Thinking About Children’s Rights To Participation: Teachers’ Constructions Of Citizens Across School Transitions

Author(s):

Jane Brown(submitting)Hamish Ross(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

25. Research on Children's Rights in Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

25 SES 06, Citizenship and Democracy

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-03

15:30-17:00

Room:

B034 Anfiteatro

Chair:

Jonathon Sargeant

Contribution

It is well established that negotiating school transitions is a critical and significant point for most children across European schools. While there has been considerable interest in the impact of school transitions on children’s achievement (Topping et al. 2007) and their well-being (Graham and Hill, 2003), little is currently known about pupil participation across the primary and secondary school transition. In Scotland, as elsewhere in Europe, this marks an important point in childhood where children (aged 11/12 years of age in this national setting) move from a small, primary school environment to a secondary school with a much larger school population. This paper presents findings from a study which explored teachers’ accounts of children’s and young people’s participation at the point of this transition. In part, advocacy for children’s participation has been strengthened by Article 12 of Convention for the Rights of the Child (Raby 2014). The broad purpose of this research however was to understand how pupil citizenship education was managed over this period. This focus was prompted by a widespread recognition that pupil voice, participation and responsibility were growing priorities for school activity and that while pupils were treated as active and competent citizens at the end of primary school they were treated as much less so in the early years of secondary school. The study sought to address the following exploratory questions:

In what ways did teachers talk about children ‘as citizens’?
How teachers understood the primary-secondary transition in relation to citizenship practices, such as pupil voice, participation and responsibility?

This paper will consider the implications of key findings for our understanding of children’s rights to participation in the everyday life of schools. In doing so, it will examine teachers’ visions of children’s participatory competence at very different points in their school careers.

Words 283

Method

This qualitative, interview study was conducted in schools located in 4 different Local Authority areas in Scotland situated in a range of area types (i.e. two cities, a small town and a semi-rural area). In each school area we accessed teachers in one main secondary school, as well as feeder primary schools in the locality. We aimed for a purposive sample of establishments who were known to have a particular interest in citizenship education and/or had a reputation for innovative practice in the area. Semi-structured interviews were held with staff in 17 schools and a total of 53 teachers took part in this research. This method was adopted in order to capture in-depth teacher accounts of their perceptions and constructions of children as active citizens. We interviewed a cross-section of teachers including very experienced teachers, those new to the profession, as well as senior school managers responsible for transition arrangements. Key areas for discussion included: • teachers’ background and levels of experience; • teachers’ views regarding pupil responsibility, leadership, participation, voice and decision-making; • teachers’ accounts of the main ways in which the above were promoted through pupils experiences at school. This research abided by ethical protocols and guidelines (i.e. BERA) and consent information was provided for all participants and appropriate permissions sought (i.e. for recording interviews). A thematic and collaborative approach to qualitative data analysis was undertaken.

Expected Outcomes

Key findings from this empirical study relate to the divergent ways in which teachers understood children’s participatory competence across school transitions. Research findings showed that primary teachers talked about children as competent social actors and contributors to school life in marked contrast to the more restricted views of secondary teachers. These findings not only question traditional notions of children’s social and cognitive development but throw into sharp relief questions about the estent to which children’s rights to participation is encouraged in different settings. This paper will therefore address the implications of such contrasting assessments through the lens of a rights perspective.

References

References GRAHAM, C. & HILL, M. 2003. Negotiating the transition to secondary school, Scottish Council for Research in Education. RABY, R. 2014. Children’s participation as neo-liberal governance Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, Vol. 35. no.1:77-89. TOPPING, K. J., A. THURSTON, TOLMIE, A., CHRISTIE, D., MURRAY, P. & KARAGIANNIDOU, E. 2007. Group work: transition into secondary, The Scottish Government.

Author Information

Jane Brown (submitting)

University of Edinburgh

EDINBURGH

Hamish Ross (presenting)

University of Edinburgh

School of Education

Edinburgh

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