Human Rights for Children and Youth

Sociocultural Differentiation, Resistance and Unity

Magali Reis, Marcelo S. Isidório, Reis, S. Isidório

• Verlag: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Jahr: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781789730494
• Thema: Sciences sociales
• Thema: Études des enfants en sociologie

The condition of childhood and youth in different socio-cultural contexts is an area that is yet to be fully uncovered. Currently, there is a lack of understanding regarding young people's inherent rights, how these translate into day-to-day policy and why the experience of childhood differs across different socio-cultural realities. This book, written by experts in the field from India, The Philippines, Sweden, Romania, Scotland, Brazil, Argentina and Jamaica, seeks to redress this disconnect and take an in-depth exploration into the condition of childhood across 3 different continents. Firstly, the authors explore the fundamental rights of children and young people, in which the boundaries and possibilities of guaranteeing and effecting rights are presented, also drawing attention to the new ways in which contemporary generations have resisted the waves of exclusion and marginalization. This important text then explores the idea of sociocultural differentiation and unity, presented through a series of innovative studies that illuminate the similarities and differences in living conditions of children and young people in different contexts. This volume, with both a comparative focus and global reach, will prove invaluable for researchers in the fields of childhood education and sociology.

PART I
CHILDREN, YOUTH, HUMAN RIGHTS AND RESISTENCE

THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE FROM THE BEGINNING: EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION FOR ALL

Ingrid Engdahl and Mariela Losso

ABSTRACT

This article presents a description of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) as a basis for guaranteeing fundamental human rights from birth. ECCE is the first stage and a solid base – considering the relevance of development processes from birth to six years. Active early education, committed to the reality of a community, facilitates the training of young citizens as rights’ agents. In this sense, the education and care in early childhood is indispensable. This article communicates a descriptive synthesis of the current state of the ECCE in various regions and countries, especially in Latin America – Argentina – and in Europe – Sweden.

In the analysis, theoretical sustenance about childhood and new perspectives that discuss classical conceptions are presented. The educational process is fundamental and is described as Early Education (EE), presenting a synthesis of the ECCE from its normative conformation that arises from the statements of Jomtien (1990). The concept of Educare is presented, as a holistic approach to education and care within early childhood. This aspect is linked to highlight the inequality gaps for children, describing ‘fragmented territories’, in terms of guaranteeing rights. The final reflection summarizes the importance of Early Education, recovering the current studies on Educare, which project the guarantee of rights from birth.

Keywords: Early childhood education; human rights; equal access; Educare; Argentina; Sweden

INTRODUCTION

The article aims to analyze the relevance of Early Education (EE) as a basis for the guarantee of fundamental human rights from birth. The demands from the voice of the new generations are raised, emphasizing its potential for eloquence of children and young people as agents of rights. It is a fundamental part of education to promote the highest levels of autonomy, with the guidance of adult teachers. This guide is the temporary support that educates and cares for the youngest or the new¹ members of society.

Education is the possibility of interacting with others and deploying social action, expanding the ability to express and decide.

The demands from the voice of the new generations are raised, emphasizing its potential for eloquence of children and young people as agents of rights. We talk about ‘eloquence’² (Cullen, 2009) as a practice that implies autonomy and decision-making power, according to the possibilities of the subject with agency in a community. Education is liberating (Freire, 1972), because in collective action there is reflective training and the teacher is the initial support that guides the praxis that will facilitate the awareness of the reality of that social group. In this process, each child strengthens her/his argumentative discursive capacity – education is based on communication and language and teaches it – and recognizes her/his agency and a growing responsibility and interest for sustainable development and to participate actively in the society.

Early Education is the first stage and the most solid base – considering the relevance of development processes from birth to six years – to guarantee Fundamental Human Rights from birth. Active early education that is committed to the reality of a community facilitates the training of young citizens as rights’ agents.

It is also noted worldwide that Early Education quantitatively or qualitatively is an educational level that has not been strengthened enough; this will be one of the initial approaches of this article, relating the institutionalization of Early Education with international regulations that promote it. It is intended to produce and communicate a descriptive synthesis of the current state of the EE and ECCE in the regulations in force in various regions and countries.

The methodology is based on the qualitative treatment of the data. The methodology of the research is qualitative, focused on the analysis of legal discourses from a synchronic–critical diachronic perspective (Fairclough, Wodak & van Dijk, in Maxwell, 1996). Extensive ethnographic observations were made by Hammersley and Atkinson (2007) on the forms of institutionalization of educational practices in Early Childhood, and the collection of data with twenty semi-directed interviews with social agents linked to the processes of design and implementation of policies and advice on childhood rights. We proceeded to triangulate the data sources (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994), from which the analysis of the current state of the relationship between the functions and processes of institutionalization of the rights to early childhood education takes place.

Primary sources have been triangulated, for example, interviews with secondary sources – census data and documents, to produce a synthesis of ECCE in Latin America and Europe.

In the analysis, topics are displayed that are interacting in the totality of the proposal but are organized according to the comprehensive priority of each one and the relationship with the object of the work. In the first place, the theoretical sustenance about childhood and the new perspectives that discuss classical conceptions are presented. This is related to another point that is the capacity of discourse – action, the progressive autonomy and the relevance of the voice of the younger generations. The educational process is fundamental and is described from the Early Education, presenting a synthesis of the ECCE from a normative conformation that arises from the statements in the World Declaration on Education for All and the Framework for Action to Meet Basic Learning Needs, approved by the World Conference 1990 in Jomtien (UNESCO, 1990/1994)³ and followed by presentations from Latin America, especially Argentina and Europe, especially Sweden. The concept of Educare is presented, as a holistic approach to educating and caring within early childhood: a fundamental process in an integral development from a rights’ perspective. This aspect is linked to highlight the inequality gaps for children, describing ‘fragmented territories’⁴, in terms of guaranteeing rights, especially education and early care beyond the family nucleus.

The final reflection summarizes the importance of guaranteeing Early Education, recovering the current studies on Educare, which project the guarantee of rights from birth. This leads to strengthening the agency of children regarding their social rights and their ability to act for higher levels of social justice, especially in fragmented territories that are not considered in current projects, policies and institutions.

CHILDHOOD: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

The research is carried out during the last years, and has been the subject of theories that begin to be considering the differences and naming ‘the infancias’. De Mause (1982), Aries (1987), Gelis (1990), Lyotard (1991), Carli (1991, 2001, 2006), have allowed – from different perspectives – to construct more complex and inclusive conceptions, and girls begin to give space to diversity and contextualize the stories of the subjects in social, political, and economic processes that also determine the discourses that are written on them.

The peculiarity of children is that they have been enrolled in a diversity of discourses that characterize, analyze, and produce them; overflow pages and words about childhood but very few are children’s voices. Even the adult voice prevails in the construction of these discourses and, in some way, maintains the power over the voiceless (infants).

As Carli (2006) states, in the last decades in Argentina numerous studies on ‘childhood’ have been developed; they come from different fields such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, history, etc. These studies have provided different perspectives to understand childhoods: the representations on the childhood in mass media, the childhood in situation of street, the children of the closed districts or countries, the policies and the rights for childhood, gender, ethnicity, class and child socialization, among others. The different childhoods begin to have a certain voice and existence and they come out of the shadows of the most closed representations to make their way as subjects with rights.

New theories constitute a significant step forward and brought about reliable grounds, displayed in innovative legal frameworks, for the re-consideration of children’s rights. However, everyone knows that standard advances are not enough to produce radical changes in the ways of regarding childhoods and dealing with them.

Cullen (2009) contrasts the absence of voice of the infants with the interpellant eloquence of the facundia. Childhood is, from its reflection, a face that interpellates as exteriority, as an alterity that is not trapped by the relationship of language and culture. Before the withdrawal of the word, in front of the fragmentation of the subject and against the pretension of monopolization of the single thought postulates the taking of the word, the narrative construction of the identity and the intelligent resistance as challenges for the education. In the redefinition of childhood, she finds substantive keys to think about our time and responsibly assume the task of teaching: ‘Ultimately, each child expects an unpublished adult. And in every adult a child lives, where the same, the passion to learn to live, is not the same’ (Cullen, 2009).

Several investigations point out the relevance of early childhood, as the first time of life, with great importance for the subject and his community. Early childhood needs strong family ties, security and affection, togeether with care and education as a fundamental right that must be guaranteed by the states.

Early education is necessary to initiate social change and practices that guarantee the rights of young children. The role of adults is important in a context with adequate social, economic and political conditions for the change of view of childhoods. The new generations need those conditions to develop all their capacities, especially those to participate actively as citizens in public affairs. These new approaches to Early Education emphasize the principles of democracy and citizenship.

It is necessary to mention that adult voices still prevail in discouse constructions talking about children. There are plenty of pages and words describing childhoods, though few of them are actually children’s voices or retrieve them authentically. In various social practices, the voice of adults still prevails. Some groups of children are less listened to, either because of their class, race or gender precedence (Losso, 2009a).

To build truly democratic and inclusive societies, it is essential to listen to the voices of all children. This implies promoting children to be active participants in community life. Here, early education – considered as a social and politic practice capable of becoming a privileged space for the construction of citizenship – plays an essential role. School practices – what happens in the educative space every day, the relations displayed – can foster and support this collective construction of citizenship. School is expected to be a democratic space, showing every citizen’s engaged and transforming social behaviour already from childhood (Losso, 2009b).

Transforming action is precisely the basis on which an emancipating civic education – with the purpose of widening the scope of pupils’ autonomy – rests. As Giroux (2000) says, educative contexts should encourage young people’s imaginations, passions and intellects, for them to be able to challenge the structural conditioning factors which oppress them. ‘This form of education is essentially political, and its goal is to achieve a true democratic society, a society able to answer for everyone’s needs and not only for the needs of a few’ (p. 202).

Democracy needs the support of an educative system that helps in the training of a critical awareness and the capacity of reflection. Democracy is and involves the childhood, too. In this sense, the conception of democracy guiding this task refers to it as ‘a way of life’, which implies active and public participation in common issues. Following Bárcena (1997), democracy promotes freedom (individual and collective self-determination), the human development (the capacity for practicing self-determination) and moral equality (the capacity to respect each other).

The EE approaches point to the necessary change in the representations and discourses that occur about young children. They encourage states to modify their regulations to expand access to care and education systems from an early age. While most states have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN, 1989), not all have regulations that fully guarantee them.

The mo...