What do we mean by the phrase ‘listening to the voice of the child’?
The phrase voice of the child is often used in educational settings, health and social work, to describe the valuing of children’s input and contribution to decisions, things that matter to them and outcomes. The voice of the child is more then listening to the spoken voice of children; listening is when we physically hear what others have to say. A quick google search of the dictionary definition of listening refers to listening as the tuning in and hearing sound or the act of paying attention to someone or something you can hear.
The phrase voice of the child is often used in educational settings, health and social work, to describe the valuing of children’s input and contribution to decisions, things that matter to them and outcomes. The voice of the child is more then listening to the spoken voice of children; listening is when we physically hear what others have to say. A quick google search of the dictionary definition of listening refers to listening as the tuning in and hearing sound or the act of paying attention to someone or something you can hear.
Maybe the term active listening would sit more comfortably with us as a term for fully embracing the voice of the child. As after all, active listening is making a conscious effort to really listen and understand what someone is trying to share with us. It goes beyond the act of just hearing, but implies that we are trying to look for the intent, the meaning, the clues – almost like a detective behind what they have said; to truly be present and understand. Through, healthy relationships that show concern and care, positive open-body language, by limiting our interruptions or opinions, but rather just listening and being open-ended in our responses as we engage with the children.
Although, active listening is a part of understanding the voice of the child. It is not the full picture of understanding and valuing the voice of the child. We connect with the voice of the child in a variety of ways through, spoken and non-spoken language, body language, behaviour, arts, play and many other ways. Perhaps, therefore it is important to acknowledge we hear the voice of the child in a multitude of ways; but also, it is probably beneficial to unpick what we actually mean by the voice of the child. What is it that we are actually tuning in to…?
The following definition of the voice of the child taken from the NSPCC (2024):
The term "voice of the child" refers to the real involvement of children in expressing their views, opinions, and experiences. It includes both verbal and nonverbal communication and goes beyond simply seeking their views to actively including them in decision-making processes.
Similarly, Gwent Safeguarding states:
The voice of the child refers not only to what children (including those who are preverbal and non-verbal) say directly but to their behaviour as a whole. Facilitating the child’s voice involves developing relationships and creating environments in which children feel comfortable and confident sharing their thoughts and experiences. It also means making sure that children’s views, opinions, and preferences are sought and listened to when decisions are made which impact their life.
Both of these definitions share that the voice of the child is, us facilitating ways in which we can actively listen, tuning in to and observe children to hear and respond to their wishes, desires, thoughts, experiences and opinions. Using this in a way to support their learning and development, to inform practice that impacts on their lives, decisions that are going to impact them. It is interesting that the Gwent Safeguarding definition discusses how facilitating children’s voices is through the development of relationships and through the creation of our environments. Something that we are not too dissimilar with in the early years.
When we look at the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), we have four overarching principles the Unique Child, Positive Relationships, Enabling Environments and Learning and Development. The unique child is essentially an extension of the voice of the child, when we think about the unique child, we are thinking about being child-led, about understanding individual children – their behaviour, interests, stages of developing, culture, live experiences. And then producing positive relationships and an enabling environment that fully supports this wonderfully unique child; so that we inevitably see learning and development.
An interesting thought as we explore the voice of the child in the early years. During January and February 2026, we are doing a new blog series on the voice of the child. Please do check out our blog posts each week as we explore different topics around exploring the voice of the children, including things such as top tips, question and answers and much more. Or head over to our socials at Growing Together Early Years for more content.
