Children?s Rights and Education

This book compares ways in which children’s rights in, to, and through education, formal and informal, are viewed and implemented in a variety of social and political contexts, aiming to shed light on how policies and practices can improve equal access to high quality education in an environment which is respectful of children’s rights. Chapters focus on understanding the opportunities for and challenges of addressing children’s rights to participation and to inclusion. Authors draw from a variety of disciplines, including critical and cultural studies of childhood, and bring internationally comparative policy perspectives to share nuanced and contrasting examples of ways in which a rights-based approach to education might empower children and youth. The book deepens and complicates research on children’s education rights, and will contribute to courses in comparative education, childhood studies, education policy, and children’s rights.

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.