CSI professor writes book with student contributions
February 7, 2018
Prof. Sam Frankel, part-time professor of Childhood and Social Institutions, recently published “Giving Children a Voice: A Step-by-Step Guide to Promoting Child-Centred Practice.”
This book was inspired and shaped by King’s students through the creative ways in which they engaged with advocacy courses in CSI. Two King’s alumni, Lindsay Izsak ’15 and Nadine Ivankovic ’15, got involved right at the start of this project, while they were students, and wrote a number of case studies that appear in the book. Together with Prof. Frankel, they explored how to widely communicate ideas developed by students during classes at King’s. “Giving Children a Voice” also contains a number of other contributions from King’s students that were part of classroom discussions.
“Giving Children a voice” promotes the potential for children to advocate for themselves. Through the use of five simple steps, the book demonstrates how to create an environment in which the authentic voice and opinions of the child are heard.
“I hope that this book will give more people the confidence to create opportunities that allow children's voices to be heard, so that together we can more effectively shape our communities for the better,” says Prof. Frankel.
The new book has been well-received by Professor Frankel’s colleagues. “This book presents clear and useful steps to engaging with children in a meaningful way. With a wide range of examples from policy, practice, and theory, Sam Frankel highlights the need to recognize the value of children's voices. The book will be an invaluable resource to anyone who is working towards effectively advocating with and not for children,” says Dr. Sally McNamee, Associate Professor at King’s University College and Co-ordinator of the the CSI program.
Prof. Frankel spent two years as a visiting professor at King’s and continues to teaches online courses in child advocacy. He is an honorary fellow of the University of Sheffield and lives in the the UK.
Learn more about studying Childhood and Social Institutions at King’s.