Participatory Education Research: An Exploration of Ways to Enhance Children’s Rights Through Ensuring Respect For All Cultures And Religions

Authors : Eshantha Ariyadasa

Pages : 34-50

Doi:10.17275/per.15.spi.1.4

View : 23 | Download : 7

Publication Date : 2015-11-30

Article Type : Research

Abstract :In the global context, we cannot talk about orphanages in isolation without talking about their cultural backgrounds and religious affiliations. Orphanages and religious institutions are so closely related to each other in every context. This paper is based on participatory action research (PAR) which involved policy makers and service providers to explore ways to enhance children’s rights through ensuring respect for all religions.  The historical perspectives and the social, economic and environmental issues have caused many children to become orphaned / abandoned / destitute and they rely on care provided in children’s homes. In many cases these homes have taken no account of their cultural backgrounds or their religious affiliations. As a result, many children’s homes host and facilitate care for children of different faiths and diverse cultures within the same institution. Thus, it is inevitable that this complex and multifaceted array of orphanage environment raises many governance issues in terms of different religious perspectives. It is this background that has stressed the necessity of PAR on multiculturalism to address these governance issues in children’s homes. This would involve responding properly to governance issues, which have sustained inconsistencies regarding religious beliefs in terms of children’s rights and their spiritual needs. The paper introduces the capabilities approach in relation to the way in which religious traditions need to foster and protect the human rights of children. 
Keywords : Orphanages, participatory action research, children’s rights, children’s homes, multiculturalism, capabilities approach