Where the right comes from
Children and young people have a right to take part in and influence how adults plan and run services for them in the areas where they live and learn; but how do you go about involving them, and what might you need to consider?
Six modules answer that question in order. The first settles what participation actually means, using the Ladder of Participation to separate real involvement from the appearance of it. The second sets out the legal position, including the UNCRC. The remaining four cover why to involve young people, the benefits and barriers, the methods open to you, and a closing pledge.
Produced by the Consultation Institute, with subtitles throughout. For the wider question of reaching people a standard consultation misses, Using Social Media in Consultation covers the online side.
Four topics, six modules
The law sits second, before the methods, because it decides what the rest has to satisfy.
The legal guidelines to be adhered to
What issues you may face in your engagement activity
Different ways you can engage with children and young people
Consultors reaching younger voices.
This course is aimed at consultors looking to broaden the reach of their consultations by engaging children and young people.
Six modules, fourteen chapters. Five of the six close with an assessment.
An introduction to the course, then the Ladder of Participation. Two chapters.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the legal guidelines that follow from it. Two chapters.
The case for involving young people, then the services, structures and forums through which they take part. Four chapters, the longest module.
What participation looks like in practice, and the barriers that keep young people out along with the bridges across them. Two chapters.
What tends to go wrong in practice, a set of methods to choose between, and examples of each in use. Three chapters.
A summary of the course, and a pledge you write setting out what you intend to change in your own practice. One chapter.
Planning & delivering a project for better participation
The same participation thinking applied to a whole project, with a trainer. View the course → Not sure what you need?Training Needs Diagnostic
Free, and it takes a few minutes. You get course recommendations based on your experience and your practice. Take the diagnostic →Making community engagement meaningful
Reaching the communities a standard consultation tends to miss. View the course → FoundationEL-105Using Social Media in Consultation
The online route to people who never answer a formal consultation. £140 → FoundationEL-107Creative Dialogue Methods
Four formats for getting a group talking, once you know who to invite. £140 →Common questions
Anything not covered here, ask us.
How long does the course take?
Approximately 70 minutes across six modules. It is self-paced, so you can stop and return, and your place is remembered. Subtitles are available throughout.What is the Ladder of Participation?
A way of ranking degrees of involvement, from token gestures at the bottom to genuine shared decisions at the top. It has a chapter to itself in module one, and it gives you a test to hold your own plans against.Does it cover the law?
Yes. Module two sets out what the UN Convention obliges you to do when a decision affects children, and it sits second because those duties decide what the methods later on have to satisfy. For the law of consultation more broadly, Law of Consultation covers the Gunning Principles in full.What is the pledge at the end?
A short written commitment made at the end of the final module. Nobody marks it. It exists so the course closes on a decision of your own.How do I pay?
You can pay by credit card when you book, or if you’d prefer to be invoiced, please just email us at contact@consultationinstitute.orgHow many CPD points does it carry?
Five tCI CPD points, logged against your record when you finish, along with a certificate of completion.The right to be heard, and what it asks of you
£140 for a single licence, five CPD points, and a certificate at the end.