This module aims to provide students with an understanding of the key frameworks which inform the relationship between children’s rights and the law, as well as their application to a number of real-world scenarios. It provides students with the knowledge and skills to take a critical approach to children’s rights in a range of contexts and to apply key legal, theoretical and methodological skills. The module also aims to promote research-informed teaching at Masters level within the School, offering an opportunity for students to benefit directly from the work of the European Children’s Rights Unit.

(LO1) Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of key frameworks which inform the relationship between law and children’s rights.

(LO2) Students will be able to demonstrate a critical understanding of children’s rights issues in a number of practical contexts.

(LO3) Students will be able to engage critically with children’s rights issues using appropriate legal, theoretical and methodological tools.

(LO4) Students will be able to identify and critique novel areas of interest from a children’s rights perspective, and evaluate and critique these.

(LO5) Students will be able to apply advanced research skills to children’s rights issues.

(LO6) Students will be able to communicate ideas about children’s rights issues using reasoned argumentation, appropriately supported by legal authority and/or published research.

(S1) Communication, both oral and written.
Students will be expected to participate in seminars and communicate ideas around complex children’s rights issues to both the module staff and their peers. The assessment requires students to write an advanced essay on a question relating to children’s rights, demonstrating an ability to use sustained legal argumentation.

(S2) Academic writing.
Students will be expected to produce a piece of coursework relating to children’s rights. They will supported in developing this skill by reading and critiquing academic commentary and by working on their own coursework.

(S3) Research skills.
Students will be expected to carry out reading in advance of each seminar, developing their ability to identify and assimilate a range of materials and use them to formulate ideas and arguments. They will be expected to use these skills to carry-out advanced independent research to complete their final assessment.

(S4) Improve own learning, performance and reflective practice.
Students will be set reading and questions in advance of each seminar. They will contribute to discussion during the seminar and receive feedback from module staff and their peers in relation to their understanding and ideas. This will allow them to look back on their own learning process, deepen their understanding and refine their skills going forward.

The module will be taught in two parts. Part I will establish the key frameworks around children’s rights and the law which will give students an overview of the central legal, theoretical and methodological challenges in the area. We will focus, in particular, on The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989, the globally accepted document setting out children’s rights standards worldwide and the most ratified rights treaty in existence. We will explore its central ideas and challenges in its implementation. We will also look at key theoretical approaches to children’s rights, as well as exploring some of the challenges around carrying research into children’s rights. These frameworks will then be explored via a series of case-studies, in Part II, exploring specific children’s rights issues. These case-studies will change from year to year, but are likely to cover topics such as children’s rights in healthcare settings, chil dren’s rights and migration, children and the right to vote, tackling violence against children, children’s rights and poverty, children’s rights in education settings.

INDICATIVE SYLLABUS

PART I: Children’s Rights Frameworks
• Philosophical and legal foundations of children’s rights
• Key children’s rights instruments (principally, The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child)
• Implementation of children’s rights
• Theories of children’s rights
• Research relating to children’s rights – methods and challenges

PART II: Children’s Rights Case-Studies
• Case-study 1 e.g. children’s rights in healthcare settings
• Case-study 2 e.g. children’s rights and migration
• Case-study 3 e.g. children and the right to vote
• Case-study 4 e.g. ta ckling violence against children

Teaching Method 1: Seminars

Scheduled Directed Student Hours: 20 hours (10 x 2 hours)

Description: Reading and questions will be set in advance of each seminar. Students will be expected to complete the preparation on a weekly basis and come to the seminars fully prepared to engage in discussion.

Attendance Recorded: Yes

Unscheduled Directed Student Hours: 180