Conceptualising conflicts between student participation and other rights and interests

ABSTRACT

This paper delineates the conflicts that can arise between student participation and other rights and interests and presents a model that conceptualises these conflicts. It fills a gap in the developing literature on participation rights in education, which has yet to systematically address the possible ramifications of practices that implement these rights. The paper describes how students’ participation may constrain various other children’s rights: the right not to participate, not to be discriminated against, and to be protected from violence and abuse. In addition, it discusses possible clashes between the one-size-fits-all model of student participation and the rights of children and parents to culturally adaptable education. The paper also analyses how neoliberal practices of participation, such as high-stake student perception surveys, may undermine the social interest to empower teachers, which is intertwined with children’s best interests and their right to education.

KEYWORDS:

• Participation rights
• participation in education
• children’s rights
• the Convention on the rights of the child
• student voice
• human rights education

Acknowledgments

I am indebted to Benny Benjamin and to the anonymous reviewers of Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education for helpful comments, and to Hen Yefet for research assistance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.