Page 14 - Šolsko polje, XXXI, 2020, 3-4: Convention on the Rights of the Child: Educational Opportunities and Social Justice, eds. Zdenko Kodelja and Urška Štremfel
P. 14
šolsko polje, letnik xxxi, številka 3–4
education, and school is one of the first vectors. However, many children
or categories of children do not have access to quality education, mean-
ing these approaches have very little or no impact on them. Others attend
schools whose administration or practices are incompatible with the basic
principles of children’s rights, denying children the ability to have, far less
experience them. Advocates for education and children’s rights therefore
argue that a solution must be found to create for children a ‘threat-free
space’1 guaranteeing the right to education. This ideal space could repre-
sent a safe haven in which children’s rights are fully respected and imple-
mented and where they can learn to exercise, apply and experiment with
these rights, through trial and error, in a social setting representative of re-
al-world diversity.
This article seeks to examine the rhetorical question of how to achieve
such a goal, exploring the multidimensional relationships between chil-
dren’s rights, educational opportunities and social justice, while address-
ing the related practical implications. This ultimate goal may seem unre-
alistic given the various realties and challenges encountered in the field,
or even idealistic considering the criticism raised by scholars and practi-
tioners, in particular concerning the “educationalisation” of childhood,
notably throughout the schooling process (see Depaepe, 1989; Reynaert,
Bouverne-de Bie and Vandevelde, 2009) and its normalising dimensions.
Still, well aware of these limits and in line with Walzer (1983), this contri-
bution considers that the field of education can be one of justice (re)dis-
tribution (also see Sabbagh and Schmitt, 2016). Therefore, examining the
realisation of rights in education is not merely regarded as performing an
uncritical analysis of a dated and culturally biased legal document: the
UNCRC. Indeed, it could become a means for exploring which individ-
ual, social and global opportunities does the field of education hold and
contribute to a multidimensional understanding of social justice, beyond
legal treaties and by way of a more philosophical understanding of rights.
The approach proposed is more descriptive (concerned with what is)
than prescriptive (concerned with what ought to be), although through
the prism of the concepts of diversity, participation and social transfor-
mation it strives to conceptualise what kind of social project the full real-
isation of rights in education could support to achieve. Precisely, the ob-
jective is to give a clear picture of the right of the child to, in and through
education – according to the well-established categorisation of rights re-
lated issues in education (see Verhellen, 1993; Quennerstedt and Moody,
2020). The main obstacles to access to education around the world are
1 Expression used by J. Lévine, quoted by Meirieu (2002, p. 40).
12
education, and school is one of the first vectors. However, many children
or categories of children do not have access to quality education, mean-
ing these approaches have very little or no impact on them. Others attend
schools whose administration or practices are incompatible with the basic
principles of children’s rights, denying children the ability to have, far less
experience them. Advocates for education and children’s rights therefore
argue that a solution must be found to create for children a ‘threat-free
space’1 guaranteeing the right to education. This ideal space could repre-
sent a safe haven in which children’s rights are fully respected and imple-
mented and where they can learn to exercise, apply and experiment with
these rights, through trial and error, in a social setting representative of re-
al-world diversity.
This article seeks to examine the rhetorical question of how to achieve
such a goal, exploring the multidimensional relationships between chil-
dren’s rights, educational opportunities and social justice, while address-
ing the related practical implications. This ultimate goal may seem unre-
alistic given the various realties and challenges encountered in the field,
or even idealistic considering the criticism raised by scholars and practi-
tioners, in particular concerning the “educationalisation” of childhood,
notably throughout the schooling process (see Depaepe, 1989; Reynaert,
Bouverne-de Bie and Vandevelde, 2009) and its normalising dimensions.
Still, well aware of these limits and in line with Walzer (1983), this contri-
bution considers that the field of education can be one of justice (re)dis-
tribution (also see Sabbagh and Schmitt, 2016). Therefore, examining the
realisation of rights in education is not merely regarded as performing an
uncritical analysis of a dated and culturally biased legal document: the
UNCRC. Indeed, it could become a means for exploring which individ-
ual, social and global opportunities does the field of education hold and
contribute to a multidimensional understanding of social justice, beyond
legal treaties and by way of a more philosophical understanding of rights.
The approach proposed is more descriptive (concerned with what is)
than prescriptive (concerned with what ought to be), although through
the prism of the concepts of diversity, participation and social transfor-
mation it strives to conceptualise what kind of social project the full real-
isation of rights in education could support to achieve. Precisely, the ob-
jective is to give a clear picture of the right of the child to, in and through
education – according to the well-established categorisation of rights re-
lated issues in education (see Verhellen, 1993; Quennerstedt and Moody,
2020). The main obstacles to access to education around the world are
1 Expression used by J. Lévine, quoted by Meirieu (2002, p. 40).
12
