Listening to children’s communication: Partnership for the goals (SDG17)

Communication is central to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and many have advocated for SDG 18: Communication for All. Children's voices can be marginalised when communities seek solutions to the five principles (5Ps) that underpin the SDGs: “people, planet, prosperity, peace, partnership”. However, children provide unique and often compelling insights when they are afforded their human right to "seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers..." (Art. 13, CRC, United Nations, 1989).

This presentation will outline two research initiatives where Australian researchers have partnered with young children learn about how to listen to children to create solutions for the world. The interdisciplinary research team were located in rural Australia and included speech pathologists, educators and psychologists. The team established arts-based methods that enabled adults to listen to young children respectfully; particularly children who are marginalised geographically, linguistically, economically, educationally, and because of disability.

1. Children Draw Talking (SDG 4: Quality Education)

In the Children Draw Talking study, 200 children from 24 countries aged 2–12 years responded to the prompt “draw yourself talking” and submitted their drawing and explanation to the Children Draw Talking Global Online Gallery (https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2022/children-draw-talking-gallery-1-the-world/). These children demonstrated through their drawings that they feel happy when they talk to friends, family, animals, and teachers. They like to use greetings and talk about toys, animals, friends, and family. Many like to use their imaginations to consider how the world can be different. The 200 children’s insights were interpreted by a children’s advisory panel and were submitted to United Nations’ the call for input into the Human Rights 75 Youth Declaration (https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/youth/hr75/submissions/subm-views-youth-led-cso-early-childhood-interdisciplinary-resear.pdf).

2. Sound Effects Study (SDG 3: Good Health; SDG 10: Reducing Inequalities)

In the Sound Effects Study, researchers listened to 124 Australian children aged 4–5 years whose parents and teachers were concerned about their talking, and who were clinically assessed as having a speech sound disorder (SSD). Children were invited to “draw yourself talking to someone” using the Sound Effects Study Drawing Protocol. They portrayed talking and listening as an action requiring mouths and ears and talking was represented by symbols (letters, speech bubbles) or as an activity with a variety of people. Children typically portrayed themselves as happy when talking; however, some portrayed negativity and isolation when “they don’t let me play” and some chose not to draw talking. Some children emphasised the need for large “listening ears”.

Young children can partner with adults to provide solutions for the SDGs, particularly if we collaborate using child-centered methods.