Page 53 - 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. 53
j. vranješevič ■ convention on the rights of the child and adultism ...
expectations represent a framework in which adults perceive children and
can significantly reduce adults’ readiness to notice and value all of chil-
dren’s capacities and influence the ways children are treated and the op-
portunities created for them.
Janusz Korczak was among the first to advocate children’s rights and
to point out that children are entitled to the present moment: “Children
are not people of tomorrow but of today. A child lives here and now. He/
she has value as an individual in the present moment. When we think of
a child as an embryo of a citizen, we lose sight of the important years of
his/her here and now existence” (according to: Hammarberg, 2009, p. 8).
In other words, participation requires the adults’ assessment of the child’s
competencies to be related to what the child can do at the present mo-
ment rather than to what they would be able to do in the future. Age is
not and cannot be an excuse for discrimination because every child is ca-
pable of expressing his/her views (perspective, needs, feelings etc.) accord-
ing to his/her age and evolving capacities. Adults’ role is to find the best
communication channel through which children can express themselves.
The basic question adults should ask while consulting children is not Do
they understand or not?, but What should we do to make them understand
us? Would they understand us if they had more information, or if they were
asked in a different way? (Alderson, 2000). The theory about the hundred
languages of children (Malaguzzi, 1993) is a metaphor expressing the vari-
ety of ways children can express their opinions and ideas (such as paint-
ing, drawing, sculpturing, modelling, writing, dancing etc.). This explains
why the usual communication practice of (written or spoken) language is
insufficient if one intends to encompass and understand the complexity
of the child’s experience. As a result, adults are expected to explore new
options for communication with children (beyond the conventional pat-
tern where one person speaks and another listens), to learn new ‘languag-
es’ for working with children, and new ways of listening to children’s ex-
periences (Moss, 2006).
If we observe a child as competent in the present moment, then
they have no need to struggle to protect their own right to participate
(as the protectionists say); instead, assumptions are made of the child’s
right to participate which can only be neglected when it is not in the best
interest of the child or if it could endanger the right of another person.
Liberationists assume that adults are obliged to justify with arguments
any denial of the right to participate, rather than let a child ‘struggle’ for
the right to participate in decisions relevant to him/her (Archard, 2004).
51
expectations represent a framework in which adults perceive children and
can significantly reduce adults’ readiness to notice and value all of chil-
dren’s capacities and influence the ways children are treated and the op-
portunities created for them.
Janusz Korczak was among the first to advocate children’s rights and
to point out that children are entitled to the present moment: “Children
are not people of tomorrow but of today. A child lives here and now. He/
she has value as an individual in the present moment. When we think of
a child as an embryo of a citizen, we lose sight of the important years of
his/her here and now existence” (according to: Hammarberg, 2009, p. 8).
In other words, participation requires the adults’ assessment of the child’s
competencies to be related to what the child can do at the present mo-
ment rather than to what they would be able to do in the future. Age is
not and cannot be an excuse for discrimination because every child is ca-
pable of expressing his/her views (perspective, needs, feelings etc.) accord-
ing to his/her age and evolving capacities. Adults’ role is to find the best
communication channel through which children can express themselves.
The basic question adults should ask while consulting children is not Do
they understand or not?, but What should we do to make them understand
us? Would they understand us if they had more information, or if they were
asked in a different way? (Alderson, 2000). The theory about the hundred
languages of children (Malaguzzi, 1993) is a metaphor expressing the vari-
ety of ways children can express their opinions and ideas (such as paint-
ing, drawing, sculpturing, modelling, writing, dancing etc.). This explains
why the usual communication practice of (written or spoken) language is
insufficient if one intends to encompass and understand the complexity
of the child’s experience. As a result, adults are expected to explore new
options for communication with children (beyond the conventional pat-
tern where one person speaks and another listens), to learn new ‘languag-
es’ for working with children, and new ways of listening to children’s ex-
periences (Moss, 2006).
If we observe a child as competent in the present moment, then
they have no need to struggle to protect their own right to participate
(as the protectionists say); instead, assumptions are made of the child’s
right to participate which can only be neglected when it is not in the best
interest of the child or if it could endanger the right of another person.
Liberationists assume that adults are obliged to justify with arguments
any denial of the right to participate, rather than let a child ‘struggle’ for
the right to participate in decisions relevant to him/her (Archard, 2004).
51
