PREVIEW

Resource Sheet 1: Models of Children’s Participation

August 1, 2004
Organization: Save the Children

This sheet highlights two models of children’s participation: Hart’s Ladder of Participation and Reddy and Ratna’s ‘Scenarios of Adult-Children Engagement’. Hart’s (1992) model offers eight levels of youth engagement ranging from (1) manipulation to (8) youth-initiated/shared decisions with adults. Reddy and Ratna describe thirteen scenarios ranging from (1) active resistance to child participation to (13) jointly-initiated and directed by children and adults. The authors suggest that programs should seek to move toward higher levels of engagement with children. These models are useful to consider during program design and evaluation.