Young Children’s Participation: Exploring Practice in Early Education and Care

What does it mean for young children to participate? How do you listen and respond to children in your own practice and within your setting? This text provides a comprehensive and accessible guide to children’s participative rights in the context of education and care. It supports early years students and practitioners to understand the implications for practice of the participative rights embedded in the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It also considers the tensions that exist when trying to realise these rights in practice. Exploring the key concepts, debates, and participation in practice with children at different ages and stages, the chapters cover:The policy context for participative rightsModels of participationVoice and being heardParticipation and the social construction of the childSpaces for participationAgency and participationMeasuring participationInternational contexts for child participationSupported by case studies and examples, this is an essential text for practitioners and students on early childhood studies and early years degree courses, as well as those working in early childhood settings or studying as post-graduates.