A Sociological Approach to the Rights of Children in Greek Primary Education

Abstract

The aim of this research paper is the investigation of the rights of children concerning education, as they are set out in the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), and as they are perceived by pupils through the pedagogical practices of their teachers in the primary schools. At the same time the degree of differentiation of the teachers’ pedagogical practices regarding the application of these rights is investigated. In order to carry out this research, in which pupils in year six of Greek primary schools participated, the tool of the semi-structured interview for the collection of research data was used. The main findings of this study revealed that two of the four rights of the children (the right to rest, leisure and play, and the right to freedom of expression and participation) were significantly restricted through the visible pedagogical practices that the teachers applied at the micro-level of the school classroom. In addition, the pedagogical practices applied, concerning the right to primary consideration of the pupils’ best interests and the right to equal treatment, tend towards the rules of an invisible pedagogy, which favours more the common processes of knowledge uptake amongst all the pupils.