

Using Lundy's model (2007), this chapter adopts a child-centred approach to discuss decision-making in relation to designing a study which aimed to amplify childhood voices of parental separation (Kay-Flowers, 2019). It examines the role of young people in designing and co-producing the research tools, specifically designed to give voice to childhood experiences of parental separation and divorce. It explains how the research findings were shared with different audiences and reflects on the effectiveness of the approaches taken.

The chapter starts by outlining the four elements of ‘space’, ‘voice’, ‘audience’ and ‘influence’ in Lundy's model (2007) before going on to identify the gap in existing research on children's experience of parental separation and divorce, explaining why their voices need to be heard.

A focus group of young people were involved in designing the study. Finding current methods unsuitable for addressing the research question, they co-produced new research tools specifically designed for the study, alongside the researcher, in a process known as bricolage. The chapter explains the processes involved in creating the bricolage and describes the newly created research tools which were an online questionnaire and Prompt Simulation Video (PSV).

The last part of the chapter explains how ‘audience’ and ‘influence’ informed decision-making about how the study's findings could be presented to amplify childhood voices of parental separation and divorce, to ensure they were heard by different audiences of academics, practitioners, parents, public and children. It concludes with consideration of the effectiveness of this approach.

This chapter explores how eight children from five Bolivian migrant families living in Madrid perceive their participation within their families. Children understand their participation as taking responsibility for domestic chores and taking care of younger siblings. Children's ideas of participation are associated with their school experience and are about simply having a voice in everyday mundane interactions with adults and peers.

Parents' cultural values, power and authority dominate decisions in the family. These children were born in Spain and practices in their family homes are influenced by their parent's strong cultural ties with Bolivia. The data collected show that the lives of these children and their views of participation need to be understood beyond the binary of the Global North and Global South (Twum-Danso Imoh et al., 2019).

The research employed the ‘routes of participation’, a playful and creative research method that aimed to empower children to explore their ‘interdependent agency’ (Abebe, 2019) and the meaning of participation within the context of their family lives. We conclude that any successful intervention with children needs to understand the meaning of what children say in relation to the various situations in which they live. Listening to children's voices and paying attention to the language that they use in their everyday lives should continue to be the basis of child-centred research and child-centred practice. The chapter encourages to reflect on the value of culturally grounded playful activities to understand children's agentic experiences and their contribution that they can make to their own lives.

The family remains the primary institution responsible for child socialisation particularly as it inculcates norms, values, sanctions and rewards. Restrictions within the family institution have implications for children's voices, especially within the cultural context of the Yoruba people. This chapter examines how children adapt to or negotiate changes to family rules, thereby contributing their voice to systems reproduction. Discussions in this chapter are based on case studies of children in Ibadan, a traditional setting with steady rate of modernisation. Data were collected through a total of 50 in-depth interviews (IDIs) within 4 local government areas of the metropolis. 40 children and 10 parents were included in the IDIs. Robust findings were made and explained within the framework of structuration theory.

I will present an example of a shared decision-making process between adults and children: a case study of an intergenerational project built collaboratively between a group of artists, teachers, their current and former students, their families and the inhabitants of a pedestrian square in Lisbon's city centre.

The project began as weekly meetings that took place in the ruins of an abandoned house that only had walls and a cemented floor. The participants had to climb up the wall to enter it. Eventually, together they decided to renovate the ruins, paint them, garden in them and to research what had happened to that building. They began a newsletter with photos, drawings and texts that was compiled into a book, which was published and released in a public event.

The results were obtained by the triangulation of participatory observation data, interviews with the children and adults, written and filmed records. I will show how the project stimulated a learning process that was collective and active for all participants. As a consequence of the use of child-centred practice, the children saw their collaboration in the structuring of the meetings as a moment when the traditional school hierarchy was minimised and they felt their knowledge valued, with impact in their school performance.

The aspirations at the 2021 World Congress for Justice WITH Children [WC] were lofty: ‘nothing about children without children’. Then a dose of reality kicked in. Children's live participation at the WC was almost as rare as sightings of white tigers in the wild. While several youths aged 18–25 had live speaking roles at the WC, their placement at the small table meant few would hear them.

In this Chapter, four Child and Youth Advisory Board [CYAB] members discuss why it matters that children and youth receive a seat at the big table. Children and youth offer the ‘lived experiences’ of young persons, which adults cannot possibly duplicate. Given the post-hegemonic character of youth organisations, the youth themselves are the ones best suited to use these experiences to analyse the child justice system and to develop policy goals germane to the best interests of the current generation of youth. To facilitate the youth contribution from the ground floor up, the CYAB members call upon adults to serve as intergenerational partners who resist the temptation to discipline the form and content of the youth's ideas. Along these lines, this Chapter itself is designed to let the youth voices resonate.

Discussions surrounding a lower voting age and its outcomes have been emerging in Canadian public discourse for over a decade. While discussions surrounding a lower voting age have centred around adults' concerns of young people's maturity, competency and interest in politics the voices of children have frequently been excluded from these conversations. This chapter aims to reinforce a visible sense of child-centred practice in political discourse and spaces. It is important to note that how we come to think about participation can be judged from many different perspectives; however, in this instance, I have had a chance to explore the question through the lens of the young people involved in the Vote 16 Steering Group who identified meaningful participation as a fundamental aspect of the value they saw in the opportunity. This chapter invites us to think about child-centred practice in relation to notions of meaningful participation (meaningfulness) through: (1) the value of the opportunity, (2) understanding change and political efficacy, (3) voice and the vote and (4) political identity.

When societies do not recognise the value of a democratic system and the importance of certain areas of citizen's participation to improve it, the context will probably influence the meaning of childhood participation in that society. This chapter will describe youth protests in Chile, especially during the social outbreak in 2019, its origins and consequences, emphasising in the opportunities that the country has had after that episode, especially in relation to the current process of socio-political, economic and cultural transformation as a constitutional change in which childhood is identified as an area of significant prominence. Children and adolescents are demanding a position in Chilean society, as social subjects who want to be active participants in this transformation and the protagonists of the processes in which they are subjects of intervention. Therefore, the perspective of child protagonism emerges as a proposal to promote a child-centred practice in Chile.