The right to participation: Understandings and experiences of middle childhood children and their parents

The aim of this study is to try to understand the views and experiences of children, who are the main addressees of the issue, as well as parents, by considering understanding of childhood and child participation together. For this purpose qualitative research method was used and maximum variation sampling, one of the commonly used sampling format in this method, were reached to 28 children (14 girls, 14 boys) living in Manisa, whose ages range from 7 to 11, also 23 parents (18 mothers, 5 fathers). Direct observation and in-depth interviews were conducted after taking verbal and written approval from the participants. The interviews were recorded with a voice recorder to be transcribed and coded later. The transcribed recordings were transferred to the MAXQDA qualitative data analysis program and coded. Once the coding process was completed, categories and themes were extracted. The findings showed that there are many factors that determine child participation and these factors are interrelated. As a result of the interviews, it was determined that the perspective of the child in different socio-cultural and economic environments, the rights-based or hierarchical relationships established with the child, and the level of implementation of children's rights affect to children how they experience their childhood, child's thoughts about their own rights and whether they can exercise their rights. It was observed that children attributed more positive meanings to childhood, talked more about situations where there was participation at home and less about situations where there was participation at school and in the city. It was observed that parents saw children more as individuals and talked more about the situations in which they received children's opinions at home. It was concluded that children who were able to use the right to participation the most lived with parents who regarded the child as an individual, adopted democratic attitudes in child rearing, and had a high level of awareness about children's rights and especially the right to participation. Keywords: Child, childhood, middle childhood, right to participation, parent