Book Review

by Paul Ganderton

Hart RA. 1997. Children's Participation. Earthscan. pp xi + 208.ISBN 1 85383 322 3. £18.95.

Subtitled "The theory and practice of involving young citizens in community development and environmental care" this text is designed to be a reference manual about some of the ways in which children can be both empowered and take direct involvement in their communities. The argument behind this (apart from the obvious aspect of the Convention on the Rights of the Child) is that if we want tomorrow's environment to be sustainably managed we need to train today those people who will carry out the tasks tomorrow i.e. children. There are real problems in achieving this in a text not least being the vast range of children's experiences within their cultural milieux. However, these, and other constraints, are addressed by the author. The book is divided into three. The first part explores a range of conceptual issues e.g. rights, children's intellectual development, organisation and child involvement. This provides both a framework and a chance to highlight problems. The second part looks at how participation can be developed in practice. This is no glossy catch-all situation - children's limitations are as in evidence as are their abilities. Thus we are given examples of action research, design, management, monitoring, awareness raising and networking ideas that can (and have) all been carried out by children. Part three, "methods", shows how community involvement can be fostered in a variety of different ways from drawings and maps to surveys and the media.

There is a tendency in such books to produce a bland overview of the topic but Hart has skillfully avoided this. Studies are encouraging and reasonable. Case studies have been drawn from a suitably wide cross-section (rich/poor, North/South etc.). Many of the ideas are challenging in that they make the reader reassess assumptions and current practice. This book would be an excellent addition to education libraries as well as to interested teachers.