Child Rights Education in Diverse Global Contexts and Times of Crises - A decolonizing, participatory action research project with educators, children, and community members in Canada and Uganda

Drs. Jones and Manion received SSHRC funds to explore how educators in Uganda and Canada can develop and integrate child rights-based education to support the empowerment of children at their schools.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (1989) requires that "States Parties...assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child" (Article 12). Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai exemplify the enormous potential for children and youth to address global issues of concern and bring about transformative change if they are empowered with knowledge of their rights and the capabilities to have their voices heard. Children everywhere have these same rights and all signatories to the UNCRC have an obligation to provide children with education about their rights (Covell et al, 2017; Wabwile, 2016). This is additionally enforced in more geographically and culturally informed adaptations of the UNCRC, such as the African Charter for the Rights and Welfare of Children which countries, such as Uganda, perceive as less Western-centric and more aligned with its overall context. However, "...the vast majority of children remain in the dark about their rights and schools remain largely oblivious to the need for implementing the full range of children's education rights" (Covell, et al, 2017, p. 296). Little research exists exploring how children's rights education can be embedded in meaningful, culturally and age-appropriate ways in classroom teaching, particularly in the early grades and in diverse global contexts (for our study, Uganda and Canada). This five-year decolonizing, participatory action research project asks what processes support educators in different contexts - a city in Western Canada, rural Southwestern Uganda, and two districts in Central and Northern Uganda with large Sudanese refugee settlements -- to achieve impactful child rights education that empowers children to learn about and exercise their rights, particularly during times/situations of crises. Drawing on the voices of children, educators, families and communities, this project has sought unique insights into how efficacious child rights education can impact children's empowerment when appropriately contextualized. This builds on a Uganda-Canada 2018 pilot study (Jones, Manion, & Mack) focused on engaging children in learning and contextualizing children's rights using the Child Thrive model, a play- and arts-based approach to learning about the UNCRC developed by the International Institute of Child Rights and Development (IICRD). This found children want to know their rights and responsibilities and can embody rights-realization in impactful ways (Jones, 2019; Jones, et al, 2019; Jones & Manion, 2019). Child Thrive was first implemented and intended for Canadian schoolchildren, however, it is adaptable to meet local needs and conditions. This project shifts focus to understand the ways that educators can best implement child rights-based education to support the empowerment of children at their schools (Lachman & Poblete, 2002) with tools like those within the Child Thrive program. The project has included professional development workshops for teachers, child-led school projects celebrating and communicating out about children’s rights to parents and other community members, postcard exchanges between children, focus group discussions with parents and community members, interviews with teachers, and a visit by the Ugandan research team to Canada to visit Canadian schools. The research team is comprised of Principle Investigator, Shelley Jones, and Co-Investigator, Kathleen Manion, and Collaborators from the University of Victoria, the International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD) (Canada), the Community Empowerment for Rural Development (CEFORD) (Uganda), and Gulu University. Our research team is strongly committed to a "flattened" power structure, and collaboration in every aspect, and at every stage of the research process, including with participants. Primary participants across all sites include 35 teachers, over 2000 children, secondary participants include and numerous community members, government representatives and parents. Early findings show that although the curricula may not specifically highlight children’s rights as a dominant theme, or offer resources specific to supporting children’s rights, educators in both Ugandan and Canadian contexts have identified how children’s rights are embedded throughout the curricula and can be easily identified, highlighted and incorporated into lessons in all subject areas. Additionally, educators in resource-challenges contexts in Uganda have created resources (e.g., storybooks) to support learning about children’s rights in diverse subject areas and children have created songs, poems, artwork and stories to illustrate their understanding of rights.