Early Childhood Educators as Key Advocates for Children’s Rights

Whenever I talk to educators about children’s rights, a lot of them perceive them as a collection of articles written somewhere. Yes, of course they are important, all would agree. But the question is, are those rights respected, constructed and lived by every single day? Why do educators play such a key role in implementing children’s rights? I believe they play a critical role in laying the foundation for respect, understanding, and advocacy of children’s rights. Keep on reading to discover the unlocked potential educators have in implementing children’s rights. This article explores why educators are essential advocates for children’s rights and how CRC (Convention on the Rights of the Child) training enhances their ability to educate creatively and effectively.

Contents of this article:

What are children’s rights?

The many roles of educators

The need for CRC training for Early Childhood Educators

Towards Children’s Rights Oriented Education

Next Steps

Conclusion

What are children’s rights?

Children’s rights are commonly associated with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN, 1989), an international document that took 10 years to develop and gathers all children’s rights together. This document is not the beginning, nor the end of children’s rights, as they evolve with time, same as children’s realities do. Children’s Rights as a topic existed long before the UNCRC and are linked to the academic field of childhood studies, a specific branch of sociology that explores childhood and children as part of society (James and Prout, 1997). The rights are linked, alongside other fields, to the topic of education, as they were very much inspired by world-wide known educators: Maria Montessori and Janusz Korczak (plus Eglantyne Jebb, a social activist and the founder of Save the Children). Both Montessori and Korczak strived to create a world, where children are taken seriously, where they are not treated as an outsider, but very much persons who create the reality just as much as adults do. They wrote and theorised about the rights, but they also implemented them in the every-day life. Korczak tried and tested, experimented and reflected. Through trial and error, deep reflection as a tool, he made space for children to live in a safe environment, built on respect, empathy and trust (Olczak-Ronikier, 2011). This brings me to a point, that without educators, there would be no rights. Educators, social workers, advocates are the people who make those rights stay a priority, who enable children to exercise those rights every day! If you are an educator, it’s YOU! 

The many roles of educators

“One of the many roles I have to play, everyday.” I heard you say. Yes, you are a nappy changer, cook, cleaner, hugger, facility manager, negotiator, event planner, researcher, advisor and so many other roles you find yourself in. And to top it all up, you are (hopefully) an advocate for children’s rights, as you are the duty bearer. In the light of the UNCRC children are the right holders, and governments, institutions (incl. educators) are duty bearers: people ensuring children know their rights and that their rights are respected. It is, in short, our responsibility.

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The key roles of educators

Everyday you either block those rights, or promote them, by every action you take that includes children. Educators are agents of change (Jerome and Starkey, 2021). It is up to educators if they create a safe environment and a culture of respect. It is up to educators if they are nurturing: supporting the emotional well-being of children and in turn strengthening their self-regulation, resilience and confidence in their voices. Educators' attitude towards education itself will have a tremendous impact on exercising children’s rights in the institution, but also on their own satisfaction with work (Jerome and Starkey, 2021). Jerome and Starkey (2021) argue that teachers purely focusing on academic accomplishments of their students, seeing in it reflection of their own performance, will feel increasingly unsatisfied in their role, due to external pressure and lack of time to simply talk to children, their parents and other professionals at work. And if there is no talk, there is no connection, no participation and little… education.

Educators have the enormous potential to act as gatekeepers of children’s rights. What do I mean by gatekeeping? Educators hold the key to the door: they have the power to facilitate children’s rights education, actively construct rights-based approach within their practice, encourage children’s agency and social participation and promote rights to parents (Jerome and Starkey, 2021).

Photo by George Pak

One might think: “Well, don’t we have laws and conventions to do it for us?” Children’s rights and further, democratic education, is more than just a paper, it is a life skill! Engaging with children and families about their rights prepares children for active participation in society. Rights-respecting classrooms enable children to experience citizenship in “the here and now” rather than as a distant future goal. At the same time children who learn about their rights have the opportunity to discover that rights are universal and apply to all children, not only to self. Reference Rights-based approach supports children in seeing themselves as being an important part of the community and society at large. I would like to argue that this realisation and a feeling of belonging is a vital step towards a mental well-being. Studies show that children and youth who feel or are in fact, socially isolated, need to face several health implications (Almeida, Rego, Teixeira, Moreira, 2021).

The importance of CRC Training for educators

The reality is that educators hold a powerful role in the education settings. How they approach the children’s and human rights topics depends on many factors. Educators themselves have rights and own political beliefs and own interpretation will influence the information given or even own praxis. Jerome and Starkey (2021) argue that there are educators who are not trained in Human or Children’s Rights or find them to be irrelevant in their context or even inappropriate. Jemore and Starkey (2021, 90) argue: “teachers may be conservative forces in at least three ways then: first, they may simply adopt traditional authority roles in schools and thereby limit the agency of young people; second, they may conform to traditional moralizing aspects of CRE [Children’s Rights Education]; and third, they may promote conservative political interpretations of CRE, because of their individual political motivations. In these ways, teachers can refract the radical, political and collective nature of CRE through the traditional expectations of school and society about children.”

The danger of educators having no CR training is creating pseudo-democratic/ pseudo-participatory environment. There might be structures in place or space for children to express their opinions, but it will have no impact if educators do not believe in the capabilities and agency of children (Jerome and Starkey, 2021). Educators need systematic training on CR (best as part of their own training) and ongoing training with a generous space for their own reflection and discussions with others. I argue, it cannot simply be that there is a lack of human and CR strong focus, as the future of democracy depends on it.

Photo by Diana

Towards Children’s Rights Oriented Education

What I believe the goal is, is transformative, child-led education. Educational settings that adapt rights-based approach and focus on individual learning, enabling children to become young democrats supporting economies in the way it fits their skills, talents and way of living. CR oriented education needs to put young people in its heart, also to ensure human rights continue to be valued in the future (Jerome and Starkey, 2021). For this to happen, we need to move from a passive, top-down approach, in which educators receive recommendations or requirements, information or theoretical training, after which they are left “alone” to go on with their praxis. There are two more steps to achieve the goal of rights-oriented education. The first is active implementation of a rights-oriented environment and child-centred education, along with promoting CR to children and parents. And the last is active construction of a participatory environment, with structures and mechanism, which enables power sharing with children, true participation and gives them their right to agency (Jerome and Starkey, 2021). The way I see it, truly living, constructing and engaging with the rights of children on an everyday basis and promoting holistic development of a child. 

Next steps

To be children’s advocates, educators need to be thoroughly trained on CR and the guiding principles. In my opinion, the training should not only focus on theory, but also on real life scenarios, using best- practice examples, promoting a variety of approaches, methods and tools that can be used. The further training should demonstrate introducing children to their rights with many suggestions on methods, or even activities and materials that can support this goal. Moving further, ongoing training should be centred on participants experiences, dilemmas and examples that can be reflected on. Educators cannot be left alone in the attempt to create children’s rights oriented environment and practice, they should be able to count on the ongoing support.

Conclusion

To sum it up, early childhood educators are at the forefront of advocating for children’s rights. Through CR training and a commitment to rights-respecting education, educators have the potential to create powerful spaces where children thrive as active participants and learners. By recognizing their agency as advocates, educators can drive transformative change within classrooms, schools, and society. This potential cannot be ignored, for the future of democracy and human rights values depends on it.

Photo by Jan Krukau

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Literature:

Almeida I.L.L, Rego J.F., Teixeira A.C.G., Moreira M.R.(2021) Social isolation and its impact on child and adolescent development: a systematic review. Rev Paul Pediatr. 24;40 doi: 10.1590/1984-0462/2022/40/2020385

James, A.,Prout, A.(eds.) (1997) Constructing and reconstructing Childhood: Contemporary Issues in the Sociological Study of Childhood, Falmer Press: London, Washington D.C.

Jerome, L. , & Starkey, H. (2021). Children’s Rights Education in Diverse Classrooms: Pedagogy, Principles and Practice. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Retrieved December 13, 2024, from http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350062849.ch-007

Olczak-Ronikier, Joanna (2011) Korczak. Próba Biografii. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo W.A.B