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Item Adolescents’ Understanding of Their Rights and Experiences of Autonomy(Pennsylvania State University, 2021) McCluskey E; O'Neill JArticle 42 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) states that children’s rights must be widely known by children and adults alike. Research on children’s rights has found that children and adolescents often have limited or incorrect knowledge and understandings of rights and how they apply to their everyday lives. Despite New Zealand ratifying the convention in 1993 it appears that children may continue to have little knowledge about rights. This research explored adolescents’ knowledge and understanding of their rights and UNCRC, where their knowledge and understanding come from, and how student experiences of autonomy may influence these understandings. Semi-structured interviews were used with 10 secondary (high) school students aged 14-15. Thematic analysis revealed that students may still hold limited and varied knowledge and understanding of their rights, and sources of this knowledge include inconsistent education at school, and television. It was also found that rights may not be a common discourse among adolescents. Teacher and government responsiveness towards adolescent students, and choices offered to them appeared to have an impact on student experiences of autonomy. These findings could have important implications for government policy and legislation, and rights education within New Zealand schools.Item Enabling Participation in Voice Research for Adolescent Children with Characteristics of Autism(Pennsylvania State University, 4/04/2022) MacRae E; O'Neill JThe study on which this article is based concerned children’s sense of belonging at school. Their experience of inclusion within formal education was explored from a child rights perspective using the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as a guide. Most research to date has focused on the inclusion of children with autism in education from the perspective of adults, not children. As children are “experts” in their own social worlds, for this study the views of children were sought directly from them regarding their everyday experience of being at school, what they believe supports their sense of belonging at school, and what aspects of their everyday schooling could be improved. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with seven children, all of whom had characteristics of autism. The focus in this article is methodological, specifically the decision framing and decision taking of the researcher about how to provide an enabling and inviting research participation experience so that children with autism feel sufficiently comfortable and encouraged to express their views. Two key considerations in the design of this study concerned: (a) participant recruitment and (b) interview process and procedures.
