| Popis: |
The object of the present contribution is the experienced pedagogical meanings of public, formal and institutional forms of child participation. The premise of the study is that policy on children and their rights frames and contributes to the construction of childhood as a socio-cultural category, impacting onto what a child, in flesh and bones, can learn to do and be in a certain society (Alessandrini, 2014), and vice versa. Since the adult discovery (Ariès, 1968), or construction (Becchi, 1994) of childhood, it has progressively been put at the centre of policy, where the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) represents a milestone in this path of recognition. Today, as never before, in a fragmented world, institutions have been, through policy on children and their rights, investing on childhood as a source for human flourishing (Biffi, 2019). To this end, the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – that draws on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) that states that children’s views are relevant and should be considered in all matters concerning them (art.12) – aims at providing the grounds and a nurturing environment for full participation of children in the construction of the peaceful, equitable, just 2030 society (SDG’s Declaration, para.25). Within the contemporary panorama, childhood, on paper, seem to be in an ambivalent situation: vulnerable on one side so subject/object of protection, a full co-agent in the construction of our society, on the other side (Biffi, 2019; Montà & Biffi, 2019) Following the indications of these milestones, the latest International, specifically referring to United Nations’, and European, specifically referring to the Council of Europe’s and European Commission’s, policy documents on children and their rights (Van Vooren, 2019) have been addressing the issue of child participation, but the meanings of the concept tend to be ambiguous, reflecting the complexity of the panorama. General Comment No. 12 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (2009) puts emphasis of some constituent dimensions of child participation, amongst them the fact that it is a process in which «children can learn how their views and those of adults are taken into account and shape the outcome of such process» (Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2009, para. 3). With this in the background, it becomes of interest from a pedagogical perspective, to gain deep comprehension of: how is child participation being experienced, that is how is policy being enacted in public, formal and institutional contexts? Which are the pedagogical meanings of this lived experience for the involved actors? The phenomenological philosophy (Van Manen, 2014), with its ontological, epistemological and axiological implications, will orient the exploration of the research question. In line with the philosophical address, the phenomenological-hermeneutic method has been chosen (Mortari,2016; Van Manen, 1990,2016) to investigate the research object. Due to the exemplarity of the phenomenon, to the descriptive and explicative questions that guide the quest and due to the aim of the study, that is the deep comprehension and understanding of the meanings of the phenomenon (Mortari, 2016), the case study strategy (Yin, 2014) has been chosen. The strategy, conceived in this manner, contributed to the definition of the specific research context: Children’s Parliament Scotland, specifically, its work in the city of Aberdeen as it constitutes a singular situation in terms of not only being a child friendly city but imagines itself as a rights respecting city in the long term (Aberdeen City Council, 2017-2020). Here, the work done in primary school(s) will be explored. Educational institutions, namely schools, in fact, carry an imperative role in the construction of the 2030 world (SDG 4) and enactment of policies (Maguire, Ball, Braun, 2010; Maguire, Ball, Braun, Hoskins, 2011) on children and their rights. They are a place where children learn and participate, or in other words learn by participating (Dewey, 1923), from an early age, in terms of contributing to the definition of their role in society, so to the meanings of childhood. As to data collection methods, they are currently being defined, as the first contacts with the context are being made. In any case, in line with the naturalistic inquiry that is being conducted and qualitative approach that underpins the study, open-ended and inductive styles of questioning and observing will be favored (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). In line with the chosen cognitive posture, so the phenomenological philosophy, the data analysis process will follow the trajectories indicated by the approach. The data will be analyzed hermeneutically, with the objective of interpreting the observed, investigated and lived experiences. The contribution aims at introducing the first findings concerning the pedagogical meanings of the lived experience of child participation at public, formal, institutional levels. Specifically, it is expected to gain deep understanding of the learnings of the actors involved in the participation process, namely children, teachers and other relevant stakeholders identified during the study. The study is expected to shed light on how policy on child participation is concretely being enacted within an exemplary context: school(s) involved with the Children’s Parliament Scotland, an institution devoted to public and formal child participation, within a city that aims at being rights respecting, Aberdeen. Although the study does not aim at generalizing results, it will present first courses of action and reflection, as it will explore connections between theory and practice, for those actors and duty-bearers involved in public, formal, institutional processes of participation. Moreover, the contribution aims at, through the study of the phenomenon, presenting first reflections on what childhood means today, in a twofold sense: how adults are shaping the construction of the category, by devoting/grating spaces and times of participation to children and how children themselves challenge the assigned role, through their concrete participation. References -Aberdeen City Council. (2017-2020). Aberdeen City Integrated Children’s Services Plan 2017-2020. Retrieved at: https://www.aberdeengettingitright.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Aberdeen-City-Integrated-Childrens-Services-Plan-2017-2020.pdf -Alessandrini, G. (2014). La" pedagogia" di Martha Nussbaum. Approccio alle capacità e sfide educative. Milano: FrancoAngeli. -Ariès, P. (1968). Padri e figli nell’Europa medievale e moderna, trad. it. Bari: Laterza. -Becchi, E. (1994). I bambini nella storia. Laterza. -Biffi, E. (2019). Cosa può fare ed essere un bambino oggi? Riflessioni pedagogiche sul contributo dell’infanzia nella società contemporanea. Pedagogia Oggi, 16(2). -Dewey, J. (1923). Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education. Macmillan. -Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic observation. Thousand Oaks, CA. -Maguire, M.; Ball, S. & Braun, A. (2010). Behaviour, classroom management and student ‘control’: enacting policy in the English secondary school, International Studies in Sociology of Education, 20 (2), 153-170. -Maguire, M.; Ball, S.; Braun, A. & Hoskins, K. (2011). Policy subjects and policy actors in schools: some necessary but insufficient analyses, Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 32(4), 611-624. -Montà, C., & Biffi, E. (2019). Meanings and strategies of child participation in residential care centers: a theoretical reflection. In L. Gomez Chova, A. Lopez Martinez, & I. Candel Torres (a cura di), 12th annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation, Seville, Spain. 11-13 November, 2019 (pp. 6480-6486). IATED Academy. -Mortari, L. (2016). Cultura della ricerca e pedagogia. Prospettive epistemologiche. Roma: Carocci. -UN General Assembly (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, United Nations, treaty Series, vol. 1577, p. 3. -United Nations General Assembly. (2015). Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. A/RES/70/1. -Van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience. Human Scienze for an action sensitive pedagogy. New York: New York Press. -Van Manen, M. (2016). Phenomenology of Practice. Meaning giving Methods in Phenomenological research and Writing. London-New York: Routledge. -Van Vooren, E. (2019). The European and international policy agendas on children, youth and children’s rights. State of the art-update 2018.Retrieved at: https://pjp-eu.coe.int/documents/42128013/47261806/European_Agenda2018.pdf/fb770367-8f1c-9269-db0e-55551cbd1903 -Yin, R. K. (1994). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Thousand Oaks (CA): SAGE. |
