Cooperation Bases System for Educational Cooperation in 2008by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports Science and Technology

Children’s
Participation
Guidebook

Children’s Participation Guidebook
To those who conduct programs involving childrenChildren’s participation is one of the major issues to focus on today.
If asked,“Does your organization state the Rights of the child and children’s participation in its goals(principles/philosophy)?” many organizations would probably answer, “Yes, we do.”Then, responding to the following question,“How do you implement children’s participation in activities?”
various comments would be heard, such as:“Children are participating in a making-school project.”“We have reflected children’s opinions in our events.”“Children are working on local problems.”
What would be their answers if asked,“Is there a gap between what you state and what you do in actual practices regarding children’s
participation?”
Many of the members who helped make this guidebook answered, “Yes,” to this question
concerning the organization they belong to.
It is our hope to close the gap between what we state as our philosophy and what we do in ourpractices. This is what motivated us to make this guidebook and we dedicate it to you who share ourinterests and concerns.

Aiming to change the awareness of adults and NGOs
How can we encourage children’s independent participation?
“There is no universal model for children’s social participation,” Roger Hart writes in the preface tohis book, “Children’s Participation.”
Probably we are not the only ones who agree with him. Many practitioners who work in the fieldwould find that well-made models are not so impressive. But actual practices pursued in a mannerof constant patience are something compelling and give people courage to think, “We may be able
to do it, too!”This guidebook will present case studies of children’s participation as well as what we learned fromthem. This is a guide made by adults for adults to transform themselves. We hope you will find thisguidebook useful.

March 2009
Educational Cooperation NGO Network, JNNE

“Children’s Participation Guidebook”
Contents
Preview Guides

2

Who would be in the cast for children’s participation?

2

Do you really see children when you talk about “children’s participation”?
Realizing children as your partners brings down walls.

4

Chapter 1 Theory: Promoting Children’s Participation
1. Why is Children’s Participation Important?
2. Children’s Rights and Participation

5

6

6

3. Child Development and Participation

7

4. Group Participation and Group Work

9

5. Ladder of Participation

310

6. Participation for Tokenism

12

7. NGOs’ Activities and Children’s Participation

12

Chapter 2 Case Studies 14
Children’s participation in Society 1, BangladeshChildren’s Participation in Society 2, Nepal

15

19

Education programs for children’s participation 1, The Philippines
Education programs for children’s participation 2, India

27

Chapter 3 Practical Guides 30
Part1

Preparing groups and individualsGroups: Where to begin?

Practical guides show important points
31

picked up from the case studies, commentary32

and practical information. Part 2 and Part 3

Important factors to bear in mind before beginning32

1-1 The leadership and managerial levels of groups

32

1-2 Staff

are related so please read them together.

33

1-3 Staff Training

34

Community: How can we change adults’ views of children?
1-4 Acknowledging and accepting children’s power

Part2

23

Conducting Programs

2-1 Preparation

36

36

38

40

2-2 Assessment 43
2-3 Implementation

Part3

44

Working with Children

3-1 Through Trainings

48

3-2 Through Activities

51

47

Review Exercises 55

1

Preview Guides

Who would be in the cast for children’s participation?

Local
Fathers

Mothers

Supporters

NGOs

Principals

Teachers

leaders

Local

CentralLocal NGOs

government

government

Many adults will appear in scenes of “Children’s participation.” How would each of these characters
acknowledge the potentiality of the children who were invisible to them before, and find it wrong that
there is no seat set for children at this table?
Some of you might continue to oppose children’s participation, however, it can be a chance for adults
or NGOs to transform themselves.

2

Do you really see children
when you talk about “children’s participation”?

Children’s lives vary in different circumstances. The journey toward children’s participation should be
a process of discovering children and an opportunity for learning more in depth about the structure of asociety that you are assisting through your work. For NGOs, this process offers an opportunity to
discover partners among children as we aim for a sustainable society in which people can live theirdecent lives.

3

Realizing children as your partners brings down walls.

Walls
When can we

Are children reallyWeʼll just get

They will surely

expect to hearcapable for this?

more work to do

be manipulated.

about the results?

SponsorsNGOsof funding

supporting

Adults in
Local staff

the project

the local
community

Examples of “Childrenʼs participation” practices

Examples of results of programs for children◆Building a daycare center initiated by a community survey by children◆Children have confidence in themselves◆Children’s participation in decision-making in the community◆More children become able to speak theirdevelopment of a slum

opinions◆Successful results in educational activities for prevention of early◆Children enjoy opportunities to play a main role
◆Children are prevented from becoming

marriage◆“Literacy programs” conducted by children for children

delinquent◆Children talk to parents whose children are not enrolled in school◆Children participate in a school improvement project with teachers andparents

There are so many programs for children, though when we consider getting children involved indecision-making there are various obstacles facing to us. While working in the field you mightrealize that what breaks down the walls you face is recognition of children as partners.

4

Chapter 1
Theory: Promoting Children’s Participation
1. Why is Children’s Participation Important?
2. Children’s Rights and Participation
3. Child Development and Participation
4. Group Participation and Group Work
5. Ladder of Participation
6. Participation for Tokenism
7. NGOs’ Activities and Children’s Participation5

1. Why is Children’s Participation Important?
Parks with no children
Why is it important to consider children’s participation when NGOs plan projects and carry themout?
For instance, in Japan there are many parks and playgrounds built solely for children. Some parks
are well equipped with play equipment for children, however, few children actually show up.
Other parks in Japan are bursting with children running around and yelling with voices full ofenergy. Those parks are so-called “Play Parks” run by NPOs collaborating with local governments.
They tend to be poorly equipped in comparison with ordinary parks, but children roll tires, run
after them, and climb trees. What makes these play parks different from other parks is that there
are no “Don’ts” prohibiting children, just play leaders who carefully watch over them.
Listen to children’s voices
What makes the difference between parks completely lacking the exuberance of children and otherparks that are full of children’s happy voices?

It depends on whether parks are designed and run

from a child’s point of view by those who set up and administrate the parks while listening tochildren ideas.

Play leaders are not instructors who play with children. Rather, they stay quiet

and observe children in case of accidents. At the same time they listen to children’s voices, watch
children’s activities, and try to reflect what they learned from and about children in the way they
run and manage the park.

As a result, they become able to run the park in a way that meetschildren’s needs, which brings more children to the park to play.
International cooperation NGOs run projects related to children to benefit children.
results are not necessarily successful in terms of impacts on children.

However, theProjects failed in manycases in spite of good intention for children. The question to be asked is whether a project is being
run without the involvement of children. The first step of children’s participation is always to listen
to children’s voices.
There are quite a few projects in local districts, such as securing drinking water, building roads,
and constructing community centers, which may have a great impact on children’s lives. It is truly
important to reflect the voices of“small citizens,” the children, in order to make projects

successful.

2. Children’s Rights and Participation
The Rights of Child
It has not been that long since it became recognized that children have fundamental rights toparticipation in events concerning their own lives.

Quite recently, in 1989, the Convention on the

Rights of the Child was adopted by the United Nation and has now been ratified internationally.
The Convention spells out the four basic rights children have: the right to survival, to protection, todevelopment, and to participation.
The articles concerning the right to participation, for example, include Article 12, the right toexpress her or his own views; Article 13, the right to freedom of expression and to receive6

information; Article 15, the right to freedom of assembly; and, Article 31, the right to rest andleisure, to engage in play and recreational activities.

The right to participation is the mostrecently regarded as a basic right of children and is officially stated in the Convention for the firsttime, among the four core rights of the child.
The two world wars of the 20th century led to taking the rights of children into serious
consideration, reflecting on World War I, which was caused by grownups and condemned children
to death and misfortunes.

In 1924, the Geneva Declaration on the Rights of the Child was issued,

and in 1959 The United Nation issued the Declaration on the Rights of the Child, in which threebasic rights were articulated, including the right to survival, the right to protection, and the right todevelopment. However, the idea of a right to participation was not acknowledged; rather children
were considered something to protect and educate. The 20th anniversary of the Declaration on the
Rights of the Child, 1979, was named the International Year of Children and work began to enact atreaty that would have binding force in the domestic law of each country. Ten years later, in 1989,
the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted at the United Nations.

By 2008 allcountries except for the United States and Somalia had ratified the Convention, meaning theConvention is the most successful, with the highest number of contracting countries in the world,when compared with other similar conventions.
Progress in the right to participation
Has the Convention on the Rights of the Child improved the condition of children’s participation
significantly? It is true to certain degree that the Convention has contributed to spreading
recognition that children have rights to participation and expressing their opinions; however,among grownups some remain uneasy and hesitate to accept the idea that children have the right toparticipate in all matters affecting their lives.
In order to secure children’s participation, it is necessary to have adults change their ways ofthinking, as well as to improve the environment and the skills needed to help children become able
to participate.
Roger Hart, in his book, Children’s Participation, states that it seems children’s participation ismore advanced in communities within countries that appear to be just awakening to democracy,
rather than in those countries in the northern hemisphere where self-acknowledged democracy has
been fully established. Hart has done research on the state of children’s participation in countries
worldwide. It is likely that in Asian countries where shared childcare is still common incommunities, children’s participation might be more likely than in Japan, where traditional local
communities have been collapsing recently. If you get involved in international cooperation
activities, keep in mind that children’s participation is a common agenda in both Japan and othercountries in Asia.

3. Child Development and Participation
What does children’s participation mean?
The word “participation” is used in a broad sense. For example, in the case of “participating in acommunity athletic meeting,” it may mean someone who reluctantly participates by just attending,7

or someone else who plays actively aiming to win, or another person who gets involved in thewhole process of planning to carry out the event.
The lowest degree of participation is the state of “belonging to a group,” meaning one belongs to agroup, but does not play a role or be in charge of anything.

The next level of participation isbelonging to a group and playing a role within the group, so- called “participation with a role.” In
this case, one has a certain role to play to meet the group’s expectation.
Furthermore, the next level is social participation, in which one gets actively involved insurrounding society and interacts with the rest of the society, which is called “social participation.”
This means participating, based in the group, in a way that makes a commitment to the broader
society by playing a role to bring about change.
This guide book, “Children’s participation,” focuses more on “social participation” based onchildren’s group participation, taking a look at ways to encourage children to work for the wider
society.
There are other ways of categorizing children’s participation from the point of view of “place”:
participation in the family, participation in school, participation in the community, participation in
the workplace, participation in one’s country, and participation in global society, spreading out in aconcentric pattern. This idea reflects the assumption that children’s activities will spread out to thewider world depending on their stage of development. Children’s awareness of society, however,does not necessarily spread out in a concentric pattern, as they start learning about world incidents
when they are very young, owing to advanced mass media.
When is it possible for children to start participating?
Let’s consider group participation and social participation separately.

Regarding group

participation, children approximately 3 years old can participate, while for social participation,
let’s take a look at Roger Hart’s book, Children’s Participation. Figure 1 shows the example of an
Good street for roller skating

Broken glass on the playground
Could be play area if waste
lot was cleared up
Peaceful and quiet Garden
Dangerous crosswalk

Drug dealers – unsafe to play
Basketball dominated byteenagers

Figure 1 Discover problems around the school
From Hart, Children’s participation, p.182, Houbunsha, Japan, 2000

8

elementary school in the US where children walked around the school in order to learn about theirneighborhood community and discover problems by themselves. It shows that it is very possible
for elementary students to recognize problems and act to solve those problems.

Older students,

such as junior and senior high school students, are able to understand and become interested inproblems in the wider society and in the world.

4. Group Participation and Group WorkChild-centered approach and children’s participation
There are two meanings of a child-centered approach.

One approach emphasizes adults’ role ofleadership in order to draw out children’s autonomy. Group work discussed in this chapter takes
this approach and stresses the importance of group workers leading a group.
Another approach is aiming to give the initiative to children regarding all matters related tochildren’s activities.

The next chapter shows a participation ladder designed by Roger Hart,

which illustrates that eventually children take the initiative and aim to involve adults in theiractivities. Two approaches define who takes the final initiative, whether adults or children.
How to implement group participation
When encouraging children’s participation it is fundamental for children to participate in a group,
play a role of her/his own, learn about the basics of human relationships, and acquire awarenessand techniques related to society. Group work is an effective method for assisting children to growand develop in a group. The group work methodology was originally developed by youth
organizations, such as the YMCA, in the late 19th century in the UK and later established in thefields of community education and social welfare.
Group development and decline
The basic dynamic of group work is transformation, so-called group process. A group follows alife cycle similar to that which people experiencing from birth to death: birth, development,
activation, stagnation,＜Figure 2 Group work process＞

reactivation, and decline.
Let’s take the example of aschool class. When theschool year starts, membersof the class are all discrete.

A

However, as the members
start learning about each

Child’s activity

other and doing activities
together, each memberBfinds her/his role to play inthe group: children who aregood at taking leadership,children who are good at

BirthDevelopment

Activation

Stagnation

Reactivation

Declineentertain their friends,

9children who are good at talking with others, children who create a world of just two people, andchildren who are isolated. During the development period these children gradually connect witheach other and during the activation period the class starts banding together under a leader, or turns
into several small groups, which are ready to work together when required to.
The group, however, does not stay active forever, and experiences conflicts within the group,
suffers from routine, loses dynamism, starts to decline, and, comes to an end of the group activity,
dissolution.
Required Leadership
The key to group work is a group leader, or group worker.
can be called leaders, workers, facilitators, and so on.

In the field of NGO activities, they

A group leader should facilitate the groupto help children, who meet each other for the first time, get to know and become closer to eachother. At this stage, a leader needs to provide active leadership with creative approaches in order tomake the group develop, and at the same time watch individual children carefully to findcharacteristics and needs, while encouraging children to develop their own uniqueness.
As the group develops, the children become able to conduct various activities by themselves andsolve problems when they occur. At this point, the group can be considered to have reached theperiod of activation. It is important for a group worker to remember to loosen her/his leadershipand let the children act on their own. If a group worker continues to intervene and assist thechildren as they did in the beginning of the group process, the children will come to rely on theleader and not build autonomy. So a group worker needs to stay on the sidelines and keep a quiet
watch, but not withdraw or take a laissez-faire attitude, and give advice to the children when theyask.

5. Ladder of Participation
Leadership in stagnation periods
While a group is functioning with autonomy, group leaders should stand back and just watch overthe group. As the group starts showing stagnation or decline, it is time for group leaders again togive their support to the group, for example, by encouraging the group to talk about reasons why
they are not as active as before, or helping the group to identify conflicts and find solutions if there
are any. Effective intervention can help the group revive and sustain.
The hardest thing for group leaders is said to be dissolving a group. Group leaders should suggest
ways for the group to have a positive dissolution, when they judge the group no longer works forthe benefit of the children.
Group leaders need to observe carefully to be able to evaluate what condition their group is in(whether it is in a period of developing or stagnating) and give the group appropriate instructions
and advice. A group’s degree of activeness is in a converse relationship to the degree of theleaders’ activeness.
There are different steps for participation. One model illustrating the steps is the Ladder ofParticipation designed by Hart. The higher rungs of the ladder show higher degrees of participation(see figure 3). The bottom three rungs are actually considered to be non-participation of children.

10

Let’s take a fictional NGO project in an Asian country, a “Children’s club” that involves children
in order to promote local community improvement as part of broader Asian activities, which will
explain what the ladder of participation illustrates.
We will look at the lowest degree of actual participation, which is the fourth rung, participation
with assigned role. Young people know that they are going to do cleaning in their local community
where their residences are as the first step for improving their community. The organizer NGO of
this project explains the purpose of the cleaning to the members of the Children’s club, thendivides them into groups, and has the groups do the cleaning – thus participation with assigned
roles. The children understand the purpose of the project and try to achieve the goal by playing therole assigned by adults.
How about the fifth rung, participation being consulted for opinions? On this rung, the children canspeak their opinion freely, not just following what they are told to do with assigned roles. They cantell their opinions regarding how to clean and how to divide the members into small groups, andthe adult staff have to listen to the children. However, decision-making depends on the adults,
whether they follow the children’s opinions or＜Figure 3 Ladder of Participation＞

not.
The sixth rung is a further degree of participation,
participation with shared decision-making, andRung 8: Children initiate andshare decision-making with adults

here both children and adults discuss children’s
opinions and decide by agreement with eachreflect

other. They decide how to carry out the cleaning

participation

Rung 7: Children initiate
and instructactivity and how to make small groups throughRung 6: Adults initiate andshare decisions with children

discussions. The idea of this project, the cleaning
activity, came from the adults and the initiative

Rung 5: Children are consulted
for opinions and informed by adults

stays with the adults.
In the case of usual activities, you may startfrom the fourth rung, participation with assigned

Rung 4: Children are assigned
roles and informed by adultsrole, and gradually aim to move up to the ladder’s

Rung 3: Participation
for Tokenism

fifth rung, participation by being consulted for
opinions, in which children voice their opinions,and to the sixth rung, participation with sharedreflect

Rung 2: Participation
for Decoration

decisions, in which decisions are made by adults

non-participation

Rung 1: Participationby Manipulationand children together.
Children’ initiative participation(Adapted from Hart, R. (1992). Childrenʼs Participation from Tokenism to Citizenship)

The seventh and the eighth rungs have children

re: http://www.freechild.org/ladder.htm

initiating participation. On the seventh rungchildren achieve goals by themselves. Children make plans, put them into practice, and evaluate
independently.

Taking the example mentioned before, as the Children’s club develops its

activities, children may find the cleaning project alone not interesting and suggest setting up aChildren’s festival for fun, then develop the idea to run it by themselves. They may ask adults foradvice or assistance. The initiative, however, stays with children.

11

The eighth rung is the highest degree, “shared decisions with adults.”

For example, adults are

asked to participate in the children’s festival, planned by the children, and given an opportunity toperform songs and dances during the event.

The initiative stays with the children and they get

adults in the local area involved in their activities.

6. Participation for Tokenism
Participation for tokenism
While on the first to third rungs children may appear to be participating, in fact they are not. The
third rung is participation for tokenism. Children are made to participate for what they represent.
The children’s club, for example, may have a working committee consisting of three children,
representing the child members, and two adult group leaders. They may hold a meeting, but thechildren participate in a way of confirming whatever the adults suggest. The adult leaders may say,
“We makes decisions with children,” but the voices of children are not actually reflected in theiractivities.
The second rung, participation for decoration, shows a lower degree of children’s participation. For
example, a working committee of the children’s club has never been held, and the children only
participate in whatever adults plan and run. In this case, children’s committee simply decorates theprocess.
The first rung is participation by deceit or participation by manipulation. The children are used byadults and may even be cheated. Take for example a model project for children’s participation thatreceives funding by utilizing the promise of a children’s project to be planned and run by achildren’s committee, but in fact the committee never meets. Here, the difference from the second
rung is the use of a falsehood that uses and deceives the children as a result.
The first rung, participation by deceit, is clearly unethical, though we should also be careful about
the third rung, participation for tokenism. There are many cases among observed practices inwhich children are given opportunities to participate just for tokenism. The difference between
participation for tokenism and participation by being consulted for opinions is hard to identify.
Having children speak their opinions does not always mean they are participating for their own
opinions. If children speak out saying what adults want to hear, they are considered to beparticipating for tokenism. There are many cases of this sort found in the practices of student
councils in junior and senior high schools in Japan. Similar examples are also often found in thepractices of children’s conferences and youth conferences organized by local governments. During
these occasions, children give opinions to city mayors, however the opinions might be written by
adults in scenarios, or there will be no documentation to show that the children’s opinions arelistened to and put into practice for governing a city. The local papers, however, may have articles
with a big photo of the mayor with a caption, “The Mayor listens carefully to children.”127. NGOs’ Activities and Children’s Participation
Don’t focus on the result in the beginning
What should we pay attention to in order to encourage children’s participation? The mostimportant thing in the field is to listen to children’s voices. Some children are good at speaking
their opinions; however, many children probably find it hard expressing their thoughts and feelings
to adults in ways that adults can understand. But with a supportive atmosphere and someone who
is willing to listen carefully to them, things would be different even for those children who falter.
“Listening to small voices” is the first step.
It is important to remember not to look to the end immediately. As the ladder of participationshows, there are different rungs for children’s participation. There is also a certain process tofollow to generate children’s active participation. The ideal is considered to be the seventh rung,“Children initiate and instruct.” Consequently people would expect something visible, such as
children speaking out and acting out. But that might be the third rung, “participation for tokenism,”
which means non-participation of children. After the fourth rung, all the rungs involve children’s
participation. Even participation with assigned roles is a step leading up to the next step.
Nevertheless, the process of children’s participation is never as smooth as going up a staircase. It isa slow process with ups and downs and twists and turns. Children should be learning somethingfrom this process. So we should take time to go along with children at their own pace withoutlooking to the end quickly.
Making organizational policy support Children’s Participation
In order to promote children’s participation, it is significant that not only fieldworkers work on it
but also organizations need to offer backup support by making their policies support children’s
participation. Each organization needs to form a consensus toward the needs of children’s
participation.
It takes much patience to encourage children’s participation, however, according to reports from
actual cases of children’s participation, if it works successfully the results can bring unexpectedly
beneficial consequences. Because of children’s participation, not only children grow but also theproject itself develops significantly. Also, the adults that help the children have a chance to growthemselves.
Children tend to listen to other children more than to adults. One NGO, Plan Bangladesh, hasreported the consequences of children’s participation in one of its activities: early marriages
decreased, teasing girls decreased, more girls became likely to get education, and the number ofboys taking drugs decreased. The NGO might not have accomplished these things, or might nothave meet with the same degree of success, if there had not been children involved in the project oradults had been in sole charge. Children’s participation, raising their voices and interacting withother children, was certainly a key to the project.
When you plan a project, consider children’s participation a main issue not a side purpose, so you
can make the project even more beneficial for both children and your organization.

13

Chapter 2
Case Studies
Children’s participation in Society 1, Bangladesh
Involving Children Throughout the ProcessChildren’s Participation in Society 2, Nepal
An Education for All Children
Education programs for children’s participation 1, The Philippines
Workshop to Nurture Self Esteem:
Creating the Fundamentals to Encourage Participation in Society
Education programs for children’s participation 2, India
Enhancing moral values for building a new society

14Chapter 2 Part 1

Involving Children Throughout the ProcessChildren Organization / BangladeshChildren’s
participation
in Society 1

Plan Bangladesh（PB）

Child Centered Community Development
Under the Plan Bangladesh (PB) approach of Child Centered Community Development(CCCD), local residents, including children, are actively involved in the entire process ofidentifying problems in the community, planning projects to respond to them, project
implementation, and post-project evaluation.
By formally establishing the “Children Organization” as a Community Development”The meetings run by adults were, at first, formal

committee, and through the participation of children in various decision-making

and uncomfortable. After several meetings andcommittees, children are given the opportunity to participate in community

with us sharing our opinions, the adults gradually

improvement efforts.

warmed up to the children.” (Girl in front row)

Let’s look at the Children Organization as an example of a project that PB is
implementing in Dhaka’s slum areas.
The Children Organization, Participating in the Community’s
Decision-Making Bodies
PB has been working since 1998 in Bawniabadh slum, located in the northeast of Dhaka
City. Now, ten years later, local resident-initiated community development efforts arerooted in Bawniabadh. The Children Organization plays a valuable role in thesedevelopment efforts.
The Children Organization is an official body within the local organization for community
development (Figure 1). Based on an Annual Plan that they prepare, children are involvedChildren find pleasure in dance, music and drama,
which are important ways for them to express

in various activities, such as raising awareness in the community and monitoring.

how they feel to others.

Figure 1

Bawniabadh’s Community Organization
Children Organization

Community Development Forum(11 men, 13 women and 5 children)

Member Eligibility: 9 to 18 years of age (one person per family)
Activities: - Area surveys
Producing and performing songs, dances and skits based on

Water and Sanitation

Income Generating

surveys and experiences to raise awareness among adults.

Committee

Committee

Engaging adults to find solutions to problems in thecommunity and evaluating efforts through the Community

Representatives
Sponsorshipof each committee

Committee

Development Forum.
Children
Meetings: Monthly
Organizatio
Officers: President, Vice-president, Treasurer, Communications
Officer, Secretary, two Steering Committee members (elected

School Management

Shish Bikash Kendra

Garbage and Environment

Committee

Committee

Committeeannually)15

Efforts of Children Bring Change to the Community
The cornerstone of the Children Organization activities can be said to be its work in raisingawareness of problems affecting the community through song, dance and skits using community
festivals and other such events as opportunities to perform.
These highly entertaining forms of communication are received well by both
adults and children and are effective at communicating their message. Throughrepeat performances, changes in the community can be observed.
PB staff members serve as facilitators for these activities initiated by thechildren.

Examples of outcomes of the children’s efforts
・A decrease in early marriages
・Many girls can now have an education
・Incidents of boys teasing girls have decreased
・The number of boys taking drugs has decreased

Children, Encouraged by the NGO, Begin with Community Assessment
In addition to assessing the situation in the community upon launching its activities, PB set up an
immersion period of 2 to 3 months to allow local residents to accept them into the community.
After this important preparation work, PB called upon the children in the community to organize.
These children were living in the same area and already knew each other well. Their first task was
an assessment of their community. The children pinpointed and discussed what kinds of problems
they face, the reasons for these, and what kinds of resources the community had available andwhere.

Preparation

Evaluation

Situation

・Immersion
・Reflection
Implementation ＆・Participation

Resource Mobilization

Basic Approach of Child
Centered Community

16

Planning

Participation Skills Increase When NGO Leaves Work in
Their Hands Instead of Leading Them
During the assessment process, the staff of PB helped the children draw out
opinions and ideas and organized and analyzed the issues raised using
participatory tools.

As a volunteer serving as facilitator (the girl in the back)

PB’s basic stance on facilitation is to leave matters to the children. PB staff

encourages opinions. The children learn to voice theiroffered questions or raised different perspectives when necessary.

opinions and make decisions.

Over the first few years, PB staff were usually present with the children, but
as the children gain experience, they become able to take on the role offacilitation. Thus, through the work of the Children Organization, the children
learn the basic skills for social participation.
Look Back on Efforts and Problems of the Past Year, thenMove Forward
The community prepares a Three-Year Plan together with the Community
Development Forum, Plan Bangladesh, and a partner NGO. They invite local

A Children Organization Meeting. A mother turns up andgovernment officials so they can see what efforts local residents are involved in.

tries to bring her child home. They introduce the history

The Children Organization makes an Annual Plan, and every year, looks backof the Children Organization through a skit.

on what they have achieved through their work, as well as what changes haveoccurred in the community and the issues that are still outstanding. Through this, they make theirplan for the next year. Apart from the activities already touched upon, they also learn aboutchildren’s rights and have support, through sponsorship, for making materials for communication.
They also take on monitoring roles, such as birth registrations.
Children Notice Problems that Adults have Missed and Discuss themwith the Community
Another important point to mention about Bawniabadh as a case study is the participation ofchildren in the decision-making process of community development activities.
Two to six representatives of the Children Organization participate in the Community
Development Forum (the highest decision-making body in the community) and its various
committees. They themselves decide who is to attend which particular meeting. They do not

Activity evaluations are carried out byboth adults and children separately.

just join (attend) meetings, during discussions they share opinions and ideas from their own
points of view, just like the adults, and participate in decision-making.
For example, one of the issues pointed out by the Children Organization was that there
were some children whose parents were both working so older children had to look after
their younger siblings. The Children Organization considered whether there wassomewhere that these children could safely leave their younger siblings, as well as how
such children could go to school. This issue and ideas on how to resolve it were discussed
at the Community Development Forum, resulting in the launch of a daycare center run by apartner NGO of PB.
A member of the Children Organization said, “Before, even if we shared our opinions, no

Record of the Community Development

one listened to us. Now, with the forum, children can have their opinions officially heard.”

Forum (CDF). Attendees, comments andWith the opportunity to participate in the forum to discuss problems facing the community,

decisions made are recorded.

17

those who need to be there and whose voices need to be heard are now present andtheir opinions heard.
Patience in Waiting for Adults to Change
The adult members of each committee who now respect the children’s opinions
and recognize the efforts they are making did not always accept the children in thisway. Even if they recognized in their minds, through training sessions and studies,
the significance and necessity of child participation, it was very hard to change
their attitudes and values due to prevailing fixed notions and practices.
A daycare center resulted from children
discussing how to resolve a problem in thecommunity.

Gradually, in watching the children’s presentations and efforts, they began to feelthat children, too, could participate in what they were doing. This realization grewstronger with time, and adult members came to accept children into their activities.

One child member said, “I learn from the opportunity to participate in the committees with adults
and join discussions. When I grow up, I will be able to do even more to help my community. It isalso an opportunity to nurture the next generation.” If this way of thinking reflects the environmentof the community organization as a whole, then it will surely lead to sustainable community-based
development.

Children Organization members presenting
at the radar chart. Adults recognize thestrengths of the children, and the children
can be confident in what they do.

18

Chapter 2 Part 2

An Education for All ChildrenChild Empowerment Centers, Child Clubs/ Nepal
Save the Children Japan (SCJ)

Children’s
participation
in Society 2

Aasaman Nepal (Aasaman)

Save the Children Japan (SCJ) works with partner NGO Aasaman Nepal (Aasaman) to“ensurecompulsory and inclusive quality education for all children.” To meet this goal, apart from
improving operational issues in public schools, SCJ and Aasaman have focused oncommunity mobilization through a JICA-funded project launched in 2008. A key player
in this has been a children’s group.
Literacy Classes in the Community for Children by ChildrenChildren participating in Child Empowerment Centers organized at the village-level
discuss various issues of concern to children in the village and launch activities thatinvolve them in doing what they can to improve the situation.
Dhamaura VDC is made up of about 2,000 households and many of its residents are

Members of the Child Empowerment Center. The

Muslim. Due to poverty and other issues, there are many cases of children here leaving totin container contains writing materials and thework in garment factories in India once they are over 10 years old. Further, many parents

attendance book used during literacy classes.

are not aggressive regarding the pursuit of education for girls.
In response, children in the Child Empowerment Center have been hosting literacy classes since
September 2008 for 15 girls in Dhamaura VDC who are not attending school.
Members of the Center take turns teaching simple reading and writing skills, three hours a day, fivedays a week, for free. Classes take place in a hut that is lent to them by the father of one of the

The girls have been

Center’s members.

admitted to public school

Members of the Center provide the girls with writing materials that are contributed by Aasaman.

after taking literacy classes

Five months have passed since these literacy classes began. Three of the girls who had been
studying reading and writing here have already been admitted into public schools.
Launch of Activities upon Observing Education in the Community and
It began with the NGO

Wanting to Mobilize
Why did the members of the Child Empowerment Center decide to run literacy classes? This has togiving children a chance
to think about education

do with the process of establishing Dhamaura VDC’s Child Empowerment Center.
First, Aasaman called upon the children to organize at the school level and created an opportunity
for children attending school to think about educational issues affecting them, such as children’s
rights and access to education. Then, the Child Club in the school was formed and activities began.
Next, the organization of children at the village level began.
The children of Dhamaura VDC are affected by problems such as non-attendance of school(particularly girls), early marriage, and child labor. To respond to these, it was suggested that acenter be established, with the support of Aasaman. Parents were approached to raise the19importance of education, after which it was agreed to establish the Center. The Center’sheadquarters is a hut lent to the members by one of the villagers, where they formally began theirwork.The work of the Dhamaura VDC Child Empowerment Center is to provide “counseling” sothat children not going to school are able to attend.
In Dhamaura VDC, parents’ acceptance of education for girls is limited due to traditions andcustoms, so many girls do not attend school because of reasons such as housework. Once they areover the age of 13 it becomes embarrassing for them to study under the same roof with younger
children, in classes for first graders. Thus many hesitate to go to school.
The members of the Center wanted to do something about this, and after discussions, decided tohold literacy classes.
Children Visiting and Convincing the Parents of Children Not Attending
SchoolStarting these literacy classes was not easy. First, the children had to convince the parents of girls
who weren’t in school to allow them to go. Aasaman staff accompanied the members of the Child
There are also cases ofchildren ceasing work toattend school

Empowerment Center during these visits, but it was the children who did the negotiating. Touchingon the merits of having an education and the future, they patiently worked on convincing theparents, resulting in 15 girls being able to participate in the literacy classes. To date, the Center’s
members have visited 35 homes of girls who are not in school.
Apart from the parents, the children have also raised the issue of the importance of education withthe village’s women’s forum. They have also visited parents who have sent their children to workin hotels in India several times to try to convince them to send their children to school instead. This
has resulted in cases of the children being able to return to the village and go to school.
Able to feel the impact of their work, the Center’s members emphasize the importance ofcooperating with parents so that children can go to school. Encouraged that the situation of children
in their community is slowly getting better, the children of Dhamaura VDC’s Child Empowerment
Center continue to work actively today.
Children Join Teachers and Guardians in Plans to Improve Schools
There are also many children-initiated programs being run in the schools.

Striving for the participation ofchildrenindecision-making

regarding school improvements

In Nepal, it is part of the education policy that each school establishes a Child Club. Nepal’s
provisional constitution, promulgated in 2007, also includes mention of “children’s participation.”
The interpretation of “children’s participation” has been debated within Nepal, but Aasaman
promotes the participation of children in solutions to social problems, as in the case of Dhamaura
VDC’s Child Empowerment Center, as well as in the process of drafting School Improvement
Plans.
Children Beginning with Doing What They Can, then Join Discussions
with Adults
In public schools, school management committees consisting of the principal, teachers, guardians
and members of the community have been established to draft School Improvement Plans.

20

It is recommended that Child Club members participate in the planning process for School
Improvement Plans. This does not mean, however, that they should be involved in the process fromthe very start.
First, Child Clubs begin by slowly doing what they can through activities, such as campaigns andrallies promoting school attendance. They have also been involved in many other activities, such as
school beautification (e.g., making flower beds), encouraging children not in school to attend,
checking teacher attendance, monitoring corporal punishment in the classroom and related reports
from Child Rights Protectors, and attending regular monthly meetings.
In participating in these activities, the children show the adults around them that they are prepared
to engage in various kinds of work and join in discussions. It is important to promote a gradualchange in adult consciousness and understanding of children’s participation.

A booklet of childrenʼs essays. There are

In the five villages where activities are underway, the participation of children in suchfunny stories, but also pictures depicting

decision-making processes has just begun.

the problem of early marriage. Publishedby Aasaman. It is produced by adults, but

Structures to Support Education in All Villages

there are plans to teach publishingThis is how Aasaman works in each village so that community members, including children, cantechniques to children and make this awork together to “ensure compulsory and inclusive quality education for all children” and takeregular publication.

initiatives in mobilization.

＜Figure 1: Support structures in place, from community to central government＞

CentralDepartment of Education

CountyDistrict Education Office

Village

Teacherʼs Union

School Management Committee

District Development Committee

Teachers' Forum

District Child Rights Protectors' Forum

Village Development Committee

Child Rights Protectors' Forum

PTA

SchoolCommunity

Children Forum

Women's Forum

Youth Forum

Indigenous ForumSCJ and Aasaman agree that the foremost way to achieve their goals and to make the voluntary
mobilization and efforts of the residents of the communities a success is to create a structure that
supports children’s education at the village level. The abovementioned Dhamaura VDC Child
Empowerment Center is one such structure. In the beginning stages of the project, as Figure 1
shows, Aasaman worked with the central and local governments to create support structures at thevillage level. More concretely, groups for children, women and youth, each called a “forum,” wereItisimportanttogovernment cooperation in theearly stages of the project

established at the community level, and structures were put in place for this community level
organizing to work with the School Management Committee, PTA, Teacher’s Forum, Village
Development Center, and the Child Rights Protectors' Forum to support children’s education.

21

gain

Adult Consciousness Hindering Children’s Participation
It is an important job for

In the process of children and adults cooperating to mobilize for community improvements many

NGOs to convince adults

problems emerge. Among these is the fact that there are still many adults who have fixed, negativeof the positive results ofideas or attitudes toward children: This factor poses a big obstacle to the creation of an environment

the childrenʼs efforts

that embraces children’s participation.
In particular is the situation where an adult recognizes the value of children’s participation within
the school, but finds it difficult to accept it at the community level. Even in Aasaman’s past work,
there have been cases of adults in the community ignoring the voices of children, leaders oforganizations not wanting children to join meetings, and adults not creating opportunities tointeract with children.
A lot of time and perseverance is needed for there to be a change in the consciousness andattitude of adults towards children, but as mentioned above, Aasaman staff note that it isimportant to make adults gradually recognize the achievements made by children throughA Social Mobilizer and a Childrenʼstheir activities. It is Aasaman’s role to create support structures at the community level to make an

Rights Protector survey and record

environment that allows children to be able to take part in such activities more easily.

the school attendance status of allchildren everyday.

Potential of field staff
There is field staff in each village, a “social mobilizer” who promotes collaboration between theactivities of the Child Club and Child Empowerment Center and supporting organizations. The
Child Rights Protector (CRP) also plays an important role in the village, regularly checking theschool attendance status of children in the village, both at home and at school.
Aasaman employs the social mobilizer and CRP from within the communities it supports.
Requirements for these roles are that they are from the community, have completed 10 to 12 yearsof education, as well as are from poor families or scheduled castes (Dalit). These conditions are toensure that they will be able to view things from the same point of view as the residents of thecommunity and understand the many problems that relate to poverty.
These staff members who take on roles of supporting the activities of children in various capacities
are provided with different forms of intensive training for the job. Aasaman also aims to improve

A CRPʼs map and survey records. The
daily work of the field staff supports
the activities of the children.

their practical knowledge and skills through on the job training and discussions at regular meetings.
In SCJ and Aasaman’s current projects, in addition to improving school-going rates, improving thequality of education is demanded. This is a first for SCJ and Aasaman, and a challenging test.
The head of SCJ Nepal emphasizes that discussion of the meaning of “Child Participation” and“Quality of Education” - pillars of the project - should not be made only between SCJ andAasaman: These questions should be posed to children and other members of the community andcontinue to be discussed from the project planning stages onwards. As for the goal of promoting

They asked the opinions ofchildren and adults, waited fortheir response, and throughthese responses, found leads
to approaching their projects.
Doing this gave the NGO
tremendous courage.

“Quality Education” as defined by children and other members of the community, the head of SCJ
Nepal has said that they were able to find the clue to this definition through what they heard at aChild Empowerment Center in a village they were working in during regular monitoring activities.
It is precisely because their activities are based on concerns raised by children and other membersof the community that the supporting NGO is able to carry out its work in confidence and that
positive results in the community can be expected. SCJ and Aasaman continue to cooperate withthe community so that everyone, including children, can carry out their role in improving
education.

22

Chapter 2 Part 3
Workshop to Nurture Self Esteem:

Creating the Fundamentals
to Encourage Participation in Society

Education programsfor children’s
participation 1

Value Formation Program, The Philippines
Child Fund Japan

Child Fund Japan runs a sponsorship program in the Philippines
aimed at comprehensive improvement of the quality of life inlocal communities, focusing on education, health and nutrition
and the elevation of income levels.
Transitioning from NGOs Responding to Local
Needs to Locals Engaging in Self-InitiatedSolutions
In the beginning, Child Fund Japan engaged mostly in providing
communities with their basic needs. Believing, however, that
locally initiated activities are more effective in responding to
problems, Child Fund Japan established the Value Formation
Program as one of the pillars of its sponsorship program.

The workshop

The Value Formation Program is a series of workshops targeting people in the community,
especially children. It is also the foundation for the sponsorship program, and is held on weekends
and summer holidays for locals, especially children.
One of Child Fund Japan’s central values is, “Through raising self esteem and promoting positive
values, these values can become the motivating force behind a person acting toward positivechange”; the modules in the workshop series based on this value deal with various themes andgoals. Within the Value Formation Program, “self esteem” is described as feeling self-respect,
self-affirmation and self-worth. Through the workshops, children learn that they have this power
within themselves. The way they view and think about issues and their sense of values are nurtured,and they learn how to take the initiative.
Each of the 23 Child Fund Centers in the Philippines has its own Value Formation Program with
content and approaches that respond to the situation of the communities they work with. A total of
about 150 to 400 children participate in each. Let’s look at the case of the Guimaras Island Child
Fund Center, in the province of Visayas.

23

Value Formation Program Workshop “Our Community”

6 to 9 year old children
two hours
Objective: To appreciate the cooperation of the people in thecommunity
Materials: Two contrasting pictures of the community. (Oneshows a meticulously clean environment with people
cooperating with each other. The other shows a dirty
environment with garbage, animal waste and unhealthy
children.)
Procedure:
1) Facilitator will introduce the song, ”It’s I Building
Community,” while waiting for the children to gather.
Once the children are together, ask one child to volunteer tolead a prayer.
Have the children sit in a semi-circle.
4) Explain the purpose of the workshop.
5) Divide the children into three groups.
6) Present the two different pictures of the community to thechildren: Look at the picture. What are the people in thecommunity doing? Look at their faces. What feelings arethey expressing? Why are the people happy?

A collage

7) Ask questions: What do you like about your community?
Do people share with each other? Do you like it or not?
What kind of community would you like to live in, in the
future? What do you and your friends do to preserve thecooperation in your community?
8) Each group makes a collage that responds to these questions and presents them to the others.
9) The facilitator will summarize: “Being a member of a community means that we must love, cooperate, share andserve our community as our way of helping it be a community.”10) To close the activity, let the children sing, ”It’s I Building Community,” and end with a short prayer.

* Workshops exploring the themes “My Surroundings” and “Things Around Us” are held prior to theworkshop described above.
The children are divided into three groups according to age: 6-9 years, 10-12 years, and 13-16 years, eachgroup’s activities reflecting their particular stage of development in terms of mental and emotional needs andsocial and cultural needs.
In the case of the group of children aged 10-12 years, the workshop includes elements for them to think
about their role in the community and what kinds of things they can do to contribute to it and make theircommunity a better place.

24

Sharing Opinions and Ideas in Response to the Facilitator’s Questions
The schedule for the workshops, based on the theme of community environment, including “OurCommunity,” is set up so that the children can think about what they can do to make theircommunity environment better in different phases.
As can be seen from the workshop order, the facilitator mainly asks the children questions. The
latter then talk within their group about what they feel or think, sharing opinions and ideas
regarding the facilitator’s questions. The children are the main actors in the workshop. The
facilitator plays an important role in urging the children to think about and discuss thetheme from different perspectives.
The Value Formation Program also runs workshops where children and adults participate
together. For example, they create opportunities before school begins and during summer
holidays to discuss responsibilities and expectations of children, parents and schools
regarding children’s education.
The program targeting children also tries to nurture a supportive attitude from adults byintroducing its activities and showing adults the internal changes and development that the programChildren sharing their views

can potentially bring about in the children.
Gaining Confidence and Building Up Communication Skills
One girl participating in the program said: “I was nervous at first about joining the Value
Formation Program. I was pretty gloomy about it. But it eventually became easier because no one
would reject my opinions as wrong or make fun of me, and I came to understand that there isnothing wrong with thinking differently from others.” Asked what changed the most about her
since joining the program, she said, “I have become more confident about myself.”
Through their workshop experiences the children improve themselves, gain confidence, and learngroup communication skills and how to work well with others.
Learning and Beginning New Activities
Among the children taking part in the Value Formation Program, some make beadnecklaces and bracelets by hand during their extracurricular hours to sell at school (bothboys and girls).
as an idea during a workshop about the value of rich talent, creativity and economizing.
The children discussed and decided on what they could make on their own and how they
could sell it. They report to each other when their handmade bead accessories are sold andrecord sales properly. Although it isn’t much, the children hope that the precious payments
Making a bracelet

they receive from this work will be useful to their school or family.
Training for facilitators
The workshop facilitator is a trained Child Fund Center staff member. The facilitator assists in theworkshop process to encourage children, through listening to each other’s ideas and discussing
them, to become more aware of problems in their community, and generalize the issues to create acorresponding plan of action.
A method for thinking analytically that is fun and participatory is required for this, rather than the
traditional manner of teaching in schools.

25

At the Guimaras Island Center, mock facilitation sessions are done amongst the staff. They learn
about effective facilitation by evaluating actual facilitation scenarios and providing feedback toeach other.
They also study concrete examples of potential problems that can arise in workshops and meetings
and are provided with detailed training on how to respond to such situations (e.g. if one participant
speaks too much, does not keep track of time, or outright rejects other people’s opinions).
Visual presentation is an effective method to use in workshops and meetings. Ideas are being
pooled, for example, to create a module that will enable facilitators to help participants work
together to create something using locally available materials (stones, sand, flowers, twigs,
leaves etc.) based on particular themes.
What is Important is a Conviction that Children can Change
Although learning these facilitation skills is important, the head of the Guimaras Island Center
also emphasizes the fact that staff members have a strong commitment to and belief in theimportance of the Value Formation Program. All have a firm belief that through the program,A child who is no longer as withdrawn
and shy and now has a trade.

positive values can be nurtured and children can change.
It takes time for children to become confident about their potential. Through repeat participation in
the workshops, they learn to respect themselves and others, and nurture their value and desire tochange their life and community for the better. The Value Formation Program is engaged increating the groundwork for child participation in society.

Children’s Voices Take Shape:
Establishing A Regulation Prohibiting Junk Food Sales

The scenic province of Guimaras in western Visayas, the Philippines, has a population of
about 150,000 and about 30,000 households.
Child Fund Japan began the sponsorship program in Guimaras Island in 1996. At thattime, 68% of the children eligible for schooling support were malnourished.
This problem has been addressed through supplementary meals being provided forchildren and guardians, as well as health education, but the Center is now facing the issueof sustainability. Based on the suggestion of a staff member, a participatory survey was
carried out in three elementary schools in the area regarding the eating habits ofschool-going children. It was mainly carried out by high school students in the area who
were receiving Center support, with the assistance of a Center staff member. From the data

A childrenʼs meeting

gathered, it became clear that many children were eating junk food on a regular basis.
The results of the survey also caused a stir among adults in the community, leading to a
discussion among the school principals, teachers, parent representatives, Center staff
members, and representatives from the children regarding how to respond to the problem.
A municipal office representative was also called upon to join in the discussions. This led
to the children, following discussions at the Value Formation Program held at summer
camp, submitting to each village office in the area a proposal calling for a resolution
banning junk food. The suggestion was taken up by the village offices, which took it to themunicipality level, after which the regulation was passed.

26

Chapter 2 Part4

Enhancing moral values

Education programsfor children’s

for building a new society

participation 2

Life School for Transformational Development (LSTD), India
World Vision India (WVI)

World Vision India (WVI) has run Area Development Programs (ADP) around the country with
their vision, “Life in all its fullness for every child by building child friendly communities.”

Life

School for Transformational Development (LSTD) is developed as part of ADP targeting alarge number of children. It is considered a movement that promotes transformational
development among communities through children’s initiatives for actions.
A Five Day Intensive Course for Children as well as Adults
LSTD started in Kerala in 1977 and has spread across the country; a group of 100 to 500
children participate in each community, totaling 7000 children involved in the program allover India. LSTDs are open to all the children during school summer vacation for a five-day
intensive program.

Children commute from home without staying over so they canparticipate easily. Held in open spaces in villages, LSTDs also welcomes adults wheneverthey wish to attend.
Play Way Method for Creative Learning
The LSTD objective is to create a sense of higher values while assisting children to become able

Children presenting their proposal toto play a vital role in creating peace and social transformation; this is done by offering a

the society.

curriculum that helps children learn to perceive various issues from multiple points of view.
Each year particular themes are selected. One year the theme was “Let us build a new world”; theprogram was developed as follows:
LSTDs focus on children of 5-15 years old and categorized them into three classes based on theirage. Each class is divided into small groups of about 10 children for activities.
Programs offer the children various activities so they can think and discuss, adjusting to their ages
and learning styles and utilizing creative participatory methods, such as group games, craft work,
painting, drawing, cooking, reading stories, singing and music training.
“Let Us Build a New World.”

At the end of the program, special presentations by the children are held
for the parents and adults in the community.
First Day:

Qualities for leadership

Second Day:

About family

Third Day:

About community

Forth Day:

About health issues (including HIV/AIDS)

Fifth Day:

About faith and moral values

27

Comments of Children“ I have participated in LSTD for four years. LSTD is like a village festival. Through LSTD I
learned the value of nature, visions of environmental protection, respect toward elders, sharing
spirit, and the benefits of school.”“I enjoyed learning and have confidence in myself.”“I had a chance to meet many elders and adults besides my own family. They have given us kids
opportunities to make contacts with society.”(by children in Kerala)Children advocate the needs of education to the society and theirparents
There are many children who repeatedly participate in the LSTD every year.

In some areas, afterparticipating in LSTD, children started education advocacy activities to their parents.

LSTD hasplayed a significant role in fostering a high sense of moral values, as well as independence towardtaking action.

< Process of Running LSTD>
Formation of LSTD organizing body (general committee, financial
committee, publicity committee, entertaining committee, food committee,
program committee, reception & registration committee, themecommittee)
Various committee meetings, registration of children, selection ofteachers, search and collection of finance, etc.
Various committee meetings, leader training, placing orders for teachingChildren cook local food and serve
their parents and the community.

materials, etc.
Conduct teachers training
PR activities, Distributing brochures, family visit, skit presentations, etc.
Various committee meetings
Conduct LSTD program
Evaluation

Senior high school students and youth are teachers for the children
Teachers are selected from the community to instruct children’s activities; they might be highschool students or young would-be-educators chosen from the community; they will be given
special training for a week before the school starts. They will learn about textbooks used in LSTD
classes, facilitation skills, and how to protect and handle children. LSTD highly value the qualities
of teachers and state the qualities required, as written on the next page.
LSTD teachers also benefit from being part of the process, from the preparation to the facilitationof a five-day program. A former teacher commented, “LSTD brought me much inspiration, socially,
intellectually, morally and spiritually. I enjoyed a precious opportunity to work collaboratively withchildren and people in the community.”28

<Teacher Qualities>
Teacher herself/himself is the best medium
Inspire the children with life
Know every child individually
Be child like
Should believe in the message of the lesson
Help students to think, feel, share and experience
Should use appropriate language style knowing the level of the children
Foster conducive atmosphere for participatory learning
Make long lasting effect on children
Encourage children to convert problems into possibilities
Teach them to dream ideals and visions

A child who participated in LSTD

Help them to imbibe godly values

and staff member.

Encourage personality development, leadership
Help them to live with determination
Loving nature of the teacher
Encourage children to question things around themConcern for their future
Prepare lessons carefullyUse different methods
Bring models - even living things(Ref: “Teacher Concept,” Life School for Transformational Development Manual, by World Vision)

Building trust relationships with communities for a sustainable program
The key to running LSTD is building trust relationships with people in communities. LSTD entrust
the responsibility to an organizing committee with representatives from community leaders,schoolteachers, NGOs, youth clubs, and self-help groups.
Commitment of communities to the process of LSTD will ensure the sustainable development of
LSTD in local areas. Also good rapport with government organizations, such as education
departments, is important for the success of LSTD programs, so get them involved as members of
the organizing committee if possible.

29

Chapter 3
Practical Guides
1 Preparing Groups and Individuals
2 Conducting Programs
3 Working with Children

30

Chapter 3 Part 1
Preparing groups and individuals
Key points for promoting Children’s Participation

The leadership andLeaders and managers of groups lead their groups with clear vision andmanagerial levels ofaim for adults as well as children to act as agents of change.

Vision andaction plansgroupsIn dealing with children, all the co-operating partner NGOs show theStaffsame consideration and have the same positive attitude.

Views andThe NGO has the function of stimulating an entire process orattitudesGroup

discussion, but acknowledges that the people who play the main role in
Facilitatorʼs role
carrying out that process should be the beneficiaries themselves.

The attitudes and skills of staff are improved by a combination oftraining and putting into practice what they learn on a daily basis.
Continuous on-the-job training
Staff training

Field staff training
monitoringreflecting on oneʼs actionsShow adults concrete
Get adults to understand that children are ready (to take part inCommunity

Adultsʼ views

examples of childrenʼs
activities or debates) by actually showing them children in action.
participation in action31

Preparing groups and individualsGroups: Where to begin?
There may well be people who look at the activities of Save the Children Japan (SCJ) or Plan
Bangladesh and have doubts about what the groups they form, based on the principles of the childparticipation and child empowerment, can actually do. In fact there is a lot they can do, though
gradually, as explained below.
Firstly, why is the participation of children so important?
If a community is to undergo change for the better and then continue to build on that change it isvital that children are part of the decision-making process that brings about change. Experience has
shown that children do have this power and that NGOs have a role to play in giving children the
chance to participate.
Important factors to bear in mind before beginning
Guidelines for Implementing the Participation of Children,1 a document put together by several
NGOs, states two points to be careful of when implementing a child participation program:◆Protect the rights of children not to participate, and avoid compulsory participation.
◆Don’t harm the children by beginning without adequate preparation.

Simply adding “children’s participation” to an existing project can lead to their participation being
manipulated by others or to their participation becoming just a form of decoration, and this canhave a negative influence on the children.
At the planning stage groups must re-examine what they understand by the term “children’s
participation.”

1-1 The leadership and managerial levels of groups
Leaders and managers of groups lead their groups with clear vision and aim for adults as well
as children to act as agents of change.

In 1988 Plan Bangladesh introduced the approach that formed the basis of Child Centered
Community Development (CCCD). The move away from a need-based support approach to one inwhich children and residents become the main instigators of development sought to bring about big
changes in the way groups and their staff view themselves. Specialists involved in improving
abilities and nurturing talent for the CCCD project stressed that “the leadership and managerial
levels of groups should lead them with clear vision and purpose.” Leadership of the group is the1

Guidelines for implementing the participation of children (for international NGOs), “Southern”
NGO network for helping children.

32

key factor. Group leaders must clearly set out action plans to enable children to play a central rolein changing the local community and society, and impress this concept on the whole group.
When the CCCD approach was first implemented there were even some staff members who
opposed the tactic of staying in a home in the target community for one or two nights to help theprocess of immersion. This showed that, first, staff members’ ways of thinking had to be changed.
Plan Bangladesh drove home the importance of the principles behind CCCD: “Believe that every
human has abilities and rights,” “Believe in the potential of children and young people, and givethem an opportunity to play major roles,” “Assume that people do not lack knowledge but only
chance, and so give them appropriate opportunities.” The key to instilling these principles
thoroughly is learning from objective reflection on everyday tasks (see Staff Training for moredetail). Leaders have a vital role to play.

1-2 Staff
A common view on and attitude to the participation of children

In dealing with children, all the co-operating partner NGOs show the same consideration andhave the same positive attitude.

In the north of Dhaka, Plan Bangladesh is working with eight partner NGOs, each specialising in adifferent field. These NGO staff had all been working as service providers and did not have either
the right attitude or the skills to encourage children’s participation. In their activities, these NGOs
all need to have the same views on and attitude toward children as the Plan Bangladesh staff. The
first stage of staff training lasts two weeks, and takes place when there are staff changes or the needarises for other reasons. Each of the partner NGOs select three or four “resource personnel” (known
as the “resource pool”) who are responsible for improving standards in their own organisations.
Plan Bangladesh holds an annual CCCD workshop for partner NGOs and local residents, and also
sets up various opportunities for exchanging experiences and information aimed at promoting the
involvement of children in community development.
●The role of facilitator
The NGO has the function of stimulating an entire process or discussion, but acknowledges that thepeople who play the main role in carrying out that process should be the beneficiaries themselves.
Many of the social development projects currently being carried out by aid organisations and NGOs
are reputedly based on the approach that the beneficiaries, such as local residents or women, are in
charge. There are an infinite number of ways an NGO can be involved in some kind of “local
resident-centered approach,” even when the terminology is the same.
Plan Bangladesh specifically states that one of the NGO’s functions is to facilitate opportunities forchildren and local residents to play the main role. The key to this is “entrusting.” Although the levelof involvement is different for children and local residents, the basic idea is that children or
residents try to carry out tasks by themselves. Then the NGO helps them to reflect on what
happened and to apply what they learned to their next task. The NGO also has another important33

role to play in enabling children and residents to bring their ideas to fruition by bringing together
people, groups, capital or information and matching local areas with appropriate administrators or
NGOs.

1-3 Staff Training
Field staff training
The success or failure of any enterprise largely depends on the abilities of the field staff. The
attitude and skills of staff are improved by a combination of training and putting what theylearn into practice on a daily basis.

Both Plan Bangladesh and Aasaman stress that reflecting on one’s daily tasks and learning fromthem is more important than training. It seems likely that there will be a tendency for moreexperienced staff to have less chance to correct their ways of acting.
“Learning is a never-ending process” - Plan Bangladesh
Plan Bangladesh offer a three-day CCCD orientation workshop, a twelve-day intensive training
course, a six-day training course for trainers, and a three-day reflection training course. However,they say that to improve their attitudes and skills it is more important for process facilitators toreflect on their daily work and learn from that.
Specialists involved with improving abilities and nurturing talent on the CCCD programsuggest that there are three keywords: believe, practice, self-reflect. Believe that people canchange, and that people have the power to make things happen. Put good practice into effecton a daily basis, and then reflect on what you and your group are actually doing. This is theway to bring about improvement. This approach to CCCD has been put into practice for thelast ten years, but it is not yet considered perfected.
The strength of the CCCD approach could be said to lie in the creation of a group culture ofconstant learning being used to produce improvement.
Using a survey to find talented people in target communities (Aasaman)
In Aasaman’s case, they find front-line staff to work with local residents from the area to beassissted. Asaman starts by conducting a baseline survey in the villages where aid is to be given.
The survey helps to get a grasp of the situation, such school attendance and the general state of thechildren in the village and of the village itself, and it also helps to build a trusting relationship withthe residents. About ten young volunteers from the village are chosen to help with the survey. The
survey not only provides information about the local community; it also helps to find goodcandidates for field staff jobs. Field staff are chosen from survey respondents who come from
impoverished homes and satisfy certain conditions, and consideration is also given to
recommendations from people connected to the community.
For the first three months they work as volunteers. The field staff are given formal training, as wellas put through an extensive on-the-job training (OJT) scheme, and they have to take part in34

discussions at regular meetings. The progress of the new field staff in terms of improvement in theirpractical knowledge and skills is monitored, and learning from other field staff is actively
encouraged.

〈Content of Aasamanʼs field staff training〉* Children’s rights (3 days)
Aasaman’s five principles: The definition of children, the development and behavior ofchildren, rights and needs, children’s rights, and action plans* Social mobilization (3 days)
Aasaman’s five principles: Helping to implement children’s education at the village level,
how to analyse the state of a community, ways to understand problems, and village
stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities* The role and responsibilities of social mobilizers (3 days)* How to teach children (School teachers are also trained at the same time, 5 days)
Definition of children: What children find easy to understand, checklist of how to teach ina way that children find easy to follow, analysis of case studies of first and second year
elementary school children (there are an extremely large number of first and second year
elementary school pupils), and discussion on corporal punishment* High quality education (School teachers are also trained at the same time, 2 days)
The main elements of high quality education: Analysis of the causes of the inability todeliver high quality education, how to deliver high quality education

35

Community: How can we change adults’ views of children?
1-4 Acknowledging and accepting children’s power
How do you go about making the major breakthrough that will start to change theway adults view children and get them to recognize and accept children’s power?
It takes a considerable amount of time and patience to change adults’ negative preconceptions ofchildren and their harsh attitudes towards them.
How do you set about changing an adult’s thinking, attitude and behaviour? Plan Bangladesh, SCJ
and Aasaman have all had to deal with this problem. Adults are given one opportunity after anotherto know the opinions, ideas and actual achievements of children. The key is for adults to really feelthat children have ability. Creating a suitable opportunity to see their abilities during the first stageof a project is one of the most important functions of the NGO in its role of process facilitator.
Showing concrete examples of childrenʼs participation in action

Get adults to understand that children are ready (to take part in activities ordebates) by actually showing them children in action.
The above is a quote from Aasaman. As part of its promotion of children’s participation, Aasamanpresses school management committees to include student participation in their plans for improving
schools.
However, after-school clubs have been set up for children and this is given as a reason why theycannot take part in the school management committee’s planning process. “It can’t be done,” theysay. Neither the children nor the school management committee have the will to set something up,
and no preparations have been made. In such a case it would become participation in name only
and would not succeed.
First, there needs to be some kind of campaign or a rally of school pupils, and the children and theirclubs must gradually become more active. The children and their clubs talk about children’s
education and problems at their schools, make their own plans for action, and put them into practice.
This includes activities such as helping to make the school campus look more beautiful (planting
flower beds, etc.), working towards getting non-attendees to come to school, checking on theattendance of teachers, monitoring the corporal punishment of children in the classroom andreporting incidents to the protector of children’s rights, and holding regular monthly meetings.
In this way children can show the adults around them that they are ready to perform various tasks
and take part in debates. The adults on the school management committee will gradually deepen
their understanding and acknowledge the importance of the participation of children.

“It was impressive how the children noticed things about improving the local
community which the adults had overlooked.”“The result of the children’s assessments and their club activities made me notice
their abilities and potential.”

36

These are comments from members of the Plan Bangladesh Community Development Forum. The
adult members of the committee now respect the children’s views and recognise that children canhandle various tasks. But, as can be seen from the actual cases mentioned earlier, it took a long time
for the adults to reach this position.
First the children used activities in their clubs to learn how to discuss, make decisions, formulate
plans, and how to take responsibility for actions they initiate. This experience gave them more
self-confidence, built up their concept of effort, and enhanced their positive self-images.
In the first community assessment, they had the chance to speak about the problems of the local
community that they had discussed together. Some of the adults who heard the children’s
presentation felt that they had a good grasp of life in the community and that they had seen certain
things that the adults had failed to notice. It was difficult for the adults and children to discuss
together, but, because they shared the same views on certain subjects and topics, the assessment
proved to be a useful device for changing how adults viewed and thought about children.
While the adult members are undergoing formal training in children’s rights and participation, theyalso have a chance to see how the children are successfully working for their community. What’smore, it seems that as they watch the children’s presentations and activities, the adults feel keenly
that even children can get things done, and they became prepared to accept children into their group.
In fact, Children’s Club members only began to take part in the community development forum
several years after the forum was set up. Plan Bangladesh deliberately waited for the time when
everyone involved was ready and prepared to accept the idea of the participation of children before
they set up the first opportunity for discussion. By taking the time to prepare properly they nurtured
an environment in which adults and children could work together.

37

Chapter 3 Part 2
Conducting Programs
Key Points for Promoting Children’s Participation
Gradually get to know and work with the community. Search out those children
Relationship with the community

and women who show an interest in community activities.

Communicate the meaning and importance of childrenʼs participation via the adu
Agreement regarding childrenʼs
the community, gaining agreement on a project approach that includes childrenʼsparticipation
participation.
Develop a shared understanding among community members, NGO staff, and chilconcerning childrenʼs participation and project themes, through ongoing discussio
Having a common understandingthat start from the planning stage.

Promote childrenʼs participation and activities having clarified the various
Preparation

Clarifying responsibilities

responsibilities of children, parents, teachers and schools.

Begin activities through creating childrenʼs organizations at schools. Begin organ
Organizing children

the children of the community with these children at the core.

Build local support systems to enable childrenʼs participation (local groups,
school-related committees, etc.).
Building systems to promotechildrenʼs participation

Strengthen the local support system. Promote linkages between children and adu
as well as among adults.

38

Children and adults conduct surveys in the community.

Assessment

Share the results of these different surveys through joint meetings.

Childrenʼs groups conduct discussions regarding the causes of community problems,
utilizing participatory tools. Determine priorities for addressing community issues, basedon local resources, funds available, and urgency.
Planning
Childrenʼs organizations develop their own plans for activities.

When involving the community, use easy-to-understand catch phrases in the local
language (creating catch phrases should be part of ongoing discussions with theCatch phrases
community).

In order to not forget the voices of children, capture childrenʼs statements andPreserve meeting
proposals in documents (minutes of committee meetings, etc.).
records
Hold regular meetings of the childrenʼs organization in order to promote the fostering

Implementationand development of childrenʼs participation.
Sustaining activities
Promote sustained activities by repeating the cycle in which children hold discussions,
make decisions, create plans, and take responsibility for undertaking activities.

Childrenʼs organizations conduct annual reflections on their activities, and create plans
Reflection

for the next year.

First, adults and children conduct their own activities. Once they are ready forcooperation (in terms of their understanding and attitude), create opportunities for
Participation inchildrenʼs representatives to participate directly in community decision-making (such asdecision making
through participating in adult committees).

392-1. Preparation●Building Connections with the Community
Gradually get to know and work with the community. Search out those children and women whoshow an interest in community activities.

Before starting activity in a community, it is essential to develop a relationship of trust with
community members.
The NGO calls this “immersion;” Plan Bangladesh staff spend several months developing friendly
relations with local residents in order to get to know the character of the area. Further, the staff
notify residents through the local government of any activities that they are to conduct in acommunity.
Several staff members visit the community about three times each week, gaining an
understanding of the daily functioning of the community and identifying risks tochildren; they observe and chat with residents, gaining an understanding of their jobs
and income-producing activities, as well as the power relationships amongcommunity members. They also spur interest in community development activities
among the residents, and confirm which women and children show an interest inthese activities.

When NGO Aasaman enters a village to collect information, it begins to build
relationships with key persons in the political realm, teachers, community development committees,
and members of governmental organizations, emphasizing the following points in meetings:(1) That the support they will provide will focus on the education of children (without detailed
explanations at this stage); (2) the time period of the support; (3) that support will be provided
through schools and community development committees; (4) that the emphasis will be oncommunity-led activities; (5) that they will focus on untouchable castes and marginalized people;
and, (6) that Aasaman's activities are non-political. At this time, they also receive proposals for thelocation of the Aasaman office, which will serve as the base of their operations.
Next, similar community-level meetings are held with residents of the village, in order to conduct abaseline survey on the status of school attendance by children and other circumstances affecting thechildren and the community (for more information regarding surveys, see “preparing people andorganizations”).
●Agreement regarding childrenʼs participation
First, communicate to adults in the community the meaning and importance of childrenʼsparticipation, and gain their assent to providing support activities that include childrenʼsparticipation.

A prerequisite for children to become active agents in projects, and for them to participate
appropriately in decision-making, is the agreement of community leaders, parents and adults. In thecase of male-dominated societies, it is absolutely essential that powerful local figures provide
sufficient consent, and to not receive such support in advance would be a crucial mistake.

40

Aasaman therefore works to first receive the approval of key persons in the community.
●Having a common understanding
Develop a shared understanding among community members, NGO staff and children
concerning childrenʼs participation and project themes, through ongoing discussions that startfrom the planning stage.

In working to raise the quality of education, it would be inappropriate to come suddenly fromoutside the community and emphasize something called “child-centered pedagogy,” when thereality is that there are 100 children in one classroom. SCJ and Aasaman staff feel strongly thatproject goals can only be achieved when they are a reflection of the views and desires of thechildren and their parents. This is why they have made children's participation a focus of theirproject and believe in it so strongly.
●Clarifying responsibilities
Promote childrenʼs participation and activities having clarified the various responsibilities ofchildren, parents, teachers and schools.

When Aasaman was working to improve the quality of children’s education, and sought todetermine just what “quality of education” meant, a member of the Child Empowerment Center
said, “The relationship between teachers and pupils is like that between doctors and patients. A
doctor is not a good doctor if those she treats do not get well. In the same way, if a student cannot
use the knowledge imparted by his teacher, you cannot say that the teacher is a good teacher. In
order to realize a high quality of education, pupils, teachers, schools and parents all must fulfill
their respective responsibilities.”
The head of the SCJ Nepal office who heard this asked children what they thought these different
responsibilities were:
Pupils (children): To attends school, to be attentive to their teacher, and to ask when there issomething they do not understand.
Teachers: To properly report to work, and to present easy to understand lessons.
Parents: To provide children with basic stationery supplies, to have children do their homework
before doing their chores, and to receive education themselves (which is necessary for them to help
their children with homework).

SCJ and Aasaman staff were astonished by these statements, and at the same time were enlightened.
While they had thought of educational quality as something based on advocacy andconsciousness-raising, they realized that these were abstract notions. Children, on the other hand,were able to explain very clearly what needed to be done, and by whom, for them to achieve quality
education.
There has been new vitality experienced among organizations in communities where Aasaman
worked to clarify the responsibilities of those involved in this way (which conforms to therights-based approach).

41

●Organizing children
Begin activities through creating childrenʼs organizations at schools.
Begin organizing the children of the community with these children at the core.

In SCJ and Aasaman projects, schools and communities work to organize children. First, they work
to create the school-based children’s organizations stipulated in Nepal’s educational policy,
followed by organizations in the community.

Process for organizing children (Aasamanʼs activities):

First, Aasaman receives agreement from the school
concerning strengthening the School’s Management(1) Achieve agreement with the school (school principal, etc.)

Committee and PTA and for support for the children’s

regarding activities for cooperation.

organization. Next, Aasaman's field staff conduct classes(2) Conduct lessons for Grades 1 through 4 once each week

once a week for pupils in Grades 1 through 4 regarding(concerning childrenʼs rights, childrenʼs issues, etc.).

Aasaman's activities, children’s rights, children’s issues, and(3) Propose organizing a childrenʼs organization in the school.

especially concerning educational issues and the school

Work towards its establishment.

environment.

(4) When children are ready (after approximately 1 year), set up a

After several sessions, the children are asked if they can docommunity Child Empowerment Center.

things themselves to improve certain issues, such as the
problems of children who do not attend school. When thetime is ripe, they also introduce the idea of the children’s organization.
The members of the children's organization are selected based on nominations from thechildren and teachers. While teachers may nominate students with excellent academic
records, these students may not always be keen to participate; Aasaman therefore does
not make grades a requirement. Once a children's organization is established, it conducts
meetings once a month and starts its activities.
Approximately one year after a children’s organization is established in a school,
members from the children’s organizations from several schools meet together, and they

are presented with the idea of creating a Child Empowerment Center. Around this time, children
active with the children’s organizations gain a deeper understanding of various children’s issues,and have a heightened appreciation of those children’s issues that cannot be solved at school.
Aasaman never coerces anyone to participate. Their activities are predicated on the interests anddesires of the children themselves. As a result, as seen in the case of the establishment of the Child
Empowerment Center in Dhamaura VCD, it was children themselves who proposed to their parents
and other adults in the community that a Child Empowerment Center be created.

Plan Bangladesh organized children in the community.
A children’s organization first conducts a survey of the community, after which regular meetings
are held, along with study sessions, with children deciding which actions they are able to take.
Such children’s organizations, “Children’s Clubs,” have been officially recognized as community
development organizations a year or more after their establishment. Some of the rules they have set
include that there may only be one child from each family, and that members be children nine toeighteen years old. As of January 2009, each organization had thirty to forty members, including42some who have been members since their inception. Asked about their motivations for joining,children have given the following explanations:“Because I was interested,” “I was invited by a friend,” “My older brother was a member and I
succeeded him,” “Because my father was a committee member,” “When I saw the group’s
activities (drama and singing), I wanted to join in,” “I wanted to solve children’s problems,” “Iwanted to improve communication with my parents,” and “Because there were so many things I
was not satisfied with.”●Build systems to promote childrenʼs participation
Build local support systems to enable childrenʼs participation (local groups, school-related
committees, etc.)
Strengthen the local support system. Promote linkages between children and adults, as well as
among adults.

In order to promote effective children’s participation within projects, it is vital not only that thechildren themselves are prepared, but also parents and other adults in the community need to beengaged from the time the organization is created.
At an early stage in the project, Aasaman works to build cooperative relations with central andlocal governmental authorities, and to build a community support system. This allows children to
take action in a proactive manner, and it is key to the SCJ and Aasaman approach, which stresses
that children tackle their own problems.
Specifically, different groups are established such that different members of the community,
including children, women and youth, can have their own organizations, known as “forums.”
Organizations such as the School Management Committee, the PTA, the Teachers’ Forum, and theVillage Development Committee are linked through a community-wide forum for protecting
children’s rights. A system is also created to support children’s education. In the above example of
the Dhamaura Village Child Empowerment Center, in the course of implementing a literacy class,persistent efforts were made to persuade those parents who were not sending their children to class.
In was said that in this context, cooperation with the women’s organization and other parents wasindispensable.

2-2.

Assessment

Children and adults conduct surveys in the community.
Share the results of these surveys through joint meetings.

In order to assess and analyze the status of the community that is to be served, members of the local
community conduct their own assessments.
In the case of activities by the NGO Plan Bangladesh, Situation Assessments were conducted
separately by groups of children, men and women. Utilizing participatory tools, they identified theresources available and the issues that face the community, sharing their findings and views witheach other regarding what problems confront the community, the causes of those problems, the43sorts of resources the community has, and where such resources are located. Afterwards,
considering the resources in the community, funds that are available, and urgency, they determinedpriorities for taking action to address community issues. A meeting was held with the participationof other local residents, governmental authorities, NGOs and others, in order to share and confirm
the results of the assessments; this not only resulted in greater reliability of the information, butalso assisted in gaining the agreement of the community. Members of the community also learned
about problems they previously were unaware of, and also realized from listening to the reports
from the children’s groups that children do indeed understand the community.

2-3. Implementation●PlanningChildrenʼs organizations develop their own plans for activities.

Members of the children’s organization in the Bawniabadh slum, supported by Plan
Bangladesh and based on their survey of the community, discussed which issues should be
addressed and developed a plan to address these. They also created songs and plays to be usedas part of awareness-raising activities. Now, after having accumulated considerable
experience, and informed by reflections on their past activities, they are making further plansaddressing what activities are needed in each block of the area.
●Catch phrases
When involving the community, use easy-to-understand catch phrases in the local language(creating catch phrases should be part of ongoing discussions with the community).

Previously, SCJ and Aasaman had been active mainly in working to raise the school attendance rate
in communities. Once during discussions concerning how to achieve the Aasaman principle1 thatchild labor should be completely abolished and all children should attend school, a village woman
said,“So, this is about ‘getting children out of work and into school, right?”
These words, which expressed the core of the project, were immediately adopted by SCJ andAasaman as the catch phrase for the project. This catch phrase, which could be easily understoodand agreed to by both children and adults, quickly permeated the community. The participants inthe village campaigns for zero child labor and for school attendance conducted a variety ofactivities using this catch phrase. As the project progresses new sayings continue to emerge out ofvarious discussions involving children and community members and these become catch phrases.

44

●Preserve meeting records
In order to not forget the “voices” of the children, capture childrenʼs statements andproposals in documents (minutes of committee meetings, etc.)

The children’s organization of Bawniabadh keeps records on large pieces of paper documenting theresults of community surveys, the prioritization of community issues, and the organization’s own
activities, reflections and evaluations. These are also used when representatives of the children’sorganization present reports at the Community Development Forum (a committee of 4-6 people
comprised of representatives of various committees and the children’s organization). The
Community Development Forum also holds monthly meetings. The chairs of each meeting areselected, and the children’s representatives also serve as facilitators. Discussions follow the rulesthat those who wish to speak raise their hands, and the meeting chairperson selects who is to speak.
In the meetings, after reports from the committees, there is discussion on themes selected for thatmonth’s discussion, and a record of the discussions from each meeting are kept in a notebook. The
minutes record (1) the names of participants, (2) reports from each committee, (3) items discussed,and (4) items decided.
●Sustaining activities
Hold regular meetings of the childrenʼs organization in order to foster the sustainability anddevelopment of childrenʼs participation.
Promote sustained activities by repeating the cycle in which children hold discussions, makedecisions, create plans, and take responsibility for undertaking activities.

The Bawniabadh slum is divided into six blocks, with a children’s organization and resident’sorganization for each block. The number of participants in each children’s organization ranges from25 to 40 children each, and if a given organization becomes particularly large, a second
organization may be created. The organizations have achieved a gender balance, and there are evenchildren’s organizations where the majority of members are girls. Each organization has sevenelected officials, such as the chairperson and vice chairperson, elected by the children themselves
each year.
The activities of the children’s organization are based on annual plans drawn up by the children
themselves. Activities include raising awareness through songs, dance and plays, and things such as
monitoring birth records. Activities follow a well-established cycle of planning, implementation
and reflection.

In the locations where SCJ and Aasaman operate, children’s organizations at schools and village
Child Empowerment Centers hold quarterly follow-up meetings in addition to the regular monthly
meetings. In the meetings, participants discuss the status of activities and revisions to activity plans,
and the Aasaman field staff monitor the children with respect to their knowledge, attitudes andactivities.

45

●Reflection
Childrenʼs organizations conduct annual reflections on their activities, and create plans for the
next year.

The Community Development Forum for the Bawniabadh slum and the children’s organizationeach conduct annual reflections on their activities. These reflections – on what has beenaccomplished, what changes have been observed, and what problems remain – are conductedutilizing various participatory analysis tools (such as radar charts2, H forms3, SWOT analysis, etc.)
which allow for sharing information visually, with the results reflected in the following year’s
activity plans.
●Participation in decision making
First, adults and children conduct their own activities. Once they are ready for cooperation (interms of their understanding and attitude), create opportunities for childrenʼs representatives
to participate directly in community decision making (such as through participating in adultcommittees).

By participating in the children’s organization, children learn to take responsibility
through joint discussions, decision making and planning. They acquire self-confidence
through these activities, and gain feelings of empowerment and self affirmation.
At the same time, in order to alter the negative preconceptions and strict attitudes that adults may
have toward children, it is important for children to demonstrate their attitude of engagement intheir community, as well as their accomplishments.
At an appropriate time, when each side is prepared and has a receptive attitude, Plan creates
opportunities for discussions together. Of course, simply because children participate in decision
making discussions does not mean that everything goes smoothly at first; time, hard work, andpatience are important.
One children’s organization member said, “When children first participated in the meetings of theCommunity Development Forum, it seemed that their participation was just some formality. But as
people heard the children express their opinions through the meetings, it reached the point where
the adults came to acknowledge their role.” Now, children feel that the Community Development
Forum meetings are an important venue where their views, the voices of the children, will beproperly heard.
A representative of the Community Development Forum said, ”Cooperation between children andadults is really fostering the next generation, and a vital task for the community.”2

Radar chart:

An evaluation technique that measures the degree to which different goals set at the planningstage of an activity have been achieved. Due to its appearance, it is also known as a “spider's web.”3

H form: An analysis and evaluation technique in which a large letter “H” is drawn, and is used to analyze thestrengths and weaknesses of the children’s organization, assess the degree of achievement on different themes,
and analyze underlying causes.

46

Chapter 3 Part 3
Working with Children
Key Points for Promoting Children’s Participation
Raising self esteem, andHold regular workshops and training opportunities to allow children

cultivating a sense of

to develop their self-esteem and their abilities to communicate andvaluescooperate as part of a group.

Children hear one anotherʼs views, thus gaining an awareness of
issues and building a shared understanding that allows them toTraining facilitation
create plans for taking action.

Have community members serve as resource persons and have hostorganizations participate in the workshops and training sessions for

Through Trainings

children.
Adult participation
Create opportunities for adults and children to participate together
in workshops.

Before organizing children, provide sufficient time for children tolearn ‒ about the rights of children, protection, childrenʼs
Training content
participation, and the different roles for children and adults.

Begin with activities that children can do. It is not a bad thing if
Participation levels
participation begins at a low level (see page11).

Activities for children are enjoyable and entertaining.
Themes and content follow the childrenʼs interests.

Characteristics of activities

Give consideration to locations and times that make it easy forchildren to gather together.

Through Activities

Facilitating activity
The key to facilitating activities is to “trust the process.”
processes

Tools for discussion andEnliven discussions using visual, participatory tools that make it

analysiseasy for everyone to join in.

47

３-1. Through Trainings
Workshops and trainings provide opportunities for children to develop self-confidence and skills;
also, by sparking awareness of various issues, they encourage children to be proactive in dealing
with matters of concern. They can help participants improve their social skills, including, forexample: developing rules for discussions that put participants at ease; listening well to one
another; deciding who will play which roles in working groups (such as facilitator, timekeeper andreporter); determining priorities based on standards the group has set; organizing, analyzing anddiscussing information; making decisions; evaluating the group’s outcomes; and other skills.
Because the early workshops and trainings that children participate in not only develop skills, but
can also instill in participants an appreciation of issues, such as children’s rights and children’s
participation – while at the same time fostering their self-confidence, independence and respect forothers – careful preparation is called for on the part of session organizers.
●Raising self-esteem, and cultivating a sense of values
Hold regular workshops and trainings to allow children to raise their self-esteem and theirabilities to communicate and cooperate as part of a group.

A good example of a program fostering children’s values and attitudes is the Child Fund (CF), a
program of World Vision (WV). This program, which aims to foster a sense of responsibility
through active involvement in various aspects of society, including schools and the community,
provides various opportunities for participation that supports children in developing a feeling ofself-respect and positive self-awareness. Views expressed by children who participated in thisprogram included “I gained self-confidence,” “I respect other people,” “I learned the importance ofsharing,” “I enjoyed participating,” and “I learned that it is OK to have views that are different
from the views of others.” As the head of the Child Fund Center on the island of Guimaras in thePhilippines has said, we should always keep in mind that change in children is something that takes
place slowly and requires time. The features of the WV Life School and other self-awarenessbuilding programs that figure as part of comprehensive development programs are: (1) utilizing
age-appropriate participation and play-method techniques; (2) content that builds upon whatchildren have previously learned in a gradual and building-block manner; (4) fun and ease ofparticipation; and, (5) high-quality facilitation.
How well children learn is directly dependent on the learning environment. 2 It is important tocreate an environment in which participants feel a sense of security and in which everyone sets andshares certain rules guiding discussions, such as: “We will listen to everyone’s views,” “We will
not criticize others,” and “We don’t have to say things we do not want to say (we can pass onparticipating if we want).” It can be good to write up and display the rules for discussion, such as
on a wall, so that the children can refer back to them as needed. Having this sense of security is one

2「Global Teacher, Global Learner」（1997）

David Selby, Graham Pike

Global Teacher, Global Learner, (1997) by David Selby and Graham Pike, Translated by Nakagawa Kiyoko,
Akashi Shoten.

48

factor that leads to fostering children’s self-esteem. Various studies have shown that children thathave high self-esteem are more likely to be proactive, compared to children with lower self-esteem.
As this demonstrates, building children’s self-esteem is very important for building theirself-confidence. Self-esteem is comprised of five elements2: (1) Security; (2) Selfhood; (3)Affiliation; (4) Mission; and, (5) Competence. What is more, “Security; (a sense of safety andsecurity)” is the most basic foundation for cultivating self-esteem and is a prerequisite for the otherfour elements. For this reason, the first thing that should be sought is to create a learning space thatprovides children with a sense of safety and security, and which can serve as the shared foundation
for bringing children together.
●Training facilitation
Children hear one anotherʼs views, thus gaining an awareness of issues and building a sharedunderstanding that allows them to create plans for action.
“The medium is the message.”3 Different forms of media are methods to convey information, buteach medium (method) conveys its own inherent message, apart from the content. In other words,
workshops not only convey content, there is a significant impact on children based solely on theattitude of the facilitator and the learning environment itself. Facilitation with an open andreceptive attitude that demonstrates respect for each child not only provides children with a senseof security, but also becomes a model for behavior. The World Vision Life School requires thatteachers that work with children have these qualities (See page 28,29).

The Regional Center for the Children’s Fund places emphasises that the staff working with children
having a strong commitment, as well as a belief in the value of the self-development program. The
staff all share the conviction that as a result of the program, children will develop a renewed andpositive sense of values. Staff continually conduct practice trainings among themselves to develop
effective facilitation styles, and engage in reflection sessions to evaluate their performance. In the
self-development workshops, the facilitators often ask children questions. Such questioning
enlivens the discussions among the children, making the exchanges deeper and more wide-ranging.
Done in a manner appropriate to the developmental stage of thechildren, this enriches the children’s understanding of problems andissues in the world around them, leading to positive action, which inturn is important for developing ongoing programs and positive
activities.

3“Each medium, independent of the content it mediates, has its own intrinsic effects which are its

unique message.” Marshall McLuhan. http://www.marshallmcluhan.com/main.html

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●Adult participation
Have community members serve as resource persons and have organizations host workshops
and trainings for children.
Create opportunities for adults and children to participate together in workshops.

It can be very effective to involve members of the community as resource persons, not just NGO
staff, when conducting learning and action activities for children’s organizations. Members of thecommunity have taken a lead role in managing the Life School for Transformational Development(LSTD), which has been active for more than 10 years in Kerala, India. An LSTD executive
committee is led by community leaders, school teachers, members of a youth club, and NGO staff.
Various committees are set up to deal with all of the preparations and for running the five days ofthe session itself, including accounting, publicity, and entertainment, as well as for choosing thelocation, planning the budget, registering participants, selecting teachers, securing funding, andconducting outreach to the community. Because cooperation with local governmental organizations
is indispensable, their representatives serve as members of the LSTD executive committee whenpossible. In this way, the community is actively engaged with the LSTD functions, making it
possible for the LSTD to continue to operate the community.

In order to deepen what children learn through the CF self-development program, members of thecommunity also serve as trainers and resource persons in areas of their expertise. The following is
an example of such a case. In a series of workshops children were able to learn about theimportance of the local environment and about environmental conservation; in order to take action,a plan was developed for making compost. CF called in as trainers some local community members
who in past projects had received training in making compost, who in turn trained the children how
to compost. In another case, girls had learned the importance of caring for their family members
and one had wanted to nurse her ailing father, but did not have money to purchase the medicine heneeded. A plan was developed to brew some medicinal herbs that would help his condition. In
response, five women worked with the children to teach them how to distinguish the proper
medicinal herbs, and how to properly brew them.
●Training content
Before organizing children, provide sufficient time for children to learn--about the rights ofchildren, protection, childrenʼs participation, and the different roles for children and adults.

In planning workshops and trainings, consider the content, themes, goals and timing, as well as theage of the participants, and other elements. To prepare them for their own participation, it isimportant for children to have the opportunity to learn about children’s rights; the meaning, value
and need for children’s participation; the roles and responsibilities of children and adults; andrelated issues. Before the children’s organization was established, Aasaman’s field staff spent six
months to one year diligently conducting preparations, teaching the children about children’s rights,
protection, and the different roles of children and adults, through trainings and meetings. The
self-development programs of CF are tailored to match the developmental levels of the children

50participating, with content addressing their mental and emotional needs, as well as the social,
cultural and other needs of the respective age groups.
Give consideration to locations and times that make it easy for children to gather together.
Regularly held workshops and trainings need to be held at times of the day, days of the week, andfor lengths of time and in locations where it is easy for children to gather.
The World Vision Life School is conducted over a five-day period during the school summer
holiday, and is held in an open area in the village so that it is not necessary for children to spend thenight away from their homes overnight. Because it is held in an open area, it is easy for othermembers of the community to join in the activities.

The workshops held for children by the Children’s Fund are held regularly on weekends. The
schedule is also flexible, in order to avoid meeting on days when other community events are held.
Large-scale workshops, in which adults can also join, are held at times when it is easy for everyone
to participate, such as in December, before the start of school, or during the summer holiday. Openspaces in the community that are convenient to transportation are used, such as community plazas
and basketball courts.

3 – 2. Through Activities
The activities of the children’s organization provide children with valuable opportunities to gainskills and experiences they cannot gain elsewhere. In particular, as children work together andcooperate with their peers, they develop self-identity, as well as a sense of belonging. “Children areable to serve themselves and their communities only when they have a sense of belonging.” It isalso important that NGOs give full consideration to the issue of child protection in conducting theactivities of the children’s organization.
Participation levels
Begin with activities that children can do. It is not a bad thing if participation begins at a low
level (see page11).

An Aasaman leader said that the organization strives to match its activities to the children’s levels
and interests. Children gain a sense of achievement by planning and implementing their own
activities, such as campaigns and rallies to promote school attendance. Repeatedly feeling thissense of achievement leads to feelings of self-confidence. “By striving, and by taking action, one
gains the sense that there is hope that you can change your surrounding environment; this feeling ofself-confidence is calledʻempowerment.’ Empowerment is a feeling of competence, and can evenbe called belief in oneself.” 4 When promoting children’s participation, it is very important forchildren to feel this sense of empowerment. The stronger the sense of empowerment, the greater

4

Jiko Gakushu Noryoku wo Sodateru – Gakko no Atarashi Yakuwari, 1980, Giyoo Hatano ed.,Tokyo Daigaku Shuppankai, UP selection 207.

51

children’s desire will have be to participate in activities. In the Bawniabadh slum, a key factor increating an environment where children and adults cooperate in a spirit of partnership has been thefact that children have gained a strong sense of empowerment as a result of their participation in
activities of the children’s organization.
●Characteristics of activities
Activities for children are enjoyable and entertaining.
Themes and content follow the childrenʼs interests.

For children to develop a desire to participate, and to continue participating, it is important that
activities be not only worthwhile but also that they be enjoyable. Even if activities are meaningful,if children participate only out of a sense of obligation, they will not continue their involvement forvery long, and new children are less likely to join as members. Making activities entertaining has
the added benefit of drawing in the largest number of adults and children in the community.

For example, the Children’s Organization of Bawniabadh makes use ofcommunity festivals and other opportunities to present performances of songs,
dancing and plays for the local residents. These performances address actualissues faced by children in the area, such as the problem of early childmarriages, the impacts on children of corporal punishment at school,
malnourishment, and family problems. For example, in a play addressing theaffects of corporal punishment, one teacher scolds and hits children then anotherlistens well to the views of students, in alternating scenes; the story shows a girlwho had been temporarily out of school to nurse a family member but who
builds up her courage to go back to school, only to be reprimanded and beaten
by a harsh teacher, with the result that she does not return. The live performance
has no dialogue, only sound effects. At the end, the child who ends up not going to school displays
to the audience a large red piece of cloth, and the curtain falls. It reads, “I want to go to school.
But…”
In the slum, which has few diversions, the songs, dances and plays carefully prepared by themembers of the children’s organization are a great pleasure for the local residents. Whenentertaining songs, dance and theatre are used as awareness-raising methods, it is easy
for messages to be transmitted to adults and children alike.
Nevertheless, expressing these types of messages in these ways certainly requires
prudence. An implementation report by Plan Bangladesh notes, “If adults do not sharethe same level of understanding concerning the changes such advocacy efforts aim toachieve, friction may arise, putting children at risk. … The observational powers ofchildren can bring to the surface issues that have been concealed, and when proposedsolutions are disadvantageous for adults, it is necessary to fully consider the safety andprotection of children in the community, as well as measures to deal with adults.” For
instance, considering the position of teachers, it may be best to finesse the portrayal of the teacher
regularly engaging in corporal punishment, rather than approaching the issue too directly, and thismay challenge the abilities of facilitators.

52

●Facilitating activities
The key to facilitating activities is to “trust the process.”

The basics are the same as mentioned above in connection with the“facilitation of trainings.” While it depends on the proficiency of thechildren themselves, the basic attitude taken toward the facilitationof activities by Plan Bangladesh is to trust children with the process.
The key is to support what happens as children themselves choose
what they would like to be involved in as members of theircommunity and what activities they would like to undertake. As
more children accumulate experience, the less intervention isrequired of Plan Bangladesh. Plan’s role is also to facilitate the overall process, including
supporting other adults in the community to provide appropriate support to children’s activities. In
the end, all of this is linked to fostering the cooperation of children and adults in securing funding
and resources for their community, while working to solve problems in an independent andongoing manner.
●Tools for discussion and analysis
Enliven discussions using visual, participatory tools that make it easy for everyone to join in.

For discussions involving large numbers of people, not only children, discussions can be more open
and meaningful when using participatory tools, and by making issues easy to visualize. What is
important is to make children feel at ease and able to express their own thoughts and opinions
freely. One method to facilitate this is to use participatory-style tools. When thinking about whatshould be discussed during planning and reflections, give consideration to the age and experienceof the children, and to the discussion topics. Be careful to not use just any tools, but match them tothe particular needs.

When working to gain an understanding of the situation in a community, Plan Bangladesh staff
work to draw out the opinions and views of children, and utilize participatory tools to organize andanalyze the issues that have been raised. One tool used is “community resource mapping.” A mapof the community is drawn on a large sheet of paper, indicating the location of schools and othercommunity facilities, such as wells and toilets, along with human resources such as traditional
midwives and doctors. Participants discuss the status of these resources and transfer the information
to the map. The map also reflects the results of household economic condition surveys conductedby the children, with color-coding indicating “economic-level rankings.” The map thus comes to
depict the state of the village as viewed by the children. Children also discuss and analyze
community issues, as well as their causes, impacts, interrelationships and importance, by using
tools such as the “problem tree” 5 and the “ladder game. 6” The outputs of the community

5

Problem tree: A tool in which a problem is represented as the trunk of a large tree, with the causes of the problem

drawn as the roots of the tree, and the impacts and effects of the problem shown as the tree’s spreading branches
and leaves.

53

mapping, problem trees and other tools are displayed on the walls of the building where meetings
are held, with new points and clarifications added as needed when they emerge in later discussions.

Hints for lively discussions7

Have something in your hand: prepare something that children can actually hold and use, such asa photograph, a card, or a box.

Clarify issues: Clearly indicate “what” to do and “how.”

Use small groups: The smaller a group is the more participants can feel at ease and express theirown views.

Choose issues with room for disagreement: Select issues on which viewpoints are likely to differ.
Also, assign children to represent different viewpoints, since the expression of different views will
help the natural flow of discussions.

Join forces: Choose topics where children will need to listen to one another’s opinions and help
each other out.

Engage the eyes: Don’t rely solely on words – utilize items that communicate without words, suchas photographs, drawings, posters, charts, etc.

Arrange and compare: Prepare various items that can be compared. Have children arrange andselect items, giving their reasons.

Experience, then share: For instance, after first conducting a game that does not use any words,
ask children to share “what happened?”, “what did you feel?”, “what did you learn?”, and share
their views.

Not too difficult, not too easy: Always choose topics that will make children stretch – but don’t
make things so difficult they lose interest.

6

Ladder game: Used in Plan Bangladesh activities; a ladder is drawn on a large sheet of paper, with three spaces,

one each at the bottom, the center and the top. The condition of the community three years ago is written in thelower portion; the center portion is the current situation; in the upper portion is written the circumstances thatchildren would like to see three years from now.
7

“World Studies 8-13: A Teacher's Handbook”, 1993, Simon Fisher and Dave Hicks, Schools Council.

54

Chapter 3

A Facility for Children (Children’s Plaza)
How to promote children’s participation?

Imagine an NGO project to set up a facility for children, the “Children’s Plaza.” Think through theways that children could participate, the preparations that would be needed, and other ideas.
Project overview
Assume you are in a country where the quality of school education is low and the dropout rate isabout 30%.
You wanted to create a “Children’s Plaza,” a place where any child is free to participate; a placethat provides child care; a location where children can benefit from creative enrichment programs
and cultural instruction not available in school. It is managed by the local government andsupported by NGOs.
At first, parents came to take their children back home to help with chores, but children were able
to learn dancing and other activities, and it became accepted as a place where children can learn.
Issues
While dancing and other activities were popular, and the play activities of children were diversified,classes about cultural activities became routine and lost their appeal, and attendance stopped
increasing. Problems arose when it became difficult to raise operating funds and staff lost interestin developing their expertise.
What steps do you think could be taken in order to simultaneously reinvigorate both children’s
participation and the “Children’s Plaza” itself?

Children’s Plaza
Targets: Elementary and junior high school students
Activities: Cultural activities (arts and crafts, folk music, dance, drama, etc.), sports
activities, outdoor gatherings involving games, literary activities (loaning books,
reading aloud, storytelling with pictures), awareness-raising activities (educating
people in the village about hygiene through games and skits).
Operating hours: Outside of school hours (weekday evenings and during the day on
Management: Local government
Adults involved: Staff (officials), teachers (local residents)

55

Review
Exercises

Activity 1
Reconsider things from the viewpoint of childrenʼs participation

The Children’s Plaza has worked so far to promote children’s participation, and children are
engaged in various roles within the program.
First, establish the degree to which children currently participate, and take stock of the current
status of the management (the local government and on-site staff) and support personnel (NGOs).
Keep records of evaluations by children of the cultural activities and teachers, reflecting their
feedback in activities and sharing the information with supporters. By making children the focus,
you can help influence other similar “children’s plazas” through sharing experiences, and whenchildren gain a sense of empowerment, their desire to participate will grow.

＜The status of childrenʼs participation in the Childrenʼs Plaza ＞< Points to confirm >●Children develop and implement programs◆Do staff listen to how the children◆Awareness-raising activities are conducted for children
themselves feel about things?
and adults in the community◆Are the wishes of the children reflected in◆Plays are adapted from stories, and performed
activities?
Payments for out-of-town dance performances and sales of◆When things do not match childrenʼs wishes,
handicrafts provide income for managing the facility
such as when they may not want to participate
Older boys and girls from high school return to serve asin fundraising performances, can they easily let
leaders for group activities
staff know?
Serve as “librarian” for the community, loaning out books tolocal residents◆Do staff not only listen to the views of the●Childrenʼs evaluations

children, but do they also keep records andStaff gather from children their opinions and evaluations ofreflect childrenʼs views in the program?

classes and teachers◆Do staff explain how they have been able toChildren serve as judges for contests

reflect the opinions of children?

56

Activity 2
A technique for having children involve other children

The following new idea, explained in items 1-6, can be pursued over a period of time (3 to 5 years).

The adults and children involved in the Children’s Plaza (from elementary school students throughhigh school level alumni of the program) learn together (or separately) about children’s rights andchildren participation. The Children’s Plaza comes to be seen as a place open to all children, andwhere they can have fun (and develop their character). ①＜Example of an idea to enhance activities to promote childrenʼs participation＞④Receive reports③Adults conduct a survey of③Children conduct an assessmentof both needs

the needs of both adults andof the needs of adults and children

assessments

children in the community

in the community⑤Invite them toparticipate in the event

Childrenʼs Plaza
Governmental
agencies

Library
Direct

Staff

Cultural activities

ChildrenChildrenclasses
SportsSupport

Awareness-raisin

NGOs
Instructor

g activities

Children not attending

Eventsschool or the Childrenʼs
Pl①Learn about childrenʼs②Learn facilitation⑥Creation of an annual plan, including

participation and childrenʼsskillsmonitoring and evaluation, are carried

rights together

out by adults and children together

Staff and instructors working directly with children to develop expertise in how to assist children to
express their views easily. ②

Children and adults (staff) of the Children’s Plaza collect the views of people in the community(children and parents) regarding their expectations for the Children’s Plaza and how children
should develop. ③. Staff develop strong ownership of their vision for the Children’s Plaza througha process that builds children’s desire to participate and through which children provide goodinspiration.

57

Based on the opinions collected, the director responsible for the Children’s Plaza meets withrepresentatives of children-related governmental agencies, and engages support organizations (suchas NGOs) to make children’s participation a key focus. ④

As a true demonstration of children’s participation, the children participating in the Children’s
Plaza reach out to bring in those children not attending school, having them join the Children’s
Plaza’s events, daily activities, classes, etc. ⑤

As children participate more, and at a stage when adults acknowledge the abilities of children, thechildren can take on some of the management responsibilities of the Children’s Plaza, including
through participating in annual planning processes, raising funds, and evaluating activities. ⑥
New approaches for your own organization to try
As shown in cases described above, working to realize children’s participation can be very difficult.
Because of this difficulty, it is important to conduct ongoing monitoring, evaluation and follow-up
activities. Successful experiences, however small, will give encouragement to the people involved.
Why not have your organization try new activities and approaches to realize children’s
participation?

58

Cooperation Bases System for Educational Cooperation in 2008by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports Science and Technology

Children's Participation Guidebook
Published March, 2009
Published by Japan NGO Network for Education (JNNE)
Exploratory Committee Member:
Katayama, Nobuhiko (World Vision Japan/WVJ)
Koarai, Rie (Save the Children Japan/SCJ)
Tanaka, Sachiko (International Education Center/ERIC)
Tanaka, Haruhiko (Rikkyo University), Hosoi, Nana (Child Fund Japan/CFJ)
Miyake, Takashi (Shanti Volunteer Association/SVA)
Nakamura, Eno and Nishi, Ai (Development Education Association Resource/DEAR)
Text written by: Part 1 Tanaka, Haruhiko (Rikkyo University, Professor)
Part 2 Tanaka, Sachiko (ERIC Researcher)Part 3 Tanaka, Sachiko (ERIC Researcher)Mori, Toru (Action with Lao Children/ALC)
Translators: Christopher Bond, Richard Forrest, Naoko
Sugiyama Hesse, Malaya Ileto
English editing: Stephen Hesse
Photograph copyrights: CFJ (p.23-26, 49, 53) WVJ (p.27-29, 51)
Mori, Toru (All photos except those otherwise attributed.)
Edited by: Mori, Toru
Editing assisted by: Koarai, Ria (SCJ), Nakamura, Eno (DEAR)
Conducted by: Japan NGO Network for Education (JNNE)
Organized by: Development Education Association Resource, Nakamura, Eno, Nishi, Ai, Miyazaki, Hanai
Koishikawa, 2-17,41-3F, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo Japan 112-002
Cooperation with: Plan Japan, SCJ, CFJ, WVJ, ALC

Japan NGO Network for Education

http://jnne.org/