From rights to strategies: the role of pedagogical research in engaging children in the policymaking process

Abstract

The 1989 adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child marked a significant shift in recognizing children as key stakeholders in policymaking. This event transformed societal views on childhood and influenced caregiving and educational practices, leading to policies that regard children as rights-bearing, active participants in policymaking. However, children’s direct involvement in policy formulation is often lacking, and the policies themselves tend to be inaccessible.

This paper examines the development of the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child. This notable example involved over 10,000 children from across Europe and resulted in “child-friendly” versions of policies in various national languages. This analysis raises crucial issues for pedagogical research related to the formative dimension inherent in the mechanisms of sharing processes leading to policy creation as well as in the (participatory) construction practices themselves, questioning the meanings of the construct of democratic citizenship.