| This study examines the unique elements found in Janusz Korczak's Declaration of a Child's Rights and compares his concept of the rights of the child with those child's rights set forth by other selected child advocates in their policy statements based upon the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on November 20, 1959.;The general thesis of the study is that Korczak, as a physician, literary writer, educator, and publicist, should be recognized in the forefront among the child's rights advocates in the world today.;The study attempts to place Korczak as a transitional figure, a "futurist" who was concerned about the rights of the child in years to come. Although Korczak's work was done primarily in the early 1920s and 1930s, his ideas and principles reflect the current thought of recognized individuals in the medical, educational, and literary fields.;The study shows Korczak within the context of the recent history of child's rights advocacy to be both a transitional figure and a visionary; i.e., one who was influenced by and continued the tradition of the child's rights advocacy movement, yet whose work appears not only relevant today, but applicable as well because of the "futurist" range of his practice and teaching.;Korczak's views and methodology on child rearing, his concern for child's rights, emphasizing the need for adults to understand and appreciate the child on his/her own terms, are examined in his selected works, both scientific as well as literary. A comparison is made of Korczak's philosophy of child advocacy with those of prominent selected proponents of child advocacy, national as well as international. A brief history of the development of child advocacy rights is included against which background both Korczak's and the other advocates are examined.;The major finding of the study concludes that Janusz Korczak's concept of child's rights coincides strikingly with those of other child advocacy rights positions, affirming, in turn, the principles of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child.;Thus, it may be said, the general thesis of the study is that Korczak can and should be regarded as an important figure in the movement of child advocacy. |
