Session Information
25 SES 13, Children’s Rights in Education: Conundrums of Freedom
Symposium
Contribution
Drawing from an Australian study of young children’s active citizenship provoked through a practice of social justice storytelling, this paper problematises early childhood pedagogical practices hailed as beneficial for freedom of expression. Through a living educational theory approach to practitioner research (Whitehead & McNiff, 2006) a practice of social justice storytelling with a class of children aged 5 to 6 years was studied. This paper in particular examines pedagogical practices employed in this study to support children’s agency, that is, the freedom to choose, and to express opinions, thoughts and feelings. Analysis identified disparities between teacher and child perceptions of freedom, and that strategies for equality of expression, can deny diversity, and impinge on the right to privacy and choice. In addition, the paradoxical nature of attempting to cultivate freedom of expression in schools as institutions built on principles of classroom control, inflexible timetabling, and same rules for everyone is made evident. Application of Freirian (1998) and Arendtian (1958/1998) theoretical positions on democracy are then explored for ways to see and navigate possibilities for cultivation of freedom in education for children.
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