Welcome to the 7th issue of the Learning for Well-being (L4WB) Magazine. This issue represents a slight departure from previous issues of the L4WB Magazine. We structured this issue around the theme, Partnering Across Generations, and invited authors to address one of the principles of L4WB, specifically in relation to ACT2gether, a new initiative stewarded by the L4WB Foundation. The featured texts represent viewpoints anchored in the personal experiences of each of the authors.

 

This editorial provides an orientation to Partnering Across Generations, describing four different views on this theme and how these can be integrated by the ACT2gether initiative. We propose the L4WB principles, represented by the viewpoints in this issue, as a meaningful and practical framework. In doing so, we acknowledge the role of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) as foundational and make a case for balancing a rights-based approach with one that emphasizes well-being and human development, offering a process-oriented way to remember our humanity. Within the L4WB principles, we highlight the first three principles as critical for allowing the inner life of children and adults to manifest through intergenerational partnerships. Lastly, we touch on cultivating core capacities as a means through which we animate these partnerships.

We conclude with an invitation to renegotiate the ways you personally relate with younger and older generations by participating in the ACT2gether movement.

 

We are dedicating this issue to Jean Gordon, co-editor of the magazine, who died in October 2018. Jean was passionate about societal change through inclusive partnerships and was instrumental in shaping and enlivening ACT2gether. She was a friend and colleague to all the authors of this issue, who have each included a brief statement about Jean at the end of their viewpoints.

 

1.  Why intergenerational partnerships?

 

Since its beginnings, the Learning for Well-being Foundation[1] has advocated for a shift in paradigm where children are seen and treated as agents of change, rather than objects of care.[2] It seemed evident to us that human systems designed to serve children could only be fair and sustainable by taking their perspective into consideration. Our practice of involving children in reflection and decision-making processes evolved our thinking and led us to three important realizations:

 

• The quality of relationships can trump structural opportunities for children’s participation. Even when policies and infrastructures are in place, the quality of relationships between generations can ‘make or break’ children’s experience of engagement and having an opportunity to participate as their authentic selves.[3]

• Focusing on the participation of children requires reflecting on the role and practice of adults who interact with them. On the continuum of consulting with children to totally child-led activities, there are always adults who support, engage with or confront children’s actions. In our experience, adults need preparation to engage in these activities, as much as children do.

• Children’s perspectives can enrich virtually all areas of life. Children can contribute to creating environments that are directly designed to support them (school, family, healthcare) but also those that impact them indirectly (business, environment). We have often been surprised by what interests and concerns children, and the level of insight they can offer.

 

[1] At the time Universal Education Foundation.

[2] Ilona Kickbusch and Jean Gordon (2012), Learning for Well-being: ‘A Policy Priority for Children and Youth in Europe. A process for change, with the collaboration of Linda O ’Toole’, drafted on behalf of the Learning for Well-being Consortium of Foundations in Europe, (published by Universal Education Foundation).

[3] Lundy, L., McEvoy, L., & Byrne, B. (2011). Working with young children as co-researchers: An approach informed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Early education & development, 22(5), 714-736.

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These insights encouraged us to start looking at children’s participation from the perspective of a partnership across generations. Addressing children’s participation acknowledges that the norm is for children to be excluded from offering opinions and being involved in decision-making. In the same sense, addressing intergenerational partnership acknowledges that children and adults can be competent partners in addressing the challenges that face them, together. We want both children’s participation and partnering across generations to become the norm.

 

2.  Four views on partnering between children and adults

 

We are witnessing the emergence of interest and support for co-creative initiatives involving children and young people in policymaking and service provision. Drawing inspiration from the four perspectives in the Learning for Well-being framework [see Viewpoint 1 for a fuller discussion of the four perspectives], we identify four ways that collaboration between generations has been promoted. These approaches have been developed by different groups of academics, practitioners, and policymakers who have advocated for the involvement of children in decision-making from their particular standpoint. They formed pockets of good practice worldwide, that do not always see themselves as sharing a common ground, and at times compete for attention or resources.

 

The head argument – a matter of rights

We think of this as a ‘head’ oriented argument because it defines structures and laws that support the entitlement for children. Several social constructions of children see them as ‘people in the making’ or ‘property of adults’, instead of as individuals in their own right, entitled to dignity and to participate in decisions that affect them. This vision of children is translated in many behavioural and structural conditions – like voting age. Almost a third of the world's population are children aged between 0 and 18. Despite having nearly 50% of people living in democratic countries, participation is assumed to happen ‘automatically’ at age 18 or 21. We firmly believe this situation leads to children’s disengagement from their role as citizens and a loss of faith in democratic processes. It is therefore a matter of rights, because children are entitled to be heard and taken seriously. Probably the most important marker of the widespread recognition for children as victims of social injustice is the development of the UNCRC, a comprehensive body of work, with a holistic and systemic view of children’s lives, and the factors affecting them. [See Viewpoint 5 for a discussion of shifting views on participation.]

 

The heart argument – a matter of well-being

The ‘heart’ is associated with how we feel about ourselves and the world around us. A recent study of over 60,000 children in 18 countries confirmed a high correlation between positive relationships and subjective well-being. A report from the International Society for Child Indicators (ISCI) gathering in 2019[4] calls for children’s involvement in any research on their lives, stating:

 

Studies of children’s well-being have seldom included children’s participation, particularly in comparison with similar research on adults’ well-being (Huebner, 2004). Indeed, researchers are only starting to listen to children, discover their opinions and evaluations and recognize that the children’s points of view may be different from those of adults. …[...] including children and their own perspectives in research on their well-being is an obligation. 

 

[4] Kutsar, Dagmar & Raid, Kadri. (2019). Children’s Subjective Well-Being in Local and International Perspectives. Retrieved from website.

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We suggest that many problems of children's mental health result from feeling isolated and not being heard by adults. Partnership is therefore a matter of well-being, and a way for both children and adults to create good relationships with others that help them flourish and contribute positively. [See Viewpoint 4 for the critical role of authentic relationships in determining well-being.]

 

The hand argument – a matter of sustainability

The ‘hand’ relates to what we offer as services, and what is available as resources. Education, economic, health and social welfare systems are failing those they aim to serve. Of all stakeholders, children (in spite of being almost a third of the world population) are the least taken into consideration in systems design and reform. Often this results in services that are inefficient, unsustainable, and unfair. Children and young people are raising awareness of these challenges and rallying others to stand with them. Some examples are Malala (Pakistan) for the right of women to education, the Parkland Secondary School students (USA) for the right to safety, and Greta Thunberg (Sweden) for the right to a sustainable future.

 

As suggested by the New Economics Foundation, co-production of services suggests doing things ‘with children,’ rather than doing them ‘to’ or ‘for children’. This approach goes beyond consultation, providing children and young people with the opportunity to ‘be the change’. To achieve this, it focuses on children as part of their own solution.[5]

 

[5] New Economic Foundation, & Action for Children. (2006). A guide to co-producing children’s services. In Backing the Future (Vol. 1). Retrieved from website.

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Designing unsustainable systems leads to increased poverty, illness and conflict. Partnering across generations offers the hope of systemic and sustainable outcomes for children, for their peers, and for their families. [Viewpoint 6 describes some paths for improving systems through human connections and bottom-up interventions; Viewpoint 7 offers an example of a co-produced assessment system.]

 

The spirit argument – a matter of wholeness

The idea of ‘spirit’ evokes what connects us with something larger than ourselves. The ways we have constructed our ideas of childhood and adulthood may limit our ability to see ourselves and to be whole human beings. For example: seeing children as victims, makes us see adults as protectors – both are limiting. Another critical reminder is that children and adults are not monolithic groups. [Consider Viewpoint 3 on patterns of individual differences that continue from childhood to adulthood.] By narrowing how we conceive of generational differences, we have created fragmentation: ascribing certain qualities to childhood (spontaneity, playfulness, curiosity) and others to adulthood (responsibility, stability, commitment) – qualities which are often seen as opposite polarities.

 

The consequence of fragmentation is not allowing ourselves the full expression of our potential at any age. This might be reinforced by what is expected from peers, and what qualities are rewarded (or sanctioned) in our societies. This fragmentation can be the cause of losing connection with others and with our deeper sense of purpose. Suppressing what might be perceived as ‘childish characteristics’ leads to the loss of the creativity, entrepreneurship and resilience necessary to address individual and societal problems. Creating spaces for partnership between children and adults is a matter of wholeness, allowing both to experience more freedom to be their unique selves, and develop a fuller range of human qualities accessible to any age. Children can be serious, and adults can be playful.