20 November is International Children's Rights Day, which marks 35 years since the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted. What role does the Convention play in the "Seen & Heard"project?

Our research and publicity project "Seen & Heard" is a collaboration between the University of Malta, the University of Wroclaw, the HU and Amnesty International Poland, funded by Erasmus+. It focuses on the right of young people to freedom of expression and participation in Europe, as enshrined in the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The question is how caring, intergenerational and human rights-based coexistence can be imagined and realised in post-migrant societies.

To find out how 10- to 14-year-olds experience the Convention on the Rights of the Child, you visited schools in Berlin.

Exactly. Together with a research team that I lead at the HU, we conducted online surveys and literature workshops in 5^thand 6^th grade primary school in Berlin. We were able to analyse the survey data from 59 students. 131 primary school students took part in literature workshops. At the same time, students were surveyed on a similar scale with the same questions in Wroclaw and Malta.

Encouraging people to express their own opinions

What were the main questions asked in the survey?

An important question was where the students learn about new stories. Films (87.1%) were mentioned most frequently, followed by social media (72.6%) and books (66.1%). When asked in which media the students had already become aware of the specific topics, social media was mentioned most frequently with regard to "climate crisis and environmental destruction" or "military conflicts", followed by films and books.

Which topics play a role for the students?

When it comes to the importance of various topics, it is clear that the students view different topics in a much differentiated way. Encouraging people to express their own opinions is often seen as particularly important. Most students have often or sometimes stood up for something important, e.g. against bullying, racism and discrimination for climate and environmental protection or have taken part in demonstrations against the AfD or armed conflicts. I found it interesting that especially students who want to get actively involved in things consider a differentiated portrayal of people in the media and encouragement to express their own opinions to be more important than students who don't want to get actively involved in something.

If you refer to the project title: Do young people feel "seen and heard"?

In the online survey, only two children answered "no" to the question of whether adults listen to the children, but only 25 children answered the question with a clear "yes".

Collaboration with artists in three countries

Can the students taking part in the project also become active themselves?

Yes, the project also aims to empower young people to use their right to freedom of expression in a creative way. Twelve students from 6^th grade at a primary school in Berlin came together as part of a mentoring programme. They worked together with partners from the fields of art, theatre, literature and film education on topics that relating to human and children's rights. In Berlin, with the Grips Theatre, the Hamburger Bahnhof - Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart and the support of Uli Decker, Fabian Schrader, Tanasgol Sabbagh and Zoltan Kunckel, the students used different aesthetic approaches to explore, test and express their needs, wishes, hopes and criticism. This was the basis for the production of a film.

What was the collaboration between the students and the other countries like?

The films made in Berlin, Malta and Wroclaw will be published on the project website at the beginning of 2025. The implementation of the mentoring programme was documented at all participating schools by filmmaker Charlie Cauchi from Malta. A documentary series will be produced from the recordings. In addition, under the direction of Amnesty International Poland, the author Sita Brahmachari will curate a community poem based on the students' drawings and texts. They will be published in form of a children's book with illustrations by Amnesty UK Ambassador Chris Riddell.

What else are you planning?

We are still comparing the research results between Malta, Wroclaw and Berlin. In 2026, we are planning the conference "Young People's Voices and Freedom of Expression" in Malta. The event should reflect the academic diversity on the topic and include studies from different research and practice areas, academic methods and international concepts.

Literature as a window and mirror of the world

You work at the HU in the field of German teaching and didactics at primary school level. Do you have any tips for prospective teachers on how they can encourage young people to form and express their opinions?

As an "observation system of society", literature offers opportunities to engage with the world and relate it to oneself. I therefore strongly recommend utilising this potential to address the important issues that concern us as human beings with students. The good thing about this is that by talking about and discussing literature and its media, you can adopt different positions, express feelings, wishes, hopes and needs, explain your point of view - and try to voice your own opinion.

My second tip would be: Dear prospective teachers, leave the classroom as often as possible! We have great cultural institutions here in Berlin and a unique creative scene that makes this possible in so many different ways. Together with actors from Berlin's cultural landscape, you can use sound experience, tried-and-tested methods and aesthetic approaches to form and express your own opinion. Which artistic formats allow me to communicate my thoughts and feelings to the outside world in a respectful way, to work together with others in a diversity-sensitive manner and at the same time to criticise things that endanger democratic coexistence and stand in the way of inclusion? I can experience this very well in educational alliances with (inter)national, university, school and cultural partners and at the same time jointly strengthen the relevant children's rights and promote the participation of all students in education.

About the project

"Seen & Heard: Young People's Voices and Freedom of Expression" is a freedom of expression project focussing on young people in Europe. At the heart of the project is the co-production of creative protest and the mobilisation of the human right to freedom of expression with young people taking action as artists and producers. They will be supported by scientists, educators, artists, activists, publishers and political decision-makers. The project is funded by the European Union as part of the Erasmus+ HED Cooperation Partnership Project (2023-2026). "Seen & Heard" is a collaboration between the University of Malta (project leader), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, University of Wroclaw and Amnesty International Poland.

Website of the "Seen & Heard" project

Contact

Dr Farriba Schulz
Institute for Educational Sciences at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Phone: 030 2093-66886
farriba.schulz@hu-berlin.de