Involving children in measuring impact in their own lives:

The development of a measure of children’s perception of their enjoyment of their

participation rights in school and in their communities

Lesley EmersonKatrina Lloyd

Elizabeth Welty

Centre for Children’s RightsQueen’s University Belfast

Children’s Rights-Based Research

Core concepts in human rights discourse: human dignity, empowerment and rights-based demands for change

Children’s rights based research should:

seek to further the realisation of children’s rights be guided by international standards contribute to the development of the capacities of the

adults as duty-bearers to meet their obligations and empower children as rights-holders to claim their rights

(see Lundy and McEvoy(Emerson) 2009, 2011, 2012a, 2012b)

Children’s Rights-Based Participation:

Assisting children to (in)formed views

Information(Article 13, 17)

‘seek and impart information in

medium of choice’

In formation(Article 5)

‘adult guidance in the exercise of the

rights in the Convention’

(In)formed view(Article 12)

‘form and express views which are

given due weight’

(Lundy and McEvoy (Emerson), 2012a)

Children as co-researchers

Work with Children’s Research Advisory Groups (CRAGs) at all stages of the research project

CRAGs are not research subjects rather they are invited to participate

on the basis of the expertise they can bring to the research

Remit of CRAGs: advise on the research process including how best to engage with other

children on the issues assist with the analysis and interpretation of the findings from interviews

with other children provide insight on the main issues under investigation identify potential solutions which might address the problems

Central to work with the CRAGs is the requirement to build the children’s capacity as co-researchers in understanding the issues being researched in the project. (Lundy and McEvoy(Emerson),

2009, 2011)

St Ita’s Children’s Research Advisory Group

Developing a measure of children’s participation rights: process

Children’s Research Advisory Group (CRAG): 6 children aged 10 years old

Capacity building: children’s understanding of ‘participation’ in school and community; familiarisation with participation rights as expressed in CRC; developing understanding of a ‘measure’

Developing statements for the measure: What would a child say about a school really respected children’s participation rights?

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Developing a measure of children’s participation rights: process

Developing statements for the measure: Design a community that respects children’s participation rights

Statements from all children in the CRAG collated and draft measure produced

Measure refined in consultation with CRAG

Measure piloted in large scale survey

CRQ (participation)

These questions are about children’s rights. We want to find out about what children think about their right to have a say about things that affect them. The questions were written by this group of children:

We want to find out what children think about their right to have a say about things that affect them

My school listens to what I have to say about………  What we do in class   What I have to say about school rules How to make our school better

 In my school………  I can give my opinions freely The adults make it easy for me to give my views The adults take my views seriously  The adults talk to me about how decisions are made The adults make sure I can easily get the information I

need about what is going on in the school

5 point likert for

each statemen

t

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Now we want to know if you think the adults in your community take your views seriously. When we say ‘community’ we mean your neighbourhood or your area. It includes things like the leisure centres or activity centres you go to, libraries, churches, shops, health centres and parks etc.

 In my community..............  The adults ask me for my views The adults take my views seriously I can easily find out about activities (like youth clubs, church

clubs, sports activities) for children my age I can easily find out about what’s going on for children in places

like libraries, museums, and parks I am asked for my views on how happy I am with the activities in

my community The adults make it easy for me to give my views on the activities

going on in my community

What do you think could be done (in your school or in your community) to make sure that children’s views are taken seriously? (open ended)

Analysis and interpretation with CRAG Analysis of open-ended responses

85% of children who completed the survey responded to open ended question

Children clustered a reduced set of responses to generate themes

Themes used to code all responses

Interpretation of quantitative findings

‘Family fortune’ style quiz

Preliminary findings Kids’ Life and Times

Annual online school-based survey of approximately 4,000 10/11 year old children in Northern Ireland

Questions include attitudes to school, bullying in school, KIDSCREEN-10 Quality of Life Measure, Family Affluence Scale

3,773 respondents to 2013 KLT

Boys – 49%, Girls – 51%

CRQ Participation Scales

Reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) – 0.89 Principal Components Analysis

2 Factors▪ CRQSchool (8 items)▪ CRQCommunity (6 items)

Higher scores on the scales indicate more positive feelings about their participation rights

Preliminary findings Children generally positive about their participation rights.

More positive about their participation rights in school than in community

Girls are more positive about their participation rights in school than boys

Girls are more slightly more positive about their rights in the community than boys.

Children who said they were mostly happy at their school (81% respondents) had higher mean scores on the CRQ scales than those who said they were mostly unhappy (4% respondents) or who couldn’t decide (15% respondents

Preliminary findings Children suggestions with regard to

improve their participation in school and community: Public mechanisms (e.g. school and

community councils) Private mechanisms Awareness raising for adults and children Strategies for ensure adults listen (‘make

the adults do it’)

Next Steps

Analyse CRQ data in relation to well-being data

Analyse CRQ data in relation to ‘rights-respecting schools’

Include the CRQ (participation) in forthcoming survey of adolescents

Developing other domains: Article 29 Safety etc

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References Lundy, L. and McEvoy, L. (2009) Developing outcomes for

education services: a children’s rights-based approach, Effective Education 1(1) pp.  43-60

McEvoy, L. and Lundy, L. (2007) E-consultation with pupils- a rights-based approach to the integration of citizenship education and ICT Technology, Pedagogy and Education 16 (3) pp.305-320

Lundy, L., McEvoy, L. and Byrne B. (2011) Working with young children as co-researchers: an approach informed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Early Education and Development 22(5)

Lundy, L. and McEvoy, L. (2012) ‘Childhood, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and Research: What Constitutes a ‘Rights-Based’ Approach?’ (Chapter in Freeman (ed) Law and Childhood Oxford University Press)