An inclusive education system cannot be realised unless all stakeholders, including learners and families are actively involved in decision-making, and their diverse perspectives and experiences are recognised (UNESCO, 2021). The European Year of Youth in 2022 also encourages young people to engage in many different forms of civic and political participation (European Commission, 2021).

While the importance of learner and family voices is widely recognised, it remains unclear as to how to achieve meaningful participation in practice. In 2021-2022, a project was undertaken by the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education (EASNIE) with the aim to establish the theoretical background to this topic, as well as to identify effective ways in which the diverse voices of learners and their families can participate meaningfully in education decision-making processes. The project explored two main research questions:

1. What suggestions does key policy and research literature make for meaningfully engaging the voices of learners and families in decision-making?

2. In what ways can existing frameworks, approaches, and/or methodologies enable learners and families to participate meaningfully in decision-making?

To address these questions, a review of key international policy and academic literature first defined the key concepts and outlined the justification for and issues around learner and family voices. It then explored findings from research, indicating how existing theoretical models and frameworks have been used and adapted for meaningful learner and family involvement (Hart, 1992; Shier, 2001; Sinclair, 2004; Lundy, 2007; Pearce and Wood, 2019). The review also explored evidence from educational research, as well as European country examples of how participation has been achieved in practice.

The analysis indicated a number of conceptualisations of ‘voice/voices’ in the literature. The concept of voice is frequently used as a synonym for other concepts, such as autonomy, engagement, involvement, participation, or agency (Cook-Sather, 2018; 2020; Fielding, 2006; Lundy, 2005; Tiusanen, 2017). The review findings indicated that there is more research on children than on intergenerational participation. ‘Silos’ continue in research, with learners or adults who are vulnerable to exclusion being generally included in research based on a range of classifications and labels.

Several issues also emerged in relation to the processes of some empirical projects and European examples. A main concern is the lack of detailed attention to ethical issues and considerations around eliciting learners’ and families’ views and about the need for more democratic and socially just approaches to research. These are specifically in relation to the imbalance of power, where adults continue to drive the research agenda; knowledge is not shared and made accessible to all; those with the least social capital are the first to be marginalised. Although participatory approaches show positive results, the issue of impact and sustained change is not greatly evidenced.

These issues were reflected in a ‘Framework for Meaningful Participation in Inclusive Education’, developed to highlight the essential elements in future planning for participation activities with learners and families. Validation of the framework for participation was undertaken by three countries (Iceland, Malta, and Norway) that applied different approaches to projects of their own. Analysis of the different stages of their projects, together with their critical self-reflection, helped to finalise the framework and to develop practical, supporting material. This reflective tool proposes a more democratic approach to participation, aiming to enable stakeholders to address barriers and challenges of participation, adaptable to multiple contexts, levels of education, and ages of participants.

This project ran in two phases, in 2021 and 2022 respectively. In Phase 1, the project team analysed targeted European and international policy and research literature focusing on effective ways to involve learners and families. The policy review focused on EU policy documents in English, published in the last 30 years, since the publication of UNCRC (1989). The academic literature review focused on empirical research from the past 20 years. Theoretical and conceptual work around ‘voices’ was not time limited. The analysis considered all learners, including those from vulnerable and ‘hard-to-reach’ groups. Additionally, the team analysed previous work by EASNIE that involved learners and families. Phase 1 set out the theoretical background and culminated in the development of a framework for meaningful participation. Common elements of key theoretical models (Hart, 1992; Shier, 2001; Sinclair, 2004; Pearce and Wood, 201 9) were incorporated within Lundy’s concepts of ‘Space, Voice, Audience, Influence’ (Lundy, 2007; Lundy, McEvoy and Byrne, 2011). Those concepts were operationalised to inclusive education contexts and extended to include families, in addition to learners. The range and meaning of each element were expanded to include wider ethical considerations, identified in work around diverse voices (UNICEF, 2020). Phase 2 focused on activities with country representatives from Iceland, Malta, and Norway, to elaborate and validate aspects of the project’s framework; and to contribute to the development of an online toolkit, a practical resource providing direction to action. The three countries used the framework for different purposes in their interactive work with diverse learners and families. In Iceland, ‘walks and talks’ were carried out in a rural school, with learners whose first language was not Icelandic, to understand their previous experiences of participation. Malta’s team evaluated the implementation of a new policy of ‘autism units’ within mainstream settings, with input from non-verbal learners in the units, and interviews with parents. In Norway, observations and short surveys were carried out with student representatives and policymakers, to evaluate established consultation processes at national level. While there were clear variations in the aims, scope, methods, and contexts of these country-based activities, common themes and insights emerged during the discussions and reflections by the countries, in relation to achieving meaningful participation, and hearing diverse voices.

The project has provided an overview of the conceptual background, and evidence of the ways participatory policymaking can become meaningful and sustainable. Key findings show a clear gap between policy and practice in including the voices of learners, families, and communities in decision-making processes. They highlight the importance and value of diverse perspectives, in addressing the challenges of inequities in the implementation of inclusive education. The project concludes with key messages for facilitating the participation of all learners and their families in educational decision-making. These include systematising participation processes for shaping legislation policy; using ethical approaches and a variety of methods to include diverse and unheard voices, considering intersectionality; building capacity, and creating synergies for participation. More importantly, the findings indicate that children and their families cannot be considered a homogenous group, even within the context of a class, school, or community. Therefore, research topics and methods must reflect an openness to this diversity of ideas and means of expression. These messages can be seen as a set of practical guidelines for those who aim to foster learner and family participation. The project provides a rich body of resources to guide policy and practice in this area. The proposed ‘Framework for Meaningful Participation in Inclusive Education’ constitutes a critical and reflective framework to work with learners and families, including concrete ways in which participatory policymaking can become meaningful and sustainable. As another means of addressing the policy-practice gap, the project calls for creating more opportunities for adults (policy-makers, families, and/or other stakeholders) and learners working together to address challenging educational issues and increase participation in education. The outcomes of the project can serve as inspiration to promote and practice such an intergenerational approach to inclusive policy-making across different contexts.

Cook-Sather, A., 2018. ‘Tracing the Evolution of Student Voice in Educational Research’, in R. Bourke and J. Loveridge (eds.), Radical Collegiality through Student Voice. Singapore: Springer Cook-Sather, A., 2020. ‘Student voice across contexts: Fostering student agency in today’s schools’ Theory Into Practice, 59 (2), 182–191. DOI: 10.1080/00405841.2019.1705091 European Commission, 2021. Commission welcomes the political agreement on the European Year of Youth. Press release, 7 December 2021. [Online] ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_6648 Fielding, M., 2006. ‘Leadership, radical student engagement and the necessity of person‐centred education’ International Journal of Leadership in Education, 9 (4), 299–313 Hart, R.A., 1992. ‘Children’s Participation: From Tokenism to Citizenship’, Innocenti Essays, No. 4. Florence: UNICEF International Child Development Centre Lundy, L., 2005. ‘Family Values in the Classroom? Reconciling Parental Wishes and Children’s Rights in State Schools’ International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 19 (3), 346–372 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 Lundy, L., McEvoy, L. and Byrne, B., 2011. ‘Working With Young Children as Co-Researchers: An Approach Informed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child’ Early Education and Development, 22 (5), 714–736 Pearce, T.C. and Wood, B.E., 2019. ‘Education for transformation: an evaluative framework to guide student voice work in schools’ Critical Studies in Education, 60 (1), 113–130 Shier, H., 2001. ‘Pathways to participation: Openings, opportunities and obligations’ Children & Society, 15 (2), 107–117. doi.org/10.1002/chi.617 Sinclair, R., 2004. ‘Participation in practice: Making it meaningful, effective and sustainable’ Children & Society, 18 (2), 106–118 Tiusanen, M., 2017. ‘Pupil participation in the development of school culture’ Education in the North, 24 (1), 88–93. doi.org/10.26203/2WGX-4D05 UNESCO, 2021. Global Education Monitoring Report 2021. Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia: Inclusion and education: All means all. Paris: UNESCO. en.unesco.org/gem-report/Eurasia2021inclusion UNICEF, 2020. Engaged and Heard! Guidelines on Adolescent Participation and Civic Engagement. New York: UNICEF. unicef.org/media/73296/file/ADAP-Guidelines-for-Participation.pdf United Nations, 1989. Convention on the Rights of the Child. A/RES/44/25. ohchr.org/sites/default/files/crc.pdf