Children have the right to have their opinions heard, and, if possible, followed. Lundy (2007), for example, has elaborated on this. Therefore schools, too, need to enable students to participate. But what does participation look like in everyday school life? And what challenges does it raise? Participation in schools is characterized by considering others, power dynamics and change, as shown in a literature review based on the study of numerous articles (Müller-Kuhn et al., 2021). Considering others means that several people are involved in participation processes. Participation often takes place in the form of negotiation. In schools, however, negotiation processes are often characterized by unequal power relations: Hierarchical relationships, antinomies (Helsper, 2004), and the perceived task of teachers to establish social order through practices of disciplining and monitoring are characteristics for this. Finally, participation is always a tool to achieve change (Mitra et al., 2014), improvement and development (Kostenius & Bergmark, 2016). But how do schools, which have a distinct educational mandate in the curriculum, deal with the situation of participation for students – and, by extension, for teachers and parents? This question is addressed by the symposium in three different contexts approaching student participation in practice in very different ways: (1) democratic schools in Poland, in which participation functions as a founding principle and is consciously attempted to be integrated in everyday life. Then (2) in outdoor learning in Switzerland. That is, lessons take place on the schoolyard or in a place in nature, for example, in the forest. This means that certain ways to exercise control, which are usual during teaching in the classroom, are not available. At the same time, student participation is needed, so teachers are able to carry out this kind of lessons. And (3) in the online setting, which was implemented in particular during the COVID-19 lock-down, for example in Germany. Online teaching without physical presence challenges the management of the lesson in some other aspects than outdoor teaching. However also here there are choices for teachers to go on with the situation providing more participation or striving for more control.

The three contexts presented are quite atypical. But the lessons learned at these specific contexts can be transferred to more regular school contexts: The symposium will thus show what can be learned from the three atypical situations that is useful for other schools as well. And the audience will be invited to discuss the transfer of the lessons learned to face-to-face teaching in schools without a specific focus on democracy where the lessons take place in the school building.

The symposium is an opportunity to raise questions regarding the implementation of participation in different school contexts and to discuss possibilities and challenges. The findings from the three contexts can in turn be discussed under the question of compliance with UN children's rights framework.

Helsper, W. (2004). Antinomien, Widersprüche, Paradoxien: Lehrerarbeit—Ein unmögliches Geschäft? Eine strukturtheoretisch-rekonstruktive Perspektive auf das Lehrerhandeln. In B. Koch-Priewe, F.-U. Kolbe, & J. Wildt (Hrsg.), Grundlagenforschung und mikrodidaktische Reformansätze zur Lehrerbildung (S. 49–98). Julius Klinkhardt. Kostenius, C., & Bergmark, U. (2016). The power of appreciation: promoting schoolchildren’s health literacy. Health Education, 116(6), 611–626. https://doi.org/10.1108/HE-10-2015-0031 Lundy, L. (2007). „Voice“ is not enough: Conceptualising article 12 of the united nations convention on the rights of the child. British Educational Research Journal, 33(6), 927–942. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920701657033 Mitra, D., Serriere, S., & Kirshner, B. (2014). Youth Participation in U.S. Contexts: Student Voice Without a National Mandate. Children & Society, 28(4), 292–304. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12005 Müller-Kuhn, D., Zala-Mezö, E., Häbig, J., Strauss, N.-C., & Herzig, P. (2021). Five Contexts and Three Characteristics of Student Participation and Student Voice – A Literature Review. International Journal of Student Voice, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5714028