Voice of the Baby in Practice: Resources to Guide the Practical Application of The Voice of the Baby: A Reflective Guide for the Arts

Welcome to the Starcatchers Voice of the Baby In Practice Resource. This resource has been inspired by research that Starcatchers commissioned in response to increasing curiosity from across Arts, Health, Early Learning and Childcare and Voluntary sectors about how to consider the ‘voice’ of our youngest children in consultation and participation activities and our belief that the arts could be a wonderful tool to support this.

The research undertaken by Dr Rachel Drury from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Dr Cara Blaisdell from Queen Margaret University, and research assistant Claire Ruckert, resulted in the creation of the Starcatchers Voice of the Baby: A Reflective Guide for the Arts, which outlines five areas for consideration when using rights-based creative approaches with babies and very young children. The Voice of the Baby In Practice Resource sits alongside the Reflective Guide to help put this work into practice and we hope you will find these tools helpful in your work with babies, young children and their parents and carers.

Why is this needed? Babies and young children, those from birth – 3 years are a group who are consistently overlooked in terms of children’s rights. Their lack of verbal language, perceptions about their capabilities and their reliance on the adults makes it much harder for them to access their rights than older children and young people. What we do know, however, is that babies and young children use a myriad of ways to communicate with those around them, sharing their views and their experience of the world.

With the incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into domestic law in Scotland, it has never been more important for us to ensure that babies, those from birth– 3 years, are supported to have their rights realised. A key aspect is that this is not solely focused on the protection and provision rights within the UNCRC but also the participation rights that babies are entitled to. Being included and heard in decisions that are made about their lives is essential, but it is also complex. We know that professionals across sectors are seeking to engage with, and include the views of, babies and young children but that they need support and tools to do this effectively.

The Starcatchers Approach; Putting the needs and ‘voice’ of babies and young children has been at the heart of Starcatchers’ work since our pilot project in 2006. Since then, we have evolved our rights-based approach informed by the babies and young children we have connected with, and by our increased understanding of children’s rights. Where initially our focus was on Article 31 and realising the rights of babies and very young children to engage with and participate in the arts and cultural life, we know that the arts can be a vehicle for babies and very young children to experience the breadth and depth of the rights held within the UNCRC. This includes being able to express views and feelings about matters that affect them and that these views can be taken into account by decision-makers.

The Voice of the Baby Reflective Guide and the In Practice Resource is only a small step in the consideration of the ‘voice’ of babies and very young children in Scotland. It is, however, an exciting step towards enabling increased visibility of babies and their inclusion in discussions regarding their rights.