Listening to children’s voice; Why involve children and young people in planning and placemaking?
My workspace is within earshot of a local primary school where children play on their breaks. Most days, the sounds from the schoolyard provide a pleasant rhythm to my day. Other times it pulls focus; a particularly militant adult barks orders, or a fire alarm tears through my concentration. Then today, what’s this?! A child is screaming at an extraordinary frequency- how do they even DO that? The screeching alarms me, but, as it continues, I begin to sense that raising alarm may not the child’s intention. Could it be excitement maybe? Frustration? Some unique combination of both? Perhaps it is simply a desire to be heard — or even to make a noise large enough to meet the oncoming autumn winds. How can I know? I am not there and can’t see them, I can’t observe or ask questions to add detail that could make better sense of the sound. I turn myself back to my work and smile; I was just sitting down to write about children’s voice.
Thankfully, we’ve come a long way since the times of cultural pressure for children to seen and not heard. Educators have advocated on behalf of children’s visibility and voice for at least a century. Early years pedagogies in particular, such as those with child-led, Reggio Emilia approaches at their core, have a wealth of practice with children that is now influencing other spheres. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child emphasises children’s right to participate in decisions affecting them. As a result, policy makers, developers and others are taking increasing care to consider, and ideally, include children in decision-making. Within urban development and placemaking, initiatives and projects such as Child Friendly City, Royal Town Planning Institute’s review of Child Friendly Planning (in collaboration with A Place In Childhood (APIC) and Dinah Borat of ZCD Architects ) and Make Space for Girls are influencing policy and practice around children and young people’s particular needs and voice.All of these resources emphasise that children having a say doesn’t always happen through talking or writing, approaches that are so commonly featured in consultation and engagement. Care is needed to engage and listen in new ways. Our work with children repeatedly reminds us how so much is communicated through non-verbal expression. We are constantly developing ways to ensure that embodied knowledge is taken into account and that collaboration does not embed unhelpful power dynamics between adults and children. Towards this, we use play and arts-based research methods, alongside detailed observation and reflection to make sure we are not projecting meaning or bias on what emerges.
Play Disrupt is excited to be part of a growing number of people demonstrating that, as well as honouring children’s rights, involving them in the design process leads to more inclusive, engaging spaces and fosters a stronger sense of ownership and community. We are currently working on projects with children and young people in Anglesey and London to ensure their meaningful input on the design of play provision. In collaboration with the participants, we are always learning, develop and honing our practice. If you have a project that might benefit from our playful, co-creative methods, please do get in touch. And, to the child screaming in the school yard, we say this—we hear you and are doing all we can to ensure that you have a say about the places where you play and the cities, towns and villages that are raising you. |
& Zubru 
