Young Voices Unheard: Children’s Views from Scotland and Greece on Education

In this chapter, children’s rights as defined by the Convention on the rights of the child are analyzed, since the Convention has been ratified by Scotland and Greece. According to the Convention, children have protection, provision, and participation rights. Some of the General Comments issued by the United Nations on children’s rights are discussed as they are related to young children’s education. It is evident that participation rights are more difficult to implement, as they imply more power for the children and acknowledgement of their competency

In this chapter, children’s rights as defined in the Convention on the rights of the child are related to three models of schooling well known in the Western world. These theoretical models are the traditional, authoritarian school, the school based on traditional developmental psychology and the rights-based school. Aspects of these three models, therefore, may coexist in early years settings in Scotland and Greece and thus facilitate or hinder children from enjoying their rights. 

This chapter is dedicated to the empirical research undertaken in order to discover, first, children’s perceptions on aspects of provision and practices, preselected by me, which have characterized theories and policies about classes for five to six year old children. A second purpose of carrying out this study is to discover what aspects of a school for children of their age these children consider essential. All data is discussed in terms of respect or violation of children’s rights in order to highlight the connection of children’s views with children’s rights. It is a comparative research conducted in a qualitative manner using focus groups. The sample is five to six year old children who attended school in Scotland and Greece and participated in two focus group sessions. Approval for this research with children was granted by the appropriate authorities both in Scotland and Greece. Permission to conduct the research with children was requested by their teachers, their parents, and the children themselves. Finally, the measures taken to ensure that this research research is conducted in accordance with research ethics and issues on its trustworthiness are discussed. 

In this chapter, the data produced in the first focus group session with children in Scotland and Greece are analyzed. The children who participated in this session were read the plan for a teacher-directed school for young children, which does not provide for most of the children’s rights relevant to their education. Children in both countries mainly talked about the physical environment of the school in the plan, which they found poor and hindering play (article 31). In terms of the social environment of the authoritarian school, children wanted to be consulted (article 12) but this tendency was stronger in Scotland and only children from Greece talked about the need for children to be safe at school (article 19). The significance of article 5 on adults helping children with exercising their rights was raised. 

The data from the session in which children discussed the plan for a school based on developmental psychology are presented here. Children in both countries referred to aspects of provision and practice relating to children’s right to education, play and participation. However, only children in Scotland talked about whether children should wear a uniform at school or not, raising the question of discrimination (article 2) and freedom of expression (article 13). Similarly, only children in Greece mentioned their fear for lack of protection from a hedge (article 19) around the schoolyard. When it comes to the social environment of the school, children in Scotland appreciated article 12 and children’s right to be consulted and their views to be taken seriously according to their age and maturity a lot more than children in Greece.

Children discussed the plan for a school respecting and implementing all of their rights and their views are analyzed here. They added more resources to their physical environment which were relevant to their right to play mainly and this tendency was stronger in Greece as compared to Scotland. In terms of suggestions for a school for young children, these were influenced by the provision of education children received in their countries respectively. As for the social environment, children in both countries showed an appreciation of article 12 and wanted to participate in decision-making, even though they did not know which decisions or how. This need raised the importance of article 5 and the importance of adults helping children exercise their rights

In the second focus group session of this research, each group of children read the beginning of a book called Whiffy Wilson, the wolf who wouldn’t go to school. In this chapter, children’s perceptions of the perfect school for Wilson are presented. Children in both countries suggested a school where play time would be allowed a lot more than in their schools. Sugar-based foods were more popular in Scotland than in Greece, which disagrees with children’s right to healthy nutrition (article 24). Children in all groups from Scotland discussed learning in terms of the education they were being offered, and they wanted help for Wilson or no lessons at all nor a teacher for him. On the contrary, most of the groups in Greece did not talk about learning in school. Friendships were important to children in Greece only, even though all children in both countries discussed classroom rules that would enable positive relations with other children. 

In this chapter, the topic of this study is described, together with its importance for the education of young children. The methodological approach to this research is also examined as well as its main findings. It attempts to give voice to children from Greece and Scotland aged 5 to 6 years about the education of children their age. Children’s views underlined the significance of their right to play (article 31) and their right to participate in decision-making (article 12). At the end of the chapter, the implications of this study are considered together with further topics of investigation relevant to children’s rights in school. It is concluded that more initiatives need to be taken regarding the implementation of article 5 of the Convention, which pertains to the adults’ role in helping children exercise their rights.