Children’s participation in early childhood education curricula: a comparative analysis of Türkiye and Ireland

Children’s participation is widely recognised as a fundamental right within international human rights frameworks, particularly through Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). However, how participation is conceptualised within early childhood education (ECE) curriculum frameworks varies across national contexts. This study examines how children’s participation is conceptualised within the national early childhood education curriculum frameworks of Türkiye and Ireland using Lundy’s Model of Participation as an analytical lens. Lundy’s model conceptualises participation through four interrelated dimensions: Space, Voice, Audience, and Influence. Using qualitative document analysis, the study explores how participation is represented within the pedagogical orientations and structural architecture of the two curriculum frameworks. The findings indicate that although both curricula recognise children’s participation, they differ in how participation is conceptualised across the four dimensions of Lundy’s model. Ireland’s curriculum positions children’s agency as a foundational principle of curriculum design, whereas Türkiye’s curriculum situates participation primarily within a broader developmental and competency-oriented educational framework. Consequently, participation in the Irish curriculum is more closely associated with relational pedagogy and children’s lived experiences, whereas the Turkish curriculum more frequently integrates participation into structured educational activities that support developmental goals.