Child and youth narratives of participation in Chile: an interpretative analysis of public Creative Listenings

This article examines how children and young people in Chile narrate and represent participation within a decade of Creative Listening sessions in the state-run CECREA programme. Analysing 234 public reports (2014–2023) with an interpretive, sociohistorical approach, we coded longitudinally across regions; visual artefacts were included only when they contained written content or symbols. Findings show participation as (1) expression and recognition – being heard, seen, and taken seriously; (2) inclusive belonging that counters dismissal and discrimination; and (3) present – future citizenship linking immediate agency to long-term social and environmental hopes. Children contest tokenistic, adult-centred logics and specify conditions that make voice consequential: reciprocity, trust, and responsiveness. We discuss implications for human rights education (HRE), arguing that programmes like CECREA enable learning about, through, and for rights by embedding creative, dialogic practices in public institutions. The study advances situated accounts of participation in Latin America and informs policy and pedagogy beyond schools.