In August 2019, the Research Working Group, came together to think of ways to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC). Acknowledgement of children having rights was ratified by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations, 1989) which states that children have the right to express how they think and feel about the world and what is important to them. They should be listened to, heard, and involved in decisions that impact their lives. This positions children as active contributors to their own learning regardless of age or capabilities and has ramifications for how others perceive children and childhood.
The group decided to privilege the voices and perspectives of children and what children’s rights means to them, by asking them to illustrate their ideas and thoughts through artwork. The Research Working Group is grateful to the participating educators and parents who provided access to young children to invite onto the project. We especially thank the children for sharing their thoughts of what rights mean to them and what is important in their world through their beautiful and thoughtful illustrations.
The project culminated in the creation of a PowerPoint presentation where the children’s artworks were showcased to the fitting music titled ‘Childhood’ composed and performed by Scott Buckley.
