| CODE | RSE5011 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Children's Voices, Participation and Agency | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Centre for Resilience and Socio-Emotional Health | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit introduces students to the notions of children's voice, participation and agency and explores each construct in the light of historical and more recent developments in the study of childhood. A main consideration will be Articles 12 and 13 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations, 1989) which stipulate that children have the right to be heard and to participate in decisions on matters that directly affect their lives. This entails listening to children's voices and taking them seriously. It also means exerting and expanding children's participation rights in various aspects of their lives including schooling, health, service provision and law proceedings. This study-unit looks at children's agency and how it can be actualized for children's wellbeing. Students will also explore different ways in which children can be involved in processes of decision-making. Opportunities and challenges pertaining to the implementation of principles concerning children's participation and agency are discussed. Other important topics tackled include the definitions and perceptions of children's rights, participation and agency; historical and recent developments; recognition of children as unique individuals, social actors and agents in society whose voice needs to be heard; conditions for children's participation in various fields such as education, health, social services and law proceedings; and barriers and constraints to children's involvement in decision-making processes. Study-Unit Aims: 1. introduce students to the concepts of voice, participation and agency in childhood; 2. engage students in critical appraisal of the main models of child participation and agency from tokenism to genuine and full participation; 3. create awareness of the contextual and relational conditions that enable or restrict every child's voice and participation in society regardless of background, ability or disability, gender, language, nationality, race, culture or religion; 4. develop students' knowledge and awareness of how evolving conceptualisations of children and childhood impact formal and informal practices with regards to the participation and involvement of children in social life; 5. explore children's roles in society as active social actors in their own lives as well as their families and communities; 6. acquaint students with local and international policies and initiatives that uphold principles concerning children's voice participation and agency. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: 1. discuss the value of listening to children's voice and creating the right conditions for children's participation in matters and decisions that concern them from a rights-based perspective; 2. understand that children's participation in decision-making is built on the provision of adequate information and opportunities for children to make informed decisions and articulate their opinions at different stages of the decision-making process; 3. critically consider factors that may prevent the voices of particular children from being heard; 4. identify the situations where the weight given to children's voice and participation is increased or reduced based on concerns about children's welfare and balance sought between immediate and long-term interests; 5. understand the difference between decisions being child-focused/ centring on children's welfare and child-inclusive i.e. involving children in decision-making; 6. critically reflect on local and international policies initiatives and legislation that supports the principles of children's voice, participation and agency. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: 1. define the key concepts of children's voice, participation and agency; 2. compare and contrast different perceptions of children as agents with the capacity to engage meaningfully in their own environments by professionals in various fields and how these views impact formal and informal practices adopted; 3. evaluate how children's agency can be actualized for the wellbeing of children; 4. take children's views into account when designing and delivering services, care and support; 5. put into practice the notions of children's voice, participation and agency in their line of work and advocate for full participation and involvement of children in decisions affecting their lives. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Esser F, Baader MS, Betz T, et al. (eds) (2016) Reconceptualising Agency and Childhood: New Perspectives in Childhood Studies. New York: Routledge. - James A & James A (2012) Key Concepts in Childhood Studies (2nd ed), London: Sage. - Johnson, V., and West, A. (2018). Children’s Participation in Global Contexts. London: Routledge, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315680941 - National Institute for Childhood. (2018). Children and public policy in Malta. Achieveing meaningful and purposeful participation. Attard: The President's Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society. - Wilson, J. (2012). Child-focused practice: A collaborative systemic approach. London, England: Karnac. Supplementary Texts: - Bolin A. (2018). Organizing for agency: rethinking the conditions for children’s participation in service provision. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being 2018, Vol. 13, 1564515. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2018.1564515. - Brummert-Lennings HI, Bussey K (2017) Personal agency in children: assessing children’s coping self-efficacy in the context of parental conflict. International Journal of Behavioural Development 41(3):432–443. - Dedding C, Reis R, Wolf B, Hardon A (2014) Revealing the hidden agency of children in a clinical setting. Health Expect 18:2121–2128. - Fotheringham S, Dunbar J, Hensley D (2013) Speaking for themselves: hope for children caught in high conflict custody and access disputes involving domestic violence. Journal of Family violence 28:311–324. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-013-9511-3. - Hanson K. Children’s participation and agency when they don’t ‘do the right thing.’ Childhood. 2016;23(4):471-475. doi:10.1177/0907568216669222. - Haring, U., Sorin, R. and Caltabiano, N. J. (2019). Reflecting on childhood and child agency in history. Palgrave Communications. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-019-0259-0. - Hart R.A. (1992). Children's participation: from tokenism to citizenship. Innocenti Essay Number 4. Unicef International Child Development Centre: Florence, IT. https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/childrens_participation.pdf - Kumpulainen K, Lipponen LHilppö, Mikkola A (2014) Building on the positive in children’s lives: a co-participatory study on the social construction of children’s sense of agency. Early Child Dev Care 184(2):211–2298. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2013.778253. - Rees, G., Savahl, S., Lee, B. J., & Casas, F. (Eds.). (2020). Children’s views on their lives and well-being in 35 countries: A report on the Children’s Worlds project, 2016-19. Children’s Worlds Project (ISCWeB). https://isciweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Childrens-Worlds-Comparative-Report2020.pdf. - Smith K (2011) Producing governable subjects: images of childhood old and new. Childhood 19(1):24–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/09075682114012434. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Pre-Requisite qualifications: Offered only as part of the MA in Transdisciplinary Childhood Studies | ||||||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Charmaine Bonello Anne-Marie Callus Carmel Cefai Rosienne Farrugia Joseph Gravina Daniel Mercieca |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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