EDUCATION – DENI Report: E-consultation with Pupils – Pilot Study 02/08 [NI]
The aim of this research was to pilot a range of methods for e-consultation with young people with a view to providing an evidence base for the development of an effective e-consultation strategy for the Department of Education and other educational policy makers.
Key Findings
Participation in e-consultation has the potential to provide genuine opportunities for children to engage with government on policy matters.
E-consultation, based on a children’s rights perspective, has the potential to mprovide children with a safe and inclusive space in which to form and express their own views and can convince children that their views will be taken seriously, thereby providing policy makers with an approach to consultation with young people which is compliant with Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
E-consultation with children is particularly effective when its design is informed by a children’s rights perspective and it involves children in allstages of the consultation process.
Participation in e-consultation has a number of educational benefits: skills development, particularly in the context of the ‘communication’ aspect of ICT; learning about citizenship issues such as aspects of the work of government; learning for citizenship by providing specific opportunities for pupils to take action on these issues by expressing their views directly to government.
The study demonstrates the potential for the use of e-consultation as an internal mechanism for schools to consult with pupils on a range of pastoral and curriculum issues.
The three e-consultation mechanisms piloted in the study (survey, chat room, storyboard) are each feasible in terms of design, maintenance and to some extent in terms of ease of analysis of data.
In terms of classroom use, the mechanisms are accessible to the majority of pupils with respect to age appropriateness and the literacy level and ICT skills required by the pupils to complete the activities.
All of the mechanisms offer potential to effectively engage children in consultation.
