ABSTRACT
This chapter acknowledges what young people themselves have to say and refl ects two principles: a belief in children’s rights (including the right to be heard and to participate) and a belief in children’s competence. It builds on the work of Wood (2005: 65) who maintains that young children have much to offer as ‘expert informers and witnesses’ and Rudduck and Flutter (2000) who have worked extensively with secondary pupils to understand their experiences of home and school. Gidley and Inayatullah (2002), writing about Australian youth aged 15-25, also argue the need to engage young people in dialogue about matters of crucial importance to them, i.e. the future of the local and global community.
