Children as Public Actors: Navigating the Tensions

Abstract

Drawing on comparative research with children’s participation practitioners in Nicaragua and the United Kingdom, this study explores the thinking that guides their practice. Earlier models are considered inadequate to describe complex, multidimensional participation processes. Whilst several differences are observed, the key issues or tensions are similar in both countries. Fifteen tensions are discussed in three categories. Most are tensions between participation as social control and participation as empowerment, which apply to all marginalised groups, not just children. The second group is specific to children. Finally, there are tensions between process and product. It is suggested that practitioners could use this analysis to reappraise and improve practice.

How Children and Young People Influence Policy‐Makers: Lessons from Nicaragua

“…Empowerment versus disguised social control : In the promotion and facilitation of children and young people's participation, there are always tensions between participation as empowerment and participation as social control — although often well‐disguised (Shier, ). Applying this analysis in practice requires us continually to ask questions about who controls the space, who sets the agenda, who decides who to invite, who controls the resources and above all, who decides what children and young people are allowed to do and what is prohibited.…”

Children’s voices in system reform - A case study on children and young people’s participation within the modernisation of Child, Youth and Family

“…This includes cultural competency, as what constitutes effective participation may differ across different cultures (Shier, 2010). This latter point is crucial in Aotearoa New Zealand.…”

Conditions for Change for Children and Young People’s Participation in Evaluation: ‘Change-Scape’

“…It is also recognised that there needs to be increased discourse around the complexity of interactions in participation between children and adults (Percy-Smith 2006). The exploration of links between process and context in evaluation, as called for by Kirby and Bryson (2002), could contribute to theory on children's participation that is recently identified as lacking enough substance (Tisdall et al 2006;Thomas 2007;Shier 2010).…”

“…Children's rights and their participation, despite innovative examples and some progress in child-focused agencies in international development, has been largely seen as separate to broader initiatives to address poverty, exclusion and wellbeing (Bartlett 2005;Marcus et al 2002;Chawla and Johnson 2004;Theis 2010). There are a growing number of questions raised in academic and practitioner circles about the tokenism of children's participation to date (for example, Theis 2010) and how it often takes place in 'invited', rather than the public spaces of everyday life (White and Choudhury 2007;Shier 2010). This is, however, accompanied by a growing contribution on how to incorporate children's perspectives, and moving towards more meaningful participation in, for example, addressing children's civil and participation rights and civic engagement, improving children's wellbeing and gaining a better understanding of intergenerational transmissions (for example, Lansdown 2010; Theis 2010; Moncrieffe 2009;Sumner et al 2009).…”