This presentation is based on an ongoing research project: “The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its relevance for children. Kenyan and Swedish children’s perspectives on children’s rights.” In the study children’s views and experiences of the rights to participation and non-discrimination, primarily in educational contexts but also in a more broad sense are in focus. The underlying fact that different political, structural and cultural circumstances matter for their experiences is essential in the study. The point of departure in the study is the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its claim to be universal independently where children are living and where they come from. Both Kenya and Sweden have ratified the UNCRC which means that children in both countries share the same rights even though they are living their every day school life under very different conditions and circumstances. Children’s daily lives differ and all children do not have the same opportunities to fulfil their rights, for example their rights to education. Even though a lot of children do not have access to school many children do spend the most part of the day in school. Due to different political and economical conditions children’s experiences of the school vary. This study is about children who have access to school and spend most of their every day life in school even though they live in different political and economical circumstances. Furthermore, the school is not only a place for intellectual learning, it is also a place where, teachers and children meet and together develop and create values, norms and moral and ethical attitudes about rights and duties. Through experiences of their every day life in school children’s rights are manifested, turned into practice, come alive and become visible which in its turn give an idea about the relevance of children’s rights for children. The theoretical frame in the study is from the tradition of sociology of childhood. (James et al, 1998, James & James, 2004, Corsaro, 2005, Qvortrup et al, 1994). Cultural politics of childhood, a theoretical concept suggested by James & James, (2004) is central in the study. The theoretical assumptions are; Children are actors in the construction of knowledge about their rights, Official educational documents contain values and views on children and childhoods, children’s knowledge and the content in the documents are related to social, political, economical and cultural contexts.

The overarching purpose of the study is to investigate the UNCRC and its relevance in relation to Kenyan and Swedish children’s life experiences. More specifically following research questions are examined and analysed: • How do children talk about rights? • In what way do children relate life experiences to rights, in particular issues of: Participation Discrimination Education • In what way may children’s talk about rights illuminate the CRC as a universal document? Through interviews with students in school, in Kenya and Sweden, the UNCRC and its relevance are elaborated, analyzed and discussed. In the interviews, in four schools, two in each country, students aged 12-15 years, have given their views and experiences of children’s rights, especially the right to participation and non-discrimination.

Themes from the analyses will be presented with empirical examples from the interviews.In addition to that I will discuss how these may be understood as parts of a broader picture of children’s views of rights in a school-context. Even though the interviews are conducted in schools and the questions in the interviews are related to their experiences in school the student’s talk about rights is not only limited to the school context. In the interviews the students express experiences of rights in a broader sense which also include the world outside school as parents, family, friends, coach, church and the state. I will also reflect upon how these themes may be seen as integrated in a general perspective on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its relevance in relation to children’s experiences.