Traditionally, children have been considered from a primarily developmental perspective, in need of education in order to achieve autonomy, growth, and eventually adulthood. Childhood studies have recently underlined an alternate way to look at children, starting from the consideration that children are competent social actors and can actively participate in social life. However, there has been relatively little attention paid to the ways in which adults can actively empower children's agency and participation. This book aims to highlight this important aspect, explaining the position of adults as facilitators and mediators in the process of constructing childhood.

Introduction Claudio Baraldi and Vittorio Iervese 1. Participation as Mediation and Social Learning: Empowering Children as Actors in Social Contexts Barry Percy-Smith 2. Theorizing (Adults' Facilitation of) Children's Participation and Citizenship Hanne Warming 3. Social Mediation and School Mediation: A Process of Socialisation Jean-Pierre Bonafé-Schmitt 4. Participation, Facilitation and Mediation in Educational Interactions Claudio Baraldi
5. Participation and the Institutional Agenda in Child Counselling: Proffering as a Means of Topic Management Ian Hutchby 6. Language Proficiency and Participation in Multi-Party Interactions and Activities Zhu Hua and Jiang Yan 7. Conflict and Mediation in International Groups of Children Vitttorio Iervese 8. Children's Thoughts on Life Experiences: Growing Up and Political Socialisation in Contexts of Education, Society and Resistance Heinz Sünker 9. Young Volunteers' Perspectives on Their Interactions with Adults in Position to Facilitate Their Participation Maria-Carmen Pantea 10. Participation, Learning and Intercultural Experience Gilles Brougère 11. Goals and Outcomes of Experiential Learning in International Camps: Perceptions of Participants Jennifer Watson 12. International Education and Global Citizenship Caecilia Johanna van Peski

Claudio Baraldi is Director of the Research Centre on Peace and Sustainability at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.

Vittorio Iervese is a researcher in Sociology of Cultural and Communicative Processes at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.