This chapter explores what it means to understand children as citizens with rights and the implications for teaching and classroom practice.
Some of the key ideas in this chapter include:
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child binds signatories to follow specific articles and regulations following the principles of human rights. In terms of education, it guarantees the right of access to education, the right to a quality education, and respect for children’s rights in education. Children’s rights to participation and being heard are outlined.
A rights-based framework views children as capable, competent, and agentic. It extends child-centred education which can be based on deficit notions of children’s development and capabilities. John Dewey was an early theorist who sought to apply democratic principles within the Dewey School and highlighted the role of the school in expanding children’s knowledge and experience. More recently, Urie Bronfenbrenner developed the ecological systems theory as a means of examining the multiple contexts or systems which indirectly or directly impact how children live, develop, and learn. Parenting styles are also seen to relate to the ways children’s rights are expressed; they may reflect a democratic orientation or a more authoritarian style. However, cross-cultural research illustrates that familial socialization goals amplify how an authoritarian parenting style can be very positive depending on the context.
Children experience citizenship in various ways related to their social ecologies and factors such as age, gender, social class, and race. Elements of citizenship include possession of basic rights, exercise of responsibilities, active participation in civil society, and differentiated citizenship. While children were once seen as future citizens, current understandings position them as citizens in the present. In rights-based education, teachers may assume various positions—legal, reformist, or radical—reflecting different images of the child and the teacher. The Reggio Emilia approach advances the idea that children have specific rights including the right to express themselves through multiple modes.
