Seen and Not Heard: The role of silence in young people's school experiences

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Traditional scholarship in education and children's rights has employed 'voice' as a defining term for the participation of students in school, but what students do not tell us is rarely examined; the unspoken and unspeakable are conspicuously absent in participation literature. My doctoral research examined how young people's uses and experiences of silence featured in their participation rights, and how investigating what is not said may illuminate an aspect of their participation rights not previously understood. This fellowship will build on my doctoral research to solidify my research presence and to secure the future reach of my research.The achievement of this aim will be through three objectives: publications, dissemination and networking, and securing future funding for further research. Through publication, this fellowship will address claims that the field of children's rights lacks a sufficiently cogent theoretical foundation by offering a new paradigm of silence for understanding children's participation rights. Through dissemination and networking, this fellowship will extend the reach of my research through presentations at European children's rights and education conferences. I will further build my research networks by organising and facilitating a workshop for education practitioners, and through a research visit to two different schools of education at universities in Australia where I will disseminate my research, and build networks for future collaboration. The third objective will secure the future reach of my research by securing funding for further examination of uses and experiences of silence by young people with disabilities and practitioners, and how these silences converge in the education and youth justice systems.