Since the inception of UNCRC, a considerable body of scholarship has developed to consider what the rights of children are and how they can be enacted in everyday life. In this paper we re-visit the framing of children and young people and their rights, from the nascent endeavours in the 20th century to the present day, and argue that we still…

In times of disasters and adversity, children are among the most vulnerable. The "United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child" (1989) highlights the importance of protecting children from harm and making decisions in their best interests--matters that become heightened in an adverse context. From 2020 to 2023, the government of…

This paper presents findings from a review of 19 national curriculum policy frameworks (NCPFs) across the globe and discusses dominant and culturally specific discourses that shape early childhood education (ECE). We combine two frameworks of developmental universality and specificity and culturally contextualised pedagogy to explore whether and…

Since the advent of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), concerns have been raised regarding tokenistic engagement with children's participation rights as well as ethical considerations that must be addressed in research with children. This article explores how one particular ethical dilemma regarding representation…

Aotearoa New Zealand ratified the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1993, which means its principles and rights are obligatory, not optional. So, UNCRC has important implications for teachers, leaders, and boards of trustees in schools. UNCRC has 54 articles. A good starting point for teachers is the articles…

This response to the question about what we are angry about and what we dream of for young children reflects our work of over 30 years in Australasia. For Kylie in Australia and for Sonja in Aotearoa New Zealand and now also Australia. We direct the RECE common call, for an elevation of children's rights, to a voice, to a 'good' education, and to…

The essay explores the role of Learning Stories in early childhood education and the connection to the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (1989). The paper highlights the use of Learning Stories in a teacher preparation program and student perspectives on the value of narrative assessment in their work with children, their…

Schools play a crucial role in shaping resettled refugees' sense of belonging and access to citizenship rights. Education is a pathway to social integration, civic participation, and meaningful employment. Teachers can be seen as 'boundary workers' who broker a sense of (un)welcome and (un)belonging, mediating the relationship between resettled…

Children's participation is valued in early childhood education but how this is achieved in pedagogy is less obvious. The methodology of conversation analysis is used in this paper to show how specific interactional practices afford opportunities for children to initiate, explore, and assert their own perspectives in everyday activities. The…

Educational psychologists face challenging decisions around ethical dilemmas to uphold the rights of all children. Due to finite government resources for supporting all learners, one of the roles of educational psychologists is to apply for this funding on behalf of schools and children. Tensions can emerge when unintended ethical dilemmas arise…

Including all children is something many education settings aspire to, yet the outcome of children realising their right to an inclusive education remains elusive for far too many. In this article we present the narrative of an inclusive early childhood education setting. The first author undertook an ethnographic study of the experiences of an…

This paper presents a framework for what we consider are essential elements for realising the linguistic rights of Indigenous children in the twenty-first century. The global impacts of colonisation on various Indigenous communities have resulted in loss of cultural practices, knowledge and loss of languages. This framework points to ways forward…

As a non-participant observer of a Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) on children's storytelling, I explored children's understanding of research involving them, including their rights to consent, assent and dissent to participate. In this case study of Timmy's participation in research, I show how Timmy's researcher sought and…

Every year, worldwide, disasters affect approximately seven million children with disabilities, highlighting their potential vulnerability. Although there is a growing move internationally to promote the rights of children with disabilities, they still receive little attention from disaster risk reduction (DRR) researchers and policy makers. They…

The social service sector in New Zealand is undergoing significant change with the Minister responsible for introducing a new Ministry for Vulnerable Children (now Ministry for Children) signalling a commitment to practice being child-centred and trauma-informed in the new era. There is no shared understanding of these terms or what they will mean…