Children's Voices Project

In 2019, the NSW/ACT Inclusion Agency embarked on a journey to capture the voices of children around the themes of inclusion, diversity and fairness.

The aim of this project is to highlight children’s knowledge, feelings and perspectives on these themes and how this can inform educators’ reflection and planning both in their everyday work with children and when addressing broader issues of social justice and equity. We also wanted to utilise the voices of children to guide our work in supporting educators to be inclusive of all children.

Giving a voice to children, actively listening and acting on that voice is a skill that educators can cultivate and a process that we can plan for. It is our hope that this project and resources will inspire you to develop processes for engaging with children’s voices in meaningful and authentic ways within the context of your service and community. Under the ‘Informing your practice’ sections of the resource below, you will find information to facilitate discussion and reflection.

How do children’s voices relate to inclusion?

Everything a child says and does communicates their thinking and needs and should inform all aspects of our work from policy and philosophy through to the program and practices we use. Inclusion is about meeting all children’s needs as well as celebrating diversity. Educators need to be attuned to children’s verbal and non-verbal communication, to hear and respect their voice.

Listening to children’s voices to inform inclusive practice

Giving a voice to children, actively listening and acting on that voice is a skill that educators can cultivate and a process that you can plan for. We hope that the children’s responses we share will inspire you to actively listen to children’s voices, allowing children to guide your reflections and planning.

The Children’s Voices project has prompted us to consider these questions:

• What is each child telling us about what they think, know, understand, and feel about the world around them and the issues that affect them?
• How can we show children that their voice is heard and valued?
• How can our practice be influenced by listening to the voices of children?