Engaging children in meaningful charity: opening-up the spaces within which children learn to give

This paper presents qualitative evidence from an in-depth, participative action research project with 150 children aged 4-8 years old, exploring their experiences, perceptions and preferences regarding charitable giving. Most children positively engage in charitable giving through home, school and their community, however less than 20% are aware of the cause area they are being asked to support, and most have little decision-making in their giving. Children’s willingness to engage increases when they critically examine the cause area and are facilitated to lead on giving decisions, often resulting in increased and sustained efforts to support cause areas that matter to them.

Adriani, F. & Sonderegger. S, (2009) Why do parents socialize their children to behave pro-socially? An information-based theory. Journal of Public Economics. doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2009.08.001
Agard, K., (2002) Learning to Give: Teaching philanthropy K–12. New directions for philanthropic fundraising, no. 36, summer 2002 ©Wiley periodicals, inc.37
Aguilar-Pardo, D., Martinez-Arias, R., & Colmenares, F. (2013). The role of inhibition in young children’s altruistic behavior. Cognitive Processing, 14(3), 301–307.
Annette, J. and Mayo, M. (2010) Taking part: active learning for active citizenship, and beyond. Leicester: National Institute of adult continuing education
Arthur, J., Harrison, T., Taylor-Collins, E., & Moller, F. (2017). A habit of service: The factors that sustain service. Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, University of Birmingham Report.
Bekkers, R. and Wiepking, P., (2011) A literature review of empirical studies of philanthropy: Eight mechanisms that drive charitable giving. Nonprofit and voluntary sector quarterly, 40(5), pp.924-973.
Benenson, J.F., Pascoe, J. and Radmore, N. (2007) Children’s altruistic behavior in the dictator game, Evolution and Human Behavior 28:168–175.
Berliner, R. and Masterson, T. (2015) Review of Research: Promoting Empathy Development in the Early Childhood and Elementary Classroom, Childhood Education, 91:1,57-64
Biesta, G.J., (2011) Learning democracy in school and society: Education, lifelong learning, and the politics of citizenship. Springer Science & Business Media.
Body, A., Holman, K. and Hogg, E. (2017). To bridge the gap? Voluntary action in primary schools. Voluntary Sector Review, 8(3), pp.251-271.
Breeze, B. (2013) How donors choose charities: the role of personal taste and experiences in giving decisions, Voluntary Sector Review, 4(2): 165-183
Cabinet Office. (2018). Civil society strategy: Building a future that works for everyone. London: HMSO.
CAF (2013) Growing Up Giving: Insights into how young people feel about charity, Charities Aid Foundation.
CAF (2018) World Giving Index 2018. A Global View of Giving Trends. London: Charities Aid Foundation
CAF (2019) UK Giving 2019. London: Charities Aid Foundation
Children in Need (2018) Annual Report 2018. Available at: http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends52/0000802052_AC_2... accessed 17/06/2019
Civil Society Futures (2018) Civil Society in England: Its current state and future opportunity. Available at:https://civilsocietyfutures.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2018/11/C... accessed 8/06/2019
Clark, A. and Moss, P. (2011) Listening to young children: The mosaic approach. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Cornbleth, C., (1990) Curriculum in context. Falmer Pr.
Dahl, A. and Brownell, C. (2019) The Social Origins of Human Prosociality, Current Directions in Psychological Science. DOI: 10.1177/0963721419830386
Department for Education (2013) Citizenship programmes of study: Key Stages 3 and 4. London: DfE.
Einarsdottir, J. (2007) ‘Research with children: methodological and ethical challenges’, European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 15(2):197–211.
Eisenberg, N. (2018). ‘Empathy-Related Responding and Its Relations to Positive Development’, in: N. Roughley and T. Schramme (eds) Forms of Fellow Feeling: Empathy, Sympathy, Concern and Moral Agency. Cambridge; Cambridge University Press.
Eisenberg, N. (1983) The socialization and development of empathy and prosocial behavior. Available from:file://stafs-rwc-01.ccad.canterbury.ac.uk/jj209/profile/desktop/The_Socialization_and_Development_of_Empathy_and_P.pdf Accessed: 8th May 2019.
Feigin, S., Owens, G. and Goodyear-Smith, F. (2014) Theories of human altruism: a systematic review. Journal of Psychiatry and Brain Function. 1(5); pp 1-8.
George, E., Schmidt, C., Vella, G. and McDonagh, I., (2017) Promoting the rights and responsibilities of children: a South Australian example. Global health promotion, 24(1), pp.53-57.
Gibbs, J. (2019) Moral Development and Reality: Beyond the Theories of Kohlberg and Hoffman. London; Sage.
Gilbert, J., (2017). Education for a healthy democracy. https://www.ippr.org/files/2017-11/future-of-education-gilbert.pdf. Accessed 9th June 2019.
Giroux, H. (1978) Writing and critical thinking in the social studies. Curriculum Inquiry, 8(4), pp.291-310.
Grusec, J.E., Davidov, M. and Lundell, L. (2002). Prosocial and helping behavior. In: Smith & Hart (Eds.) Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Social Development. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing
Hart, R.A. (1992) Children's participation: From tokenism to citizenship (No.inness92/6) https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/childrens_participation.... (accessed 18 May 2019).
Jeffrey & Troman. (2013) Testing times in English primary schools 1992-2012: The effects of a performative culture on teacher’s and pupil’s relations and identities. E-book.
Kentli. F, (2009) Comparison of hidden curriculum theories. European Journal of Educational Studies 1 (2). ISSN 1946-6331
Leimgruber, K. L., Shaw, A., Santos, L. R., & Olson, K. R. (2012). Young children are more generous when others are aware of their actions. PLoS ONE, 7(10), e48292.
Lundy, L., McEvoy, L. and Byrne, B. (2011). ‘Working with young children as co-researchers: an approach informed by the United Nations convention on the rights of the child’, Early Education and Development, 22(5): 714–36.
Mazzoli Smith, L. and Todd, L. (2019) Conceptualising poverty as a barrier to learning through ‘Poverty proofing the school day’: The genesis and impacts of stigmatisation. British Educational Research Journal, 45(2), pp.356-371.
McHarg, G., Fink, E. and Hughes, C. (2019) Crying babies, empathic toddlers, responsive mothers and fathers: Exploring parent-toddler interactions in an empathy paradigm. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 179; 23–37.
Morrin K (2018) Tensions in teaching character: How the ‘entrepreneurial character’ is reproduced, ‘refused’ and negotiated in an English academy school. Sociological Research Online 23(2): 173–190
Morvaridi, B. ed., (2015). New philanthropy and social justice: Debating the conceptual and policy discourse. Policy Press.
Ottoni-Wilhelm, M., Zhang, Y., Estell, D.B. & Perdue, N.H., (2017). Raising charitable children: the effects of verbal socialization and role-modeling on children’s giving. Journal of Population Economics, 30(1), pp.189-224.
Payton, R.L. and Moody, M.P., (2008). Understanding philanthropy: Its meaning and mission. Indiana University Press.
Peterson, A., (2019). Character education, the individual and the political. Journal of Moral Education, pp.1-15.
Power, S. and Smith, K., (2016) Giving, saving, spending: what would children do with£ 1 million?. Children & Society, 30(3), pp.192-203.
Power, S. and Taylor, C., (2018) The mainstreaming of charities into schools. Oxford Review of Education, 44(6), pp.702-715.
Rinaldi, C. (2005) ‘Documentation and assessment: what is the relationship?’, in A. Clarke, A.T. Kjorholt and P. Moss (eds), Beyond listening: Children’s perspectives on early childhood services. Bristol: Policy Press.
Ross, E.W. and Vinson, K. (2014) Resisting Neoliberal Education Reform: Insurrectionist Pedagogies and the Pursuit of Dangerous Citizenship, Cultural Logic: 17-45
Roughley, N. and Schramme, T. (2018) Forms of Fellow Feeling: Empathy, Sympathy, Concern and Moral Agency. Cambridge; Cambridge University Press.
Shier, H., (2001) Pathways to participation: Openings, opportunities and obligations. Children & society, 15(2), pp.107-117.
Sierksma, J., Thijs, J., & Verkuyten, M. (2014). Children’s intergroup helping: The role of empathy and peer group norms. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 126, 369–383.
Silke, C., Brady, B., Boylan, C. & Dolan, P., (2018) Factors influencing the development of empathy and pro-social behaviour among adolescents: A systematic review. Children and Youth Services Review 94 (2018) 421–436.
Steinberg, R. and Wilhelm, M., (2003) Tracking giving across generations. New Directions for Philanthropic Fundraising, 2003(42), pp.71-82.
Stuart, K., Bunting, M., Boyd, P., Cammack, P., Hornbæk, P., Frostholm, P.H., Graveson, D.T., Mikkelsen, S. H., Moshuus, G. and Walker, S. (2019) Developing an equalities literacy for practitioners working with children, young people and families through action research, Educational Action Research, DOI: 10.1080/09650792.2019.1593870
Taylor-Collins, E., Harrison, T., Thoma, S.J. and Moller, F., (2019). A Habit of Social Action: Understanding the Factors Associated with Adolescents Who Have Made a Habit of Helping Others. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 30(1), pp.98-114.
United Nations (UN) (1989) United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Treaty no. 27541. Available at: https://www.unicef.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/UNCRC_united_na... (accessed 17 May 2019).
Vaish, A., Carpenter, M., & Tomasello, M. (2009). Sympathy through affective perspective taking and its relation to prosocial behavior in toddlers. Developmental Psychology, 45(2), 534-543.
Van Deth, J. W., Abendschön, S. and Vollmar, M. (2011). Children and politics: An empirical reassessment of early political socialization, Political Psychology, 32: 147-173
Warneken, F., & Tomasello, M. (2008). Extrinsic rewards undermine altruistic tendencies in 20-month-olds. Developmental Psychology, 44 (6), 1785-1788.
Westheimer, J. and Kahne, J. (2002). Educating the "Good" Citizen: The Politics of School-Based Civic Education Programs.
Wildeboer, A., Thijssen, S., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M.J., Jaddoe, V.W., White, T., Tiemeier, H. and Van IJzendoorn, M.H., (2017) Anxiety and Social Responsiveness Moderate the Effect of Situational Demands on Children's Donating Behavior. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 63(3), pp.340-366.
Wilhelm, M.O., Brown, E., Rooney, P.M. and Steinberg, R., (2008). The intergenerational transmission of generosity. Journal of Public Economics, 92(10-11), pp.2146-2156.
Zahn-Waxler, C., Schoen, A. and Decety, J. (2018). ‘An Interdisciplinary Perspective on the Origins of in: N. Roughley and T. Schramme (eds) Forms of Fellow Feeling: Empathy, Sympathy, Concern and Moral Agency. Cambridge; Cambridge University Press.