While children's rights "to" play is stated in the UNCRC, this study investigates children's rights "in" play through an analysis of narrative play in preschool. Play-responsive early childhood education and care (PRECEC) is a recently developed theory that provides analytical tools for investigating participants' communicative…

This paper provides a critical discussion of "Putting Learners at the Centre: Towards a Future Vision for Scottish Education," which was published by the Scottish Government in 2022. After reconstructing the case made in the report for putting learners at the centre of Scottish education, I raise critical questions, both about the idea…

The concept of 'pedagogic voice' emphasises the capacity of children to express their views on matters related to teaching, learning and curriculum. 'Pedagogic voice' aligns with children's rights to be listened to and the extent to which their views are fully considered and acted upon. Combined, these rights based approaches positively shape…

This paper examines Forest School's potential to support gender equality among primary school-aged children. Using a rights-based perspective, an observational study - including children's drawings - explored children's constructions of gender in Forest School and classroom sessions. The study found that although children generally appeared…

Children's right to participate in all matters and decisions affecting them has gained recognition in society. Its promotion is recommended from an early age -- namely, in early childhood education settings -- and it is described as benefiting children, adults and the community in general. Given the complex and polysemic meaning of participation,…

Article 12 (1) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child sets out the right of children who are capable of forming their own views to freely express them in matters that affect them. Such views should be considered in schools when making decisions, paying attention to the child's age and maturity. In this study we explored…

Research that uses innovative approaches to elicit the views of young children has grown hugely over the last 20 years. Against a backdrop of a greater acceptance of children's rights and sociological approaches to understanding children and childhood, with their combined emphasis on the competences and capacities of children, it is now accepted…

Based on a human rights and development approach, this article aims to study the influence and impact of structural violence in the Northern Triangle of Central America on children's right to education. First, it analyses the context of poverty, inequality and generalised violence that plagues the sub-region under study. Secondly, a diagnosis is…

This colloquium discusses the crucial need to reconcile the ironic dilemma of enforcing social-distancing measures and social relationships simultaneously during the COVID-19 crisis. Young children have been exposed to multifaceted challenges during this time. However, their well-being, education, and safety have often been overlooked, ignored, or…

This article demonstrates how implementing a rights-based research methodology can contribute to the theory and practice of climate change research and education with young children. The argument stems from a child rights-based participatory study that sought to explore young children's own perspectives of Nature under the education right, Article…

This article assesses the evolving dimensions of sympathy education in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It focuses on the League of Pity, the juvenile branch organisation of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). In its early years the League sought to emphasise Christian service and self-denial,…

Framed by a Foucauldian governmentality perspective, this article shows teachers' different rights-teaching mentalities active in human rights education for children. The article draws on observation and interview data from fieldwork in three Year 1 classes in Swedish primary schools. In the holistic approach adopted, rights-learning is understood…

Since the advent of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), concerns have been raised regarding tokenistic engagement with children's participation rights as well as ethical considerations that must be addressed in research with children. This article explores how one particular ethical dilemma regarding representation…

Objective: In Northern Ireland, it is widely agreed that mental health service provision for children and young people is inadequate and that there is a need for much greater prioritisation and strategic planning in this area. Successive Governments have made commitments to improve services, and although progress has been made, considerable reform…

Education faces barriers all over the world, which sometimes makes it difficult to look after children's rights and their individual development. Hence, society is clamoring for new practices, and different approaches are emerging, Montessori among them. Despite the fact that this approach was developed to attend to the poor strata, nowadays it is…