“In Fact, We Can All Decide”: An Action Research on the Participation Right of Young Children

Abstract

In this research, it is aimed to plan concrete and new arrangements that will encourage participation right and evaluate how these arrangements contribute to children’s participation. The participants of the study are comprised of 41 5-year-old children attending the kindergarten in a province in Turkey’s inner Aegean region. In the research, triangulation was used, and Participation Right Scale in Preschool Classes (Koran, 2017; Şallı İdare, 2018), interview form (Thayer and Schiff (1969), facial expressions form, observation form, and field notes were used as data collection tools. When the results from the scale, observations, and interviews were evaluated, it was determined that children began to express their views on the planning of programme activities and began taking an active role in decision making. Furthermore, it was concluded that children began to be active participants in the learning process and liked the arrangements and the materials they used in the classroom. This action research, focusing on the children’s participation right, is thought to contribute to academic and social studies on how the participation right in school can be transferred from theory to practice. Comprehensive action plans can be developed by experts working on children and education policy makers in order to implement children’s participation right in school.