The text1 reflects on the concepts of childhood, social justice, recognition and citizenship, focusing on unaccompanied children and the implications for the socio-educational function related to this group. For this purpose, five interviews were conducted with unaccompanied North African children, adolescents and young people (CAYP) residing in Melilla (Spain) and two of their educators. Two of the CAYP have not yet reached the age of 18 and reside in a protection centre, while the other three have reached that age and two live in supervised flats, both open regime, subsidised by the Department of Social Services of the Autonomous City of Melilla. As main results, we can highlight the analysis of experiences, stories and situation related to childhood and adulthood, recognition, situation and legal expectation and the impact on Social Education professionals. Finally, conclusions are presented that aim to open debates for training in Social Education, around four lines of future intervention: (1) reinforcing children’s citizenship; (2) rethinking the child protection system in Spain from an intercultural and identity-based perspective; (3) promoting a rights-based approach based on human dignity; (4) and reinforcing the intercultural competence of social. © 2023, Edicoes Universitarias Lusofonas. All rights reserved.

DOI: 10.24140/issn.1645-7250.rle60.10
ISSN: 16457250