Harry Shier
@harryshier
Writer, researcher, facilitator, commentator on child rights, participation and play. Associate of CESESMA in Nicaragua. Based in Ireland. Retired/freelance
My presentation on protagonistic participation at the Corporación Opción book launch in Santiago, Chile on 07 August is now at www.harryshier.net/index-espano..., with a video on YouTube here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIWf... (in Spanish)
And here’s my chapter: “POWER AND EMPOWERMENT in participatory research with children and young people” from "The Ethics and Ethical Implications of Involving Children and Young People as Partners in Research…”: More info at www.harryshier.net.
Always great to see “Pathways to Participation” reaching into new territories. Here it has been used to explore how children are listened to, and their views given due weight, when they find themselves in a Swedish ambulance on the way to hospital. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Finalmente, unas palabras muy apropiadas del libertador de Chile, Bernardo O’Higgins —quien, como su nombre indica, tenía ascendencia irlandesa — que vi en la Embajada de Irlanda en Santiago.
Muchísimas gracias a la Dra. Mahia Saracostti de la Universidad de Chile por organizar todo esto y por ser una anfitriona tan maravillosa.
De vuelta en Santiago, me encuentro con un héroe de mis años de estudiante, Salvador Allende.
Presentación sobre prácticas de incidencia política por NNA a estudiantes del Colegio Coya de Machalí, en la Carretera del Cobre de Chile (www.colegiocoya.cl).
Observación de estudiantes iniciando su participación en el programa de NNA investigadores en la Escuela Canadá de Requínoa (sites.google.com/daemrequinoa...).
Una noche en Santiago con una leyenda chilena de los derechos participativos, Patricio Cuevas Parra.
Reunión con el equipo de la Defensoría de la Niñez (www.defensorianinez.cl) para conocer su nuevo marco de participación contextualizada.
Encuentro con docentes y niñas en la escuela Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna de Santiago, en colaboración con la Universidad de Chile en el proyecto de NNA investigadores. (Por cierto, se solicitó permiso a todos los NNA que aparecen en estas fotos, y sus profesores, para tomarlas y compartirlas).
Simposio con grupos de la sociedad civil que trabajan con NNA en Chile, coordinado por la red Pacto Niñez (xn--pactoniez-r6a.cl/pacto-ninez-...), organizado por la Fundación Colunga (www.fundacioncolunga.org).
De vuelta de mi viaje a Chile puedo ponerme al día. En Santiago, la primera parada fue con estudiantes de la Universidad de Chile para hablar sobre su proyecto innovador de investigación participativa con NNA, facilitada por mi anfitriona, Dra Mahia Saracostti (www.instagram.com/p/DWEq6ShFdwK/).
Next stop, of course, the Little Mermaid (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lit....
Second stop: Book launch event for “Building a Sustainable Society Through Child Participation” at Copenhagen University College. My foreword is on www.harryshier.net, and the whole book is open access for free download here: link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
Home from my travels. Didn’t get round to posting, but now a chance to catch up. First stop was my lecture at Lund University (www.sam.lu.se/en/calendar/...) “Participation, Crisis and Empowerment: Rethinking Children’s Agency at the Margins” On www.harryshier.net soon, or contact me for more info.
More extracts from the foreword to “Building a Sustainable Society Through Child Participation”. link.springer.com/book/10.1007.... Also at www.harryshier.net
Honoured to be invited to write the foreword for this new book link.springer.com/book/10.1007.... Also at www.harryshier.net Here are some extracts.
New CARN Bulletin just out at www.carn.org.uk/resources/ca.... It’s based on the proceedings of the Community Action Research Network's 2024 Malmö conference, and includes my keynote “PAR WITH CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE: TACKLING CHALLENGES AND ACHIEVING TRANSFORMATIONS”. Also at www.harryshier.net
Taking time off, and what better way to enjoy my 71st birthday than chilling with my lovely family on Halki Island in the sunny Agean Sea.
Passing by Muizenberg Beach, one of SA's top surfing spots, I was astonished to learn that Agatha Christie used to go surfing here in the 1920s. Not only an early champion of women's surfing but believed to be the first European woman to stand up on a surfboard www.agathachristie.com/en/news/2021...
I rarely post non-work-related stuff here, but just want to share these winter flowers seen on top of Table Mountain on Wednesday.
Browsing in the library here at Cape Peninsula University of Technology, it was nice to come across some good friends from the old days...
Inspiring workshop yesterday with pre-school and primary teachers in Cape Town, co-creating from the ground up a new South African framework for participation rights in early years care and education. No outputs to share yet, but things are moving and we hope to have interesting ideas to share soon.
Meet my wonderful hosts at CPUT: Head of Teacher Professional Development, Dr Zena Scholtz; Head of Foundation Phase, Dr Naseema Shaik; me; Dean of Education, Professor Andile Mji; Asst. Dean, Dr Martin Combrinck. Warmest thanks for your hospitality, and especially Dr Shaik for steering the project.
Greetings from sunny Cape Town. Here I am at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (www.cput.ac.za/academic/fac...), working on a collaborative project to develop a new South African framework for participation rights in early childhood education. #ChildParticipation #EducationRights
Children’s Advisory Team from the Museum of Childhood Ireland (@museumofchildhood.bsky.social) has a new blog post on the museum’s website about their meeting at the Office of the Children’s Ombudsman (www.oco.ie) in Dublin last week. museumofchildhood.ie/our-third-li... #ChildParticipation
Great to see Shier’s “Pathways to Participation” published in Hungarian for the first time. From Németh, B., & Miklósi, M. (2025). A gyermekrészvétel konceptuális modelljei. Socio.Hu Társadalomtudományi Szemle, 15(1), 31–54. doi.org/10.18030/soc...