Children’s rights in Hungary in early childhood education and care

Abstract

Hungary was one of the first countries to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This commitment is enshrined into the Constitutional Act LXIV of 1991. Children's rights can be found most comprehensively in the Act XXXI. of 1997 on Child Protection and Social Services Administration. This chapter outlines how children's rights prevail in kindergarten practice in the Hungarian context. First, the understanding of children's rights is addressed in view of policy and legislation and key government documents are highlighted that serve to frame and guide practice in early childhood institutions. In the second half of the chapter the implementation of children's rights is demonstrated and aspects of practice are outlined that aim to facilitate children practising their rights.The chapter is concluded with emphasising the need for pedagogical materials to be embedded into kindergarten pedagogue training nationally to ensure children's rights are embraced in institutional care.

Are you listening to me? Understanding children's rights through Hungarian pedagogic practice

“…The 1990s brought with it a sharp decrease in birth rate partly due to the collapse of the socialist economy, which prompted the new government to look after its children through providing full-time, fully funded early education and care provision for three to six-year-olds, whose parents were employed (Teszenyi & Hevey, 2015). Kindergartens provided conditions for healthy development (including, nutrition, paediatric care, and specialist services on site), which aimed to acknowledge children's rights to survival and development (Pálfi et al, 2019). Rights to protection and social security dates back to the first European kindergarten established by Teréz Brunszvik in Budapest in 1828.…”

“…This gave way to Westernised ideas flooding the country (Millei, 2011;Molnár et al, 2015;Nagy Varga et al, 2015) and the introduction of the National Core Programme for Kindergarten Education in 1996 (Ministry of Culture andEducation, 1996). It established statutory requirements for all aspects of care and education to be in accordance with fundamental human rights and with respect for children's rights (Pálfi et al, 2019). However, the social and cultural phenomenon of socialism did not disappear overnight and still has influence at each level of the education system in Hungary (Józsa et al, 2018).…”

“…The toolkit mitigated to some extent pedagogues' subjective interpretation of the data. In Hungarian kindergartens there is an assumption that research is a judgment on practice and pedagogues generally have extensive freedom in interpreting any data generated (Pálfi et al, 2019). Using a toolkit provided pedagogues with a structure and focus.…”

“…Hungary signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991 and pedagogues agree that children should be listened to, have their rights recognised and their voices heard (Pálfi et al, 2019). Developing practice that addresses these fundamentals is significant in contributing to children's learning and development.…”

“…The UNCRC recommends that children's rights should be part of early childhood education (UNCRC, 2005). Although it is claimed that every aspect of the National Core Programme for Kindergarten Education (Hungarian Ministry of Culture and Education , 1996) incorporates consideration for children's rights, implementation in practice is not typical in Hungarian kindergartens and there is little pedagogical material to support the education of children about their rights (Pálfi et al, 2019). This paper examines the issue of children's rights and voices in early childhood education and care (ECEC context) in response to the research question: In what ways are children's rights explored and expressed in Hungarian kindergartens by children?…”