This study explored the experiences of early childhood educators who sought to increase young children’s participation with the purpose of identifying how children’s participation can be made sustainable in early childhood settings. Increasing interest in young children’s participation rights as a result of the UNCRC, General Comment 7 and the new sociology of childhood, has led to a growing expectation that early childhood educators will enact participation rights in practice. There is a limited body of research on both young children’s participation and on the sustainability of early childhood practices. Of the available literature, the majority is framed within a modernist paradigm that fails to acknowledge the multiple and contradictory nature of early childhood practice. / This study used Foucauldian discourse analysis and selected poststructuralist understandings of power, knowledge and truth to explore how socially constructed understandings of young children and of early childhood educators influence participation practices and their sustainability. Three semi-structured interviews were conducted with four early childhood educators across three settings. The analysis of interviews showed particular discourses of childhood informing early childhood practices and creating and maintaining regimes of truth. It highlighted the need to recognise that early childhood educators work within and through multiple and conflicting discourses, each offering a particular subjectivity. The analysis also illuminates the micro-practices of power that limit the possibilities for children’s participation and illustrate the ‘danger’ of assimilating children’s participation into existing early childhood practices without critically reflecting on that process. The study raised the question of whether—rather than how—children’s participation should be sustained if it is operating within a singular dominant discourse. The study’s selected poststructuraist approach enabled it to fill a gap in the existing research, and has implications for practice, policy and training and provides direction for future research in the area of children’s participation.

A phenomenological interview study on preschool teachers approach to children´s conflicts Our intention was to study six preschool teachers approach to child conflicts in preschool and the strategies they use to deal with conflicts. The aim of the study is to provide knowledge about how the values of the preschool teachers express themselves in the educational environment and how they relate to children's conflicts. The following two inquiries are examined in this study: What strategies does the preschool teacher describe that she applies in different conflict management situations? What values are expressed in the preschool teacher's strategies in conflict between children?                                   This study follows a quantitative method with a phenomenological research approach. It is based on material from interviews with six different preschool teachers who work in the preschool and preschool class. The theoretical starting point for the study is Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, which proceeds from children learning by social interactions. The result shows that preschool teachers use different strategies depending on the nature of the conflict. It furthermore shows that all preschool teachers perceive children as competent and they emphasise the importance of letting the children be a part of the conflict management. Their experience is that the environment plays a determinant part in children’s interactions. All preschool teachers had a view of children with the purpose of always acting in their best interests. All pointed out the important part the presence of a pedagogue has to get the conflict management to work.

The study is about the influence and participation of preschool children in the everyday life at the preschool. We try to find out if the preschool children have chances to participate actively and to influence the routines and content of their school. Furthermore, we want to find out how the teachers experience the influence and participation of the preschool children at their work in connection with democracy.We made observations in different preschools in Skåne and we spoke with preschool teachers in order to hear their opinions about our subject. We based our analysis on Dewey’s theory to help us understand the situations we observed. The result of our study is that influence and participation are terms with similar meaning some times in the swedish preschools. The conversation helps the children by expressing their ideas to have more influence and to be active in activities that they can organise with the teachers. Documentation give the children another chance to reflect over the things they see in pictures and to develop their speech abilities. Lastly, the preschool's material and environment has a very big impact on the children's influence and participation.

Barnperspektiv är ett begrepp vilkets innebörd och mening har utvecklats genom åren. Vår studie syftade till att undersöka några familjerättssekreterares upplevelser och erfarenheter av hur barnperspektivet tillvaratas inom det familjerättsliga arbetet. Detta genom halvstrukturerade intervjuer med fyra familjerättssekreterare från en mellanstor kommun i Sverige. Familjerättssekreterarna menade att barnperspektivet har stärkts genom åren, men att det fortfarande finns delar att utveckla, exempelvis vad gäller barns röst och delaktighet. Familjerättssekreterarna beskrev svårigheter med tillvaratagandet av barnperspektivet i deras arbete så som föräldrarnas makt, en rädsla för att förvärra barnets situation och tidspress. De upplevde även möjligheter i form av samverkan och lagstiftning. Frågan om den sociala konstruktionen av barns position i samhället behöver förändras för att barnperspektivet ska kunna fortsätta stärkas och utvecklas diskuteras. / Through the years the child perspective is a word that has developed in its meaning and significance. The aim of this study was to investigate how family law investigators experience that the child perspective is being used in family law work. Four family law investigators in a middle-sized municipality in Sweden were interviewed in semi-structured interviews. The most significant results was that the child perspective, according to the family law investigators, has grown stronger but that there is’ still a need for development, for example listening to the voice of children and letting them participate more. The family law investigators experienced a challenge in the reinforcement of the child perspective in their work because of the parents’ power and a fear of making the child’s situation worse and that it also was time pressuring. They saw possibilities in the development of collaboration and in the legislation. The question if the social construction of children’s position in society needs to change in order for the child perspective to continue to be further strengthened and developed is discussed.

Undersökningar påvisar att barns delaktighet i socialtjänstens utredningar är bristfällig (Inspektionen för vård och omsorg, 2014). Barns åsikter beskrivs som lågt prioriterade i förhållande till vuxna (Östberg, 2010). Syftet med studien var följaktligen att undersöka hur socialsekreterare uppfattar barns delaktighet i utredningar där barn misstänkts blivit utsatta för våld i hemmet. Studien har genomförts med en kvalitativ ansats i form av fokusgruppsintervjuer med socialsekreterare. Delaktighetsmodeller och professionsteori utifrån begreppen jurisdiktion samt handlingsutrymme har tillämpats i analysen av empirin. Resultatet visar att det råder en samstämmighet i hur informanterna definierar barns delaktighet, dock har detta en komplex innebörd i praktiken. Informanterna beskriver att metoder kan främja barns delaktighet. Däremot framträder hinder såsom barns ålder, föräldrars inblandning, hög arbetsbelastning och tidsbrist. Vidare synliggörs att socialsekreterarna ser barn som aktiva deltagare i utredningsarbetet. Skyddsaspekten framhävs dock som starkt styrande för barns delaktighet. Föreliggande studie belyser således att det råder både hinder samt möjligheter i det praktiska arbetet gällande barns delaktighet. / Studies show that children's participation in social services inquiries are flawed (Inspektionen för vård och omsorg, 2014). Children's views are described as a low priority compared to adults (Östberg, 2010). The aim of this study was therefore to examine how social workers perceive children's participation in inquiries where children are suspected of being victims of domestic violence. The study has been conducted with a qualitative approach in the form of focus group interviews with social workers. Participation models and theory of professions based on the concepts of jurisdiction and discretion has been applied in the analysis of empirical data. The result shows that there is a consistency in how the informants define children's participation but that it has a complex meaning in practice. The informants describe that methods can facilitate children's participation. However, it also appears that there are obstacles such as the children’s age, parent’s involvement, high workload and lack of time. Furthermore, the study shows that social workers perceive children as active participants in inquiries. However, the protection aspect is emphasized as a main factor for children's participation. This study thus highlights that there are both obstacles and opportunities in the practical work regarding children's participation.

This thesis seeks to explain social participation in pre-schools for children with and without Down’s syndrome. The explanation is achieved by use of an explanatory model of social participation, designed on the basis of critical realism, which has been used in an empirical study of how social participation emerges in practice. Mechanisms have been abstracted. It is assumed that recognition mechanism produces social participation and reification mechanism social exclusion. The results show that the agency of the personnel affects the possibilities for the recognition mechanism to produce social participation. Within the agency of the personnel, the internal relationship between the child perspective, i.e. how children's place in society is understood, and the relationship to the child's perspective, i.e. how children's participation is regarded, either prevents or makes possible activation of the mechanism. The child perspective has, through the empirical study, been seen to take two different forms: either that children are similar, with similar needs, or that they are different, with different needs. If children are defined as similar, the structures will accommodate all children, enabling them to be socially involved in the same activities. If children are defined as different, different structures are created for different groups of children. Groups are segregated from each other, preventing the children from being socially involved in joint activities. The relationship to the child's perspective has emerged in relation to the roles of the child as an agent, as a collective subject, and as an individual subject. The role definition affects the degree of constraint imposed on the possibilities for action that are offered, and thus affects the opportunity costs and degrees of freedom of the children. These determine the activation of recognition mechanism and social participation in the situation.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how family law secretaries in Sweden works with fulfilling the best interests of the child in collaboration talks and how they get children involved in the process. I have performed five semi-constructed interviews with family law secretaries from different municipalities. In order to achieve broader answers to my questions I have chosen to use a qualitative method. This method was also chosen to enable the possibility of follow-up questions. I gathered data from previous research in this area by searching after these keywords; child’s best, collaboration talk, custody, family law, children’s participation in investigations. The collected data was then analyzed with three different theories; Michael Lipsky’s theory about grass root bureaucrats, Svensson, Johansson & Laanemets’ theory about the social worker role and Roger Hart’s participation model.  The participants that were interviewed all stated that it was difficult to fulfill the child’s best as it is an open concept that can be interpreted differently depending on the secretary’s individual knowledge and scope. Among the participants there were some of them that had deeper knowledge concerning the principle of the child’s best. This knowledge had been achieved through further education which ensures higher certainty that the child’s best has been fulfilled, but also raises awareness on when participation of the child in collaboration talk is possible. For those secretaries that are lacking this deeper knowledge in this principle agree that there are difficulties to ensure that the child’s best has been fulfilled. Because of the difference in knowledge there were variances in deciding when it was possible for a child to participate in the collaboration talk. Some of the secretaries thought that it was important to get the children involved in collaboration talks, but some thought that collaboration talks were not a platform for small children to participate in. This means that children are encountered in different ways depending on which family law secretary they meet and in what municipality the collaboration talk is held in.

Syftet men det här examensarbetet är att bidra med kunskaper om barns delaktighet ur ett Sydafrikanskt perspektiv. Detta sker genom att undersöka hur pedagoger, lärare och barnskötare ser på barns delaktighet i Sydafrikanska förskolor.  Studien bygger på tre frågeställningar som skapats utifrån studiens syfte. Genom kvalitativa intervjuer har jag i en lugn miljö intervjuat fem lärare i tre olika Sydafrikanska förskolor, utifrån en intervjuguide där respondenterna fått uttrycka sig fritt i sina svar. Intervjuerna bygger på att tillsammans med respondenterna skapa en bild av respondenternas tankar och arbetssätt kring barns delaktighet. Studiens resultat visar att respondenterna anser att delaktighet sker genom att barnen är delaktiga och involverade i aktiviteter samt när de samspelar med andra personer. För att främja barns möjligheter till delaktighet i verksamheten menar respondenterna att det viktigt med planering tillsammans med sina kollegor samt att arbeta tematisk utifrån barns intressen. / This study aims to contribute to the knowledge about children’s participation in preschool from a South African perspective. I have examined how teachers, preschool teachers and kindergarten teachers thinks about and work with children's participation in South African preschools. The study was carried out through qualitative interviews. I have interviewed five teachers in three different South African preschools. The interviews were based on an interview guide that allowed the respondents to express themselves freely in their responses. The interview questions was formulated to provide insight into the respondents understanding of, and work with children's participation. The results of the study shows that the respondents considers that participation takes place when the children participate and get involved in activities and when they interact with other people. In order to promote children’s opportunities for participation the respondents consider it important to plan together and to work thematically based on the children’s interests.

Barn har rätt till att vara delaktiga vid utformningen av de stadsrum som påverkar barnen. I ett samhälle där barnkonventionen blivit lag behöver kommuner arbeta med barns åsikter och önskemål när barnens lekplatser och skolgårdar planeras. Hur man som planerare kan ta del av barns åsikter även i de yngre åldrarna kan vara tungrott. Yngre barn behöver mer stöttning när de ska få uttrycka sina åsikter. I denna uppsats kommer läsaren få läsa om forskning som finns kring ämnet om hur barn kan vara delaktiga, via olika modeller och verktyg. Läsaren kommer få ta del av de lagar och regelverk som idag finns i Sverige för att reglera att en fysisk planering. En workshop på en förskola har utförts och två intervjuer har hållits med anställda vid Burlövs kommun. Resultatet i denna studie visar att det går att involvera yngre barn vid fysisk planering. Yngre barn har mycket åsikter samt många idéer och tankar. Det kan dock vara av problematisk natur att arbeta med barn i ung ålder. Detta då yngre barn kan ha svårt att förstå sitt egenansvar samt att yngre barn kan ha svårt att vara självständiga i sina åsikter. / Children have the right to be involved in the design of urban spaces that affect them. In a society where the Convention on the Rights of the Child has become law, municipalities need to work with children's opinions and wishes when planning children's playgrounds and schoolyards. How planners can take account of children's opinions even at a younger age can be difficult. Younger children need more support when expressing their opinions. In this paper, the reader will read about research on the topic of how children can be involved, through different models and tools. The reader will learn about the laws and regulations that currently exist in Sweden to regulate physical planning. A workshop at a preschool has been conducted and two interviews have been held with employees at Burlöv municipality. The results of this study show that it is possible to involve younger children in spatial planning. Younger children have many opinions and many ideas and thoughts. However, it can be problematic to work with children at a young age. This is because younger children may have difficulty understanding their own responsibility and younger children may have difficulty being independent in their opinions.

This is a qualitative study based on semi-structured, open interviews with three social workers whose tasks involve taking decisive decisions regarding children. The purpose of the study is to investigate social workers' experiences of the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) into Swedish law and how it affects their work after the incorporation of 2020. The purpose of the incorporation was that all the changes should be in benefit for children's participation. And that the CRC should focus on the workof social workers, with demands and responsibilities. The incorporation has so far proven tobe positive. The social workers have presented various programs and support materials forthe social workers in order to facilitate full use of the Convention on the Rights of the Childin children's investigations. Overall, my findings suggest that the incorporation of CRC into Swedish law has affected social workers' practices due to the fact that children’s human rights are taking a more prominent position.