Ugandan Teachers’ Training College People’s Perceptions of Children Rights to Participation. An Interview Study

Sammanfattning: This empirical study focuses on the SIDA-sponsored program The Child Rights, Classroom and School Management (CRCSM) –program, resting upon the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). This study has been concerned with the perceptions of the contents, implementation as well as the effect of the CRCSM-program in Nakaseke Primary Teachers’ College, Uganda. The research questions are stratified into different categories, where participants of the program are represented as one group, while managerial staff and teachers represent the second group and lastly the second year students are one group. A highlight in features for sustainability has also been included and investigated. The methodological approach has been qualitative and the study is based on nine semi-structured interviews. The theo-retical frame covers democratical method approach in school, organizational development and space of action. The results points to very similar perceptions and under-standings between two of the groups. Additionally, the results points to multiple beneficial effects with regards to organizational development, increased space of action and empowerment through a shift in approaches to the student and the role of the same. Nakaseke Primary Teachers’ College can now be seen as characterized by a democratical view that requires and allows the student to participate in the learning-process as well as daily affairs. Self-management has been a keyword; it has not only marked the role of the students, but also the new role of the teachers as a consequence of the CRCSM-program. Challenges for the sustainability of the CRCSM-program and its effect exists on societal, organizational and individual level which means that the CRCSM-program must overcome challenges in the sense of attitudes and norms with regards to the role of the child, challenges of balancing the guidelines of the government and the goals of the organization with the CRCSM-program that can be seen as initially problematic and time-consuming. Furthermore, the program requires a supportive environment in order for its implementation and sustainability to be successful. One can argue that the major challenge is that the schools in the field are not yet sensitized to the features of the CRCSM-program and therefore this could potentially serve as an end stop in the transition of promoting the best interest of the learner. Consequently, one conclusion of emphasis is therefore to place pressure on the field in order for the survival and continuation of the CRCSM-program and its features.