Children and young people’s voices amplified as new resources launch

The launch of a new eLearning module and participation guidelines offers invaluable practical support for those working with children and young people.

Actively listening to children and young people’s voices and responding to what they share is key to achieving Children in Scotland’s vision that all children and young people in Scotland have an equal chance to flourish.

Today, two exciting new launches that promote and support the meaningful participation of children and young people mark another important step in bringing that vision to life.

The first new resource to launch is a free eLearning module that introduces the principles of participation.

Those who sign up for the module will gain an understanding of what participation is, why it is important and have access to good practice techniques they can use to meaningfully engage the young people they work with - particularly through group work.

The module contains lots of practical guidance on what to consider when engaging with young people to make the experience as valuable as possible, alongside case studies about how to support children's individual needs.

'Genuinely listen to the young people, don’t just hear them.'
Member of Changing Our World

Children in Scotland is also launching an updated version of its successful Participation Principles & Guidelines.

This is the third version of the principles and guidelines, which have been refreshed in response to feedback received from Children in Scotland staff, members, partners and children and young people.

The guidelines aim to support different types of engagement with children and young people and are particularly relevant for group work.

Discussing the launch of the module, Children in Scotland Learning & Events Officer, Sally Dale, explained:

‘It was really interesting to work alongside young people from Changing Our World, Children in Scotland's young people's advisory group, to develop this module and hear first-hand from them about what makes quality participation.

We know lots of organisations are keen to embed children's voices into their work but could use some guidance on either where to begin or how to improve.

We wanted to give learners the knowledge and confidence to advocate for participation within their organisations as well as the tools to make it happen.’

'It makes me feel empowered and valued.'
Member of Changing Our World

Talking about the refreshed Principles & Guidelines, Children in Scotland Policy and Participation Manager, Elaine Kerridge, said:

‘We know there are many benefits to children and young people's participation, including for the children and young people themselves.

Our goal is to engage children and young people in meaningful, ongoing dialogue and enable them to participate fully and effectively in our work.

We are happy to share our learning from our participation journey and aim to support individuals and organisations looking to develop their own participation policies and practices. We are very pleased to launch resources to support quality participation of children and young people.’

Click here to access the eLearning module:
https://childreninscotland.org.uk/learning/elearning/

Click here to access the refreshed Principles & Guidelines:
https://childreninscotland.org.uk/our-work/participation/

If you have any queries or feedback about our participation resources, please email ekerridge@childreninscotland.org.uk.