Social Justice, Children's Needs and Rights: An Approach to Planning

Title
Social Justice, Children's Needs and Rights: An Approach to Planning
Publication Date
2015
Author(s)
Sims, Margaret
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4686-4245
Email: msims7@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:msims7
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Sciedu Press
Place of publication
Canada
DOI
10.5430/jct.v4n2p122
UNE publication id
une:18369
Abstract
Commonly, planning for children involves comparing what they know against a curriculum or learning framework which identifies what they should know. Early childhood educators are then expected to create learning opportunities to help fill the gap between these two extremes. In this paper I argue that such an approach does not honour the requirements outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, particularly in relation to respecting children's agency. Rather, in this approach adults possess and enact power over children: adults make the decisions about what children should know and what and how they will be taught. I propose an alternative framing of planning. The focus of the planning becomes what early childhood educators need to do to ensure children's rights are met rather than on what children need to learn to meet the requirements of the relevant curriculum or learning framework.
Link
Citation
Journal of Curriculum and Teaching, 4(2), p. 122-129
ISSN
1927-2685
1927-2677
Start page
122
End page
129

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