Using the idea of ‘wicked problems’ to discussed Children’s Rights Education (CRE) can be useful to better understand the complex challenges it poses for practitioners as well as policy-makers. Re-framing CRE as a wicked problem allows raising significant questions about the scope, possibilities and limitations of education in the promotion and protection of children’s rights while acknowledging in full its complexity.

But what is a wicked problem and how it can benefit the discussion of impact in CRE?

• A problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognise (UNHCR Innovation, 2015)
• A wicked problem has no definite formulation, there are no clear solutions and there is no ultimate test for the solutions proposes, it has multiple explanations and causes (Peters, 2017

CRE programmes and initiatives are often framed and assessed in terms of outcomes, that is in measurable changes that show children have a better understanding and appreciation of their rights. These outcomes for CRE, despite seeking a holistic goal, are often presented as fragmented in three main dimensions: knowledge, skills and attitudes. The result is a long-list of changes to pursue (outcomes) from raising awareness or fostering understanding to developing skills, promoting attitudes, and so on. The World Programme for Human Rights Education, for instance, demonstrates this approach to rights education the places significant emphasis on the outcomes rather. Even though these outcomes are necessary as evidence to assess the success of CRE, they present a concrete but limited view not allowing us to “see the forest for the trees”. If we focus on impact rather than outcomes, we can shift the focus in rights education policies and programmes by looking at the long-lasting transformations and broader effects rather than the pre-defined goals established.

The impact of CRE as this long-term transformation with broader effects must focus on two strategic areas: legal literacy and political agency among children. Thus, it is not only about children knowing their rights but equip them with the knowledge and skills to recognise when their rights are not respected and foster children’s capacity to act and do something when this happens. So how can the idea of a ‘wicked problem’ help us to work towards this kind of impact in CRE? Well, the characteristics of a ‘wicked problem’ allow us to analyse in an open-ended manner the causes, dynamics and solutions usually proposed in CRE.

Multiple causes that hinder the impact of CRE

As discussed, the fragmentation into outputs of CRE, that is knowledge, skills and attitudes, does not favours a global and holistic view of its impact; however, this is by far the only obstacle. The complexity of the teaching and learning processes encompassed in CRE affect the impact of CRE in programmes, initiatives and interventions. Unlike other disciplines and fields that have a significant body of literature on how best to teach or what it takes to learn specific topics, there is still a lack of pedagogical content knowledge specific to CRE. Another cause relates to the lack of structures and spaces for teaching and learning rights within formal education. From schools policies to curriculum and textbooks, schools have not planned for designated spaces in which children can learn about their own rights and critically reflect on how these rights might not be effectively protected in their everyday lives.

The internal dynamics of CRE create obstacles for its impact

One of the characteristics of a ‘wicked problem’ is the complex internal dynamics linked t resistance to its resolution but also in the fact that those causing the problem are also the ones responsible for its solution. In the case of CRE, these internal dynamics are strongly related to the role of adults in CRE and power dynamics. The resistance to the resolution more often than not comes from adults and is demonstrated through a mistrust towards children’s empowerment or political participation as a result of rights education. Adultcentrism is an important challenge within CRE, especially when adults are the ones developing of policies and programmes on CRE with little or no input of children.

There is not a single solution for a wicked problem

The key feature of a ‘wicked problem’ is precisely the lack of a definitive and single solution. Rather than commiserating with the complexity or its lack of solutions, we can use this lack of certainty to raise new questions about CRE and rethink its impact in a broader sense. Thus, I suggest some starting points not as definitive solutions to this wicked problem or as definite answers to the questions raised so far about the impact of rights education but as catalysts to think about future directions for CRE:

• More spaces and structures for teaching and learning about rights are needed not only in schools and classrooms but also in the communities. Teachers have a particularly important role in creating those spaces and structures (or adapting existing ones) but to do so, they need more support and specialised training on children’s rights.
• A starting point to the problem of impact would be to recognise that teachers’ knowledge of the UNCRC is key so it is necessary to incorporate children’s rights into initial and in-service teacher education programmes. This incorporation cannot be superficial, but rather recognise that children’s rights must become a guiding principle for teacher’s professional practice.
• CRE policies, programmes and pedagogy need to not only acknowledge but build upon children’s experiences within and beyond schools to be meaningful. Thus, children must be involved in the design, implementation and assessment of these policies and programmes and have a say in the pedagogies that work best for them to learn about their rights.
• Educational researchers need to work on developing more evidence on the pedagogical content knowledge specific to CRE and look into different participatory models of education that materialise children’s rights within and beyond the school system. Without rigorous research in the field, the impact on CRE will be arbitrary rather than deliberate and based on evidence of what actually works.