Glen Education Centre Road

Acknowledging the rights of the child.

By Amy Rodgers, Tori Cooper and Rochelle Ancora, Glen Centre Rd Educational Team

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CROC) is an important agreement, acknowledged by almost every country around the world, promising to protect children’s rights. This document provides a list of human rights that children and young people have, enshrining their right for protection, to feel safe, to feel heard, to learn and to develop to their full potential. Working in the Early Childhood Education sector we as educators all recognize the importance of this document and what it means to support each child in our care.

How is the voice of each child and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child visible in the children’s learning?

Throughout the day educators try to take some time to provide opportunities for each child to share their voice. This might be through 1:1 conversations, encouraging children to share their ideas in both small and large group discussions; valuing and validating forms of communication including art expression, dance, music, child interests and areas of play; and by noticing non-verbal communications of facial expression and body language. Educators try to prompt communication through using open ended questions and the use of “I wonder…” prompts; this encouraging children to think and problem-solve. When conflicts arise, children are supported to share their version of events and conversations are held with all children involved that allow them to develop social communication skills, empathy, and understanding. All children are given a chance to be heard, and mutually agreeable solutions are reached in conjunction with all affected parties.

By listening to each child’s voice, we can 

encourage children’s participation in decision-making in play, learning, and everyday routines. Children are free to lead the direction of their play, choosing what they want to play with and how; educators can assist children to locate resources that can extend their play and learning, and can provide intentional teaching moments to extend their knowledge and abilities.  Children’s input is also sought when we are compiling a wish list of items to purchase each term, allowing them to directly influence the learning that occurs in their environment. This term the children eagerly awaited the delivery of the new range of Mr Panda books that they had requested, and when the first one arrived the excitement from all children was obvious!

Listening to each child’s feelings, knowledge and ideas, demonstrates that we value and respect their contribution in the community and helps them lead the direction of learning and play. Their voices are added into the program, directly influencing the learning that occurs each day and what we plan to do in the upcoming weeks and months.

How do we notice what a child likes or dislikes when they are not sure of how to communicate this with words? How do children tell us what they know, can do, and understand? 

By actively allowing time and space for a child to share their ideas and voice their curiosity, concerns and interests we provide opportunities for them to feel confidence and valued. and in-turn develop and strengthen their sense of self- identity and emotional wellbeing. We do this by:

• Using body language that shows we are listening
• Watching facial expressions and body language to help understand what a child is trying to say (if they are having trouble verbally communicating)
• Showing interest in what each child is telling you by saying things like ‘Tell me more about …’
• Giving time for a child to speak and finish sentences without jumping in, proving an opportunity for each child think and take their own time to communicate and build self confidence
• Allow opportunities for children to problem-solve
• Recognising the validity of communication through the arts, such as drawing, painting, and music, and using these moments to prompt reflection and discussion

Recognising the child’s voice in the programming and documentation at Glen Centre Road Kindergarten.

At the beginning of the year, we began asking the children what they would like to see and do at kinder. We shared big conversations about kindness, Children’s Rights (respecting yourself and each other) and began to establish a space for children to feel safe to openly communicate with both educators and each other.  We strive to establish a space for children to feel safe, secure and supported, and establish relationships where children can openly share how they feel and what they like, and where their presence and input in the community is valued. 

Within the program we strive to be responsive to each child’s individual needs, and to create a learning space that is reflective of their ideas, abilities and interests. We do this by taking time to actively listen and asking thought provoking questions to hear what they know and understand. We then plan ways to support and extend their play in ways that are relevant to them. This can be seen across the program reflection book with different examples of our small and large group conversations when we invite children to share their knowledge on:

• what they understand about themselves (understanding feelings/emotions, looking at body language,)
• what is happening in the world around them, (Changes in weather, the environment, sustainability) 
• ways we can show respect to each other (discussing different cultures, diversity, and ways of being

Each day we try to come together as a community to share a conversation about what is happening, and we seek opportunities to provide children with an opportunity to share what has been happening in their world. Some of these conversations then provoke further inquiry in play and have been documented within individual observations inside the child’s portfolios, and we also add the child’s voice to our program and in our room displays. While sharing individual and small group conversations we can create experiences and support children to extend their curiosity in their play in an environment that is relevant to them. One example of this is when a child asked “can we do science experiments?” By asking what type of experiment, we were able to set up a table with the ingredients required and allow the children to have freedom to explore, hypothesise, experiment, and make learning connections.

By valuing each child’s ideas and provoking curiosity with Who, What, When and Why questions; being responsive and helping to extend their inquiring mind to investigate and extend their ideas; and proactively seeking children’s input into all aspects of the kinder day and program we can help children to feel heard and be independently engaged in their learning environment. 

Some of the other rights in the United Nations Convention on the rights of the Child include:

• the right to be treated fairly
• the right to have a say about decisions affecting you
• the right to live and grow up healthy
• the right to be safe no matter where you are
• the right of all children to express their views freely on all matters affecting them
• the right to get an education
• the right to play and have fun!