Having a voice, having a choice: Children’s Participation in Educational Space Design

Abstract

Child participation is one of the core principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which asserts that children and young people have the right to freely express their views. Despite the increasing numbers of children’s spaces, there are few studies that describe the involvement of the children in these environments’ design and planning. Many of the children’s environment are modelled on adult’s values and needs rather than the needs of child users (Hart, 1992; Rayner et. al, 2012). This is the result of design process itself where there is a focus on designing for children, rather than designing with children (Wake, 2007). It is crucial that understanding children’s knowledge, values, experience and use of place would help us improve planning and design of those children’s spaces. Therefore this study discusses the participation of children in the design of educational environments.