Examination of child participation awareness of primary school 4th grade students

In this study, it was aimed to examine the awareness of primary school fourth-grade students on child participation. The research was carried out with the case study method, one of the qualitative research methods. The study group of the research consisted of 50 primary school students, 25 with low socioeconomic status (LSS) and 25 with high socioeconomic status (HSS), attending two public primary schools in Fatih district of Istanbul in the 2022-2023 academic year and continuing their 4th-grade. The study group was determined by the criterion sampling method, which is one of the purposeful sampling types. In this context, suggestions were received from the district directorate of national education and school directorates, observations were made in and around the school in line with the determined indicators, and students who met the listed criteria were determined with the recommendations of their classroom teachers. Child Participation Awareness Form prepared by the researcher was used as data collection tool. This form, which consists of semi-structured case studies, was designed to examine the participation preferences of primary school students regarding the child's participation in decision-making processes and the reasons for these preferences. In the form, which includes four case studies, the implementation environments of children's right to participation presented by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) are taken as reference. In this context, a case study was created for each participation environment by using participation in family environment, participation in school environment, participation in local services, environmental protection, and participation in sustainable development. Options for participation preferences are designed based on the rungs of Hart's Ladder of Participation. The reasons for the participation preference of the participants were taken with open-ended questions. The interview technique was used in the data collection process of the research, and the interviews were carried out in one-on-one face-to-face and virtual sessions. The data obtained in the research were analyzed with descriptive and content analysis techniques. In the first stage, a descriptive analysis was made regarding the participation preferences of the participants in the case studies. In the descriptive analysis, the participation environments included in the sub-problems of the research formed the themes of the research. In the analysis, classification was made according to the steps of Hart's ladder, and the data were examined in the step classifications of "Decisions without Participation (DWP), Adult-Initiated Decisions (AID) and Child-Initiated Decisions (CID)". In the second stage, the reasons for the participation preferences of the participants were analyzed through content analysis. In the content analysis made on the data collected under the themes of the research, sub-themes for the step classifications were reached. Sub-themes were supported with quotations from student statements. According to the results of the research, it was seen that the awareness of the 4th-grade primary school students in LSS and HSS about the child's right to participation in family, school, local services, and environmental protection and sustainable development was at the level classification of the AID according to the classification made by the researcher according to Hart's Ladder. In all participation environments discussed in the research, only the participation of the child in the family environment, the students in HSS preferred participation in the CID step classification. The general results of the research show that children adopt the decision-making processes initiated by adults and jointly taken with children in participation in decisions. As another result of the research, regardless of the socioeconomic status (SES), the most advocated reason for participation in the family, school and local services by the students is the importance of joint decision-making by the child and the adult; In the protection of the environment and participation in sustainable development, it has been important for adults to initiate decisions.