Child’s Voice

‘Do not listen to the children.  They can do what we tell them to do.’

As I heard this, it made me reflect on the impact of not listening to the children because the adult makes the decision, for which they have to follow.  Over the period, I have understood that in certain cultural contexts, societies, communities or countries this has been true but this could lead the children to feel insecure, unworthy and unconfident through their times of growing up.  This is not because it is acceptable but it could be the lack of understanding on the impact of not listening to children and their learning, development and well-being.  I reflect on this with my time of growing up in Kenya, in a cultural context and the impact of the social beliefs and values where schools and parents had all the rights on how they raise the children. 

At the time, this was a place where there has been no defined legislations or policies on the rights of the child whilst corporal punishment was legal to use in schools and settings.  Yes, I feel scared by the times I have been hit by a ruler on my knuckles on my hand or being hit by a pipe on the back of my leg not because I was in the wrong, but just because it was fair to punish all children rather than one or because you do not wear the uniform correctly or you were late.  The fear that built on this gradually impacted on how I learnt, responded and progressed as an individual within my learning and development.  For example, my confidence in raising my hand or answering or asking a question but also feeling self-worth.  But this experience has provided me an opportunity to reflect and learn the different perspectives, policies, ideologies that are there to support children in their learning and development in keeping children safe, away from harm and protect their rights.  More so, regardless of the school experiences, I have had a good childhood overall with the experiences that I know that many children would have not had such as cooking over an open barbecue at the age of 6, cutting my own vegetables to make a curry with a knife, having a safe open environment to play with animals and weave with sisal that I made from the plant and many more.   

Having worked with children all through my career, this has been the utmost priority for me in practice to understand the child as an individual and ensuring to embed ‘the child’s voice’ in my practice and also in my personal life.  Not only to listen to them, but to hear them, to understand their views, guide them, protect and provide them the relevant information to then give them an opportunity to make an informed decision – the ability to make a choice.  

The child’s voice have been greatly influenced through the learning in the western context and knowing that there is a different approach and why it is important in comparison to my experience in Kenya.  The child’s voice has been embedded in Article 12 of the UN convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations, 1989) which states that children and young people have a right to say what they think should happen, when adults are making decisions that affect them, and to have their opinions taken into account.  Since it was adopted by the United Nations in November 1989, 196 countries have signed up to the UNCRC, with only one country still to ratify, this being United States.  This questions child’s rights across the world where there is a divide in views and perceptions.  Although in the UK, the importance of getting the child’s views and including the child’s voice has been embedded in all practice work within Health, Education and Social care where within the education curriculum of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) (2021) every child is seen as unique, ‘with individual needs and ways of learning which are recognised, appreciated and met and who is enabled to be confident, caring, valued, independent, motivated, supported, self-disciplined and respected’ (Murray, 2019).  In addition, the Children Act 1989 (as amended by Section 53 of the Children Act 2004 requires local authorities to give due regard to a child's wishes when determining what services to provide under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989, and before making decisions about action to be taken to protect individual children under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989.

But there are challenges in listening to the young children’s voice, as Murray (2019) shares that practitioners may be required to follow macro-policy agendas that is focused on the investment returns leaving practitioners no opportunity to listen to children’s views or act on them.  Additionally, the child’s voice is not only about verbal communication through language but also through gestures, pointing, visuals using pictures and cards where children need to be seen as an individual child and not generalised.  Hence, reflecting back on my quote ‘Do not listen to the children.  They can do what we tell them to do’ does not give much context on the purpose of saying this but I can say that this could be one of those incidents where pressure, time and making the choice on behalf of the child/ren to get a prompt outcome was more desired that getting the child/ren’s views.    

Overall, the child needs to be seen as an active partner who can usefully add to what is being set up. They should not be seen as a passive victim who needs to be saved. The answer may not be to treat the child at the other extreme, but the more you see the child as a passive victim, the less they will be able to influence events.

Ask yourself (parent or professional): 'Do I understand what this child's life is like, what do they do each day? What do they feel about their lives, how would they want things to change?'

References

DfE (2021) Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Crown Copyright. 

Murray, J. (2019) Hearing young children’s voices. International Journal of Early Years Education, 27(1), pp.1-5.