ABSTRACT
Theorisations of children and young people’s1 participation in collective decision making have been largely inward looking in recent decades. Typologies – such as Hart’s ladder (1992), Treseder’s subsequent circle (1997) and Shier’s step-wise progression (2001) – have been immensely useful to challenge policy and practice, as they have been powerful tools to highlight the lack of children’s participation and to advocate for change. And there has been substantial change: participation activities involving children and young people have blossomed over recent years, in the UK and also internationally (see, for example, special issues of Children, Youth and Environments (2006, 2007 and 2008); Tisdall et al. 2006; Hinton 2008). With this growth, it has become apparent that the typologies are insufficient to address current tensions in children and young people’s participation and assist in moving such participation forward. It is time for theorisations of children and young people’s participation to look more widely.
