Childrenʼs Rights and Education

Beth Blue Swadener earned her PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is currently Professor of Justice and Social Inquiry and Associate Director of the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on cross-national policy studies in early childhood, particularly in Africa, with emphasis on children’s rights and participation. Laura Lundy is Professor of Education Law and Children’s Rights at Queen’s University, Belfast, where she earned her PhD and qualified as a barrister. She is currently Director of the Centre for Children’s Rights (www.qub.ac.uk/ccr). Janette Habashi is Associate Professor of Human Relations at the University of Oklahoma, with a PhD from Kent State University. Her research with children and Indigenous populations examines socialization, national identity, political participation/resistance, and children’s rights-based approaches in policy and research.Natasha Blanchet-Cohen is Assistant Professor in Applied Human Sciences at Concordia University and holds a PhD from the University of Victoria. As an applied researcher on community youth development for over 15 years, she focuses on young people’s agency and embedding youth decision-making into practice.

«The editors have assembled a thought-provoking and intellectually engaging collection of essays that demonstrate the benefits that flow from the adoption of a rights-based approach to education in a range of diverse social, cultural, linguistic, and religious contexts. This book deserves the attention of anyone genuinely concerned with the realisation of a child's right to education.» (John Tobin, Professor, University of Melbourne, a leading children's rights expert)«Be aware! Education and children's rights are taken seriously in this book. The topics, important and frequently controversial, are illuminated by research, expertise and passion ‒ with particular emphasis on social justice, inclusion, evolving capacities, child agency, and best interests. A rigorous exploration and debate of critical issues is launched and encouraged. The reader is likely to strongly agree and disagree at numerous points ‒ and to be stimulated to do more – all to the good in finding the way forward.» (Stuart N. Hart; Deputy Director, International Institute for Child Rights and Development; Co-Director of Child Rights Education for Professionals (CRED-PRO))

• Contents: Lesley Emerson/Laura Lundy: Education Rights in a Society Emerging from Conflict: Curriculum and Student Participation as a Pathway to the Realization of Rights – Martha Baiyee/Celeste Hawkins/Valerie Polakow: Children’s Rights and Educational Exclusion: The Impact of Zero-Tolerance in Schools – Natasha Blanchet-Cohen: The Protagonism of Under-18 Youth in the Québec Student Movement: The Right to Political Participation and Education – Panagiota Karagianni/Soula Mitakidou/Evangelia Tressou: What’s Right in Children’s Rights? The Subtext of Dependency – Kylie Smith: A Rights-Based Approach to Observing and Assessing Children in the Early Childhood Classroom – Lacey Peters/Lisa Lacy: «You’re Not Listening to Us»: Explicating Children’s School Experiences to Build Opportunity for Increased Participation Within School Communities in the United States – Jenny Ritchie/Cheryl Rau: Renarrativizing Indigenous Rights-Based Provision Within «Mainstream» Early Childhood Services – Nkidi Phatudi/Mokgadi Moletsane: Restoring Indigenous Languages and the Right to Learn in a Familiar Language: A Case of Black South African Children – Bekisizwe Ndimande/Beth Blue Swadener: Pursuing Democracy Through Education Rights: Perspectives from South Africa – Harry Shier/Martha Lidia Padilla/Nohemí Molina Torres/Leonilda Barrera López/Moisés Molina Torres/Zorayda Castillo/Karen Alicia Ortiz Alvarado: Claiming the Right to Quality Education in Nicaragua – Colette Murray: Getting an Education: How Travellersʼ Knowledge and Experience Shape Their Engagement with the System – Leodinito Y. Cañete: When Boys Are Pushed-Pulled out of School: Rights to Education in the Philippines – Janette Habashi: Intersections of Education and Freedom of Religion Rights in the UNCRC and in Practice.