To Örebro University

Child rights research has increased since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1989. Reviews of the research has indicated a lack of criticality and a reluctance to interrogate or challenge dominant views. Some scholars argue that this results from under theorisation, whereas other maintain that theorisation is abundant. The paradox suggesting that children's rights research can be both abundant and deficient in theory calls for a thorough discussion about theorisation. This systematic review engages in this debate by exploring what is positioned as "theory" in educational children's rights research, and what function theory has. Analysis determined that alignment with established theoretical approaches is uncommon. Previous research literature is instead often positioned as theory, mostly in combination with policy, law or an established theory. Main functions of theory are to construct the object of study and to provide analysis support. Some uses of theory appear to be more powerful than others.

This article examines the academic discussion about human rights education for children and young people and argues that the current state of research does not provide sufficient support and guidance to nations, schools, and teachers in the establishment of human rights education in schools. The article's aim is to add insights into how scholarly work may be contributing to the low uptake of human rights education in formal schooling. By drawing on educational children's rights research and research on human rights education, three cardinal complications are identified; (1) that the main research fields that address education and rights do not seem to communicate, (2) that it is unclear what are the aims of human rights education are, and (3) that a curriculum for human rights education is missing. The cardinal complications are closely examined and discussed, and a middle ground is explored and progressively visualized.

Children’s human rights education is a complex area for schools to handle. Therefore, it is not uncommon for schools and teachers to seek guidance from actors outside school. This article examines UNICEF UK’s Rights Respecting Schools Awardwith the aim ofshedding light on ways in which the programme can support successful work with children’s human rights education. The programme’s main aims are identified, and research about the programme is examined to determine to what extent the aims seem to be achieved in schools that use it. The analysis shows that the programme holds good potential to support successful work with children’s HRE, but that some areas of the programme need to be developed to provide a full HRE. A lack of strong research evidence for a programme effect is also noted.

One of the responsibilities of early childhood education and school is that children and students are given ample opportunities for influence and democratic participation. Research about children’s and students’ influence in education has grown during the latest decades. This paper presents a synthesis of Swedish research on influence in education published 2005-2018. Four themes are identified as main topics in the research undertaken:  1. the significance of the teachers, in which the views and attitudes of teachers, their concrete actions and asymmetrical power relations in education are examined, 2. a child/student perspective on influence, in which students’ perceptions of influence, their actions to gain influence and how status and position in the group affects influence are highlighted, 3. formal arenas for influence, in which the content and processes of class- and school councils are analysed, and 4. the significance of structural factors, which investigates how influence is affected by factors such as gender, educational ambitions, social status and class. The central findings within these themes are clarified, and, based on the synthesis, suggestions for further research about children’s and students influence are given.

The role of education in upholding and spreading human rights is widely recognised, but knowledge about actual rights education is limited. Drawing on north European didaktik theory, this article examines human rights teaching and learning of 8–9-year-old pupils in two Swedish classes, with a special interest in what teachers and pupils consider to be the aim of rights education – what is to be achieved? Based on interviews with teachers and children and observed teaching and classwork, a shared conception between teachers and pupils focusing on knowledge about rights and ethical allegiance with rights is identified, but also some differences.

Since the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, research into children's rights issues in educational contexts has grown significantly. This paper takes stock of the evolution of educational children's rights research, and provides a characterisation of the research field. By means of a systematic analysis of the published scholarship, the main achievements of the research are identified, as well as gaps in knowledge production. Major research foci are highlighted, the theoretical and methodological characteristics of the field are demonstrated, and concerns are identified. Based on the insights gained from analysis of the research field, future prospects are identified and discussed, and some possible routes forward for educational children's rights research are suggested.

This research synthesis examines earlier studies within the field of children's human rights in education, with the specific aim of clarifying which rationalities of teaching and learning children's human rights are activated as significant for teachers’ thinking and work. Theoretically framed by a Foucauldian governmentality approach, the qualitative analysis identifies five different rationalities in the teaching and learning of children's human rights in previous research. The paper discusses how the identified rationalities support or contradict each other in a complex way and their connection to differing conceptions of rights for children. Further, the possible consequences for teachers, teacher educators and policymakers are considered.

The United Nations (UN) asserts that children and young people should have access to human rights education (HRE) and that schools are one of the key means through which HRE should be made available. However, there is currently limited knowledge about the presence and form of HRE in school contexts, and there is no established means through which HRE provision within schools is evaluated. This paper proposes a theoretical framework to support the classification of teachers’ responsibilities in relation to HRE and argues that systemic change is needed within education systems if HRE provision is to be realised in more extensive and consistent ways. The curriculum documents of three nations – Australia, England and Sweden – were analysed to determine teacher responsibilities for educating pupils about human rights. The viability of the developed framework was then tested through applying it to the outcomes of these analyses. The theoretical contribution made by the paper deepens knowledge and understandings about the nature of responsibilities placed on teachers to educate pupils about human rights, and provides a foundation from which to stimulate debate about what constitutes effective school-based HRE practices.