Researchers’ work informs United Nations discussions on children’s right to education

MDX academic Dr Angela Scollan has co-authored a written submission highlighting the importance of quality, inclusive and participatory education for children

A written submission co-authored by a Middlesex University academic has been accepted by the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)  

Dr Marie Bradwell and Dr Angela Scollan collaborated to highlight the importance of quality, inclusive and participatory education as a fundamental right for all children.

The submission is now contributing to international discussions on a proposed Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Education). 

Their work draws on extensive research and practice within and beyond Early Childhood Education and Care, emphasising the need to listen to children’s voices, value practitioners’ experiences, and ensure that every child’s right to education is meaningfully protected and promoted. 

The submission synthesises findings from a series of research projects involving Dr Scollan and Dr Bradwell identify five key themes that influence children’s access to education. Together, they demonstrate how the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) can be more effectively translated into everyday educational practice. 

Summary of findings: 

• Curriculum relevance – how meaningful the curriculum is to children’s lived worlds. 
  Relationships and behaviour – the importance of supportive, responsive relationships and behaviour frameworks.
• Inclusion and SEND – the extent to which children with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities from marginalised groups are genuinely included.
• Agency and self-determination – children’s voice, authentic participation and opportunity to be agents in their own learning.
• Resourcing – the impact of funding, staffing, play provision, materials and structural investment.
• The research highlights how the UNCRC connects with early years and how national frameworks EYFS (2024), Children Act (1989), and SEND reforms link, or not, to children’s everyday experiences. 

Structural issues such as poverty, under-funding and the push-down of formal curriculum expectations into early years are highlighted as significant rights-based concerns.

Ending social inequity is a key feature of Plymouth Marjon University’s 2030 strategy.  

“It’s vital that international frameworks for children’s rights recognise the realities of everyday education. By listening and responding to both children and practitioners, we can help ensure that future global policy is informed by genuine experience and grounded in the principles of social justice.” 

Dr Angela Scollan, Associate Professor in Early Childhood at Middlesex University

Dr Marie Bradwell, Lecturer in Early Years, Education, SEND, Research and Well-being at Plymouth Marjon University, said: “Unless we explicitly link what children experience in early years settings and schools with their rights under the UNCRC, we risk promoting education as a narrow curriculum task rather than a lived, rights-based process.

“This work demonstrates how local practice and scholarship can influence global human rights frameworks, ensuring that equity, inclusion and participation are at the heart of every child’s educational experience.” 

The submission has now been accepted by the OHCHR and is being used to inform discussions by the UN Working Group as part of the process to develop the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Education).

This represents a significant step in strengthening global commitments to children’s rights, equality and access to education. 

The submission draws on research projects including Hear Me See Me (Bradwell, 2024), SHARMED (Baraldi, Joslyn,  Farini, Scollan et al., 2021), Building knowledge together (Scollan and Farini, 2023), and Child-UP (Baraldi, Farini, Scollan et al., 2023).

Find out more about studying Early Childhood Studies at Middlesex University.

Photo by Jonathan Ansel Moy de Vitry on Unsplash