Participatory Education Research: An Exploration of Ways to Enhance Children’s Rights Through Ensuring Respect For All Cultures And Religions

Year 2015, Special Issue 2015 I, 34 - 50, 30.11.2015

Eshantha Ariyadasa

https://doi.org/10.17275/per.15.spi.1.4

Abstract

In
the global context, we cannot talk about orphanages in isolation without
talking about their cultural backgrounds and religious affiliations. Orphanages
and religious institutions are so closely related to each other in every
context. This paper is based on participatory action research (PAR) which
involved policy makers and service providers to explore ways to enhance
children’s rights through ensuring respect for all religions.  The historical perspectives and the social,
economic and environmental issues have caused many children to become orphaned
/ abandoned / destitute and they rely on care provided in children’s homes. In
many cases these homes have taken no account of their cultural backgrounds or
their religious affiliations. As a result, many children’s homes host and
facilitate care for children of different faiths and diverse cultures within
the same institution. Thus, it is inevitable that this complex and multifaceted
array of orphanage environment raises many governance issues in terms of different
religious perspectives. It is this background that has stressed the necessity
of PAR on multiculturalism to address these governance issues in children’s
homes. This would involve responding properly to governance issues, which have
sustained inconsistencies regarding religious beliefs in terms of children’s
rights and their spiritual needs. The paper introduces the capabilities
approach in relation to the way in which religious traditions need to foster
and protect the human rights of children. 

Keywords

Orphanages, participatory action research, children’s rights, children’s homes, multiculturalism, capabilities approach

Thanks

This research is funded by the Australian Government’s Endeavour Scholarships and Fellowships. The structure, ideas and philosophies presented in this paper draw on research under the supervision of Associate Professor Janet McIntyre, Dr Helen McLaren and Dr Leonie Solomons. Insights and feedback offered by Dr Greg Collings and Mr. Bruce Tanton were invaluable. The author would like to acknowledge their contributions.

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