Participation - what do we mean?

The following definitions are used to describe the process of participation.  Although these activities are defined separately, they will overlap and merge.

Informed:
Providing clear and concise information is vital if we expect young people to be involved in consultation, involvement or decision making.

Consulted:
After a young person has been fully informed they are in a position to give their opinion.  Consultation is the process of obtaining this opinion or view.  “Consultation” is not participation or involvement – it is an essential ‘first step’.

Involved:
Young People’s involvement and active participation are closely related activities.  The involvement of a young person may be passive and amount to having a non-contributory presence at meetings – i.e. hearing the information presented, understanding the issues involved and approving other people’s decisions.

Actively Participating (or Partnership):
When involvement becomes increasingly active and when young people are asked to contribute to discussions and decision making on key issues, then they can be said to be active participants.

To achieve active participation with young people there are a set of beliefs that we need to embody and promote:

•Young people are the best authority on their own lives
•Participation needs to be viewed as a right
•Participation depends on respect and honesty
•Participation needs to be accessible and inclusive
•Participation should be viewed as a dialogue to influence change
•Participation should be built into our structures and systems
•Participation benefits everyone
•Participation is everyone’s responsibility

Roger Hart has described participation as;

“The process of sharing decisions which affect one’s own life and the life of the community in which one lives.  It is the means by which a democracy is built and it is a standard against which democracies should be measured.” Children’s participation; from tokenism to citizenship, (1997)

Harts ladder of participation is an attempt to illustrate the differing levels of participation and describes the process of decision making from a young person’s point of view

We think it is an important first step in understanding participation and the effects the decision making process can have on young people.