The collaboration between the Pestalozzi Children’s Village Foundation (SKP) and the Universities of Teacher Education in Lucerne (PHLU) and St. Gallen (PHSG) is increasingly becoming a key component in the further development of children’s rights education.
Since 2025, the Pestalozzi Children’s Village has been collaborating with the University Colleges of Education in Lucerne and St Gallen on the child-rights.ch project.
This collaboration specifically combines different strengths: whilst the Pestalozzi Children’s Village contributes its many years of practical experience gained from direct educational work with children and young people, the universities of teacher education provide the theoretical framework, the conceptual basis and expertise in formal education.
This close integration of formal and non-formal education is proving particularly beneficial. It enables the development of programmes that are both practice-oriented and scientifically sound, and which meet the demands of everyday educational practice.
Introductory course on children’s rights currently being developed
A key milestone in this collaboration is the development of a foundational and introductory course on children’s rights. The need for such a course was identified jointly: teachers at all levels require accessible, well-founded introductions to the subject that can be directly implemented in the classroom.
The course is scheduled for completion in 2026 and is based on a jointly developed teaching framework.
The course is aimed at teachers in cycles 1 to 3 and is intended to serve as a structured introduction to children’s rights education. Materials for cycle 2 are already available, whilst the resources for cycles 1 and 3 will be continuously updated throughout the year.
The Pestalozzi Children’s Village regards this collaboration as a forward-looking model: children’s rights education is conceived and developed jointly – at the intersection of practice, research and training.