In, out and through digital worlds. Hybrid-transitions as a space for children's agency

This article discusses a Transition Programme to support the inclusion of mature students in Higher Education. The Transition Programme was designed and it is currently provided by a Higher Education institution in Surrey, South-East of England. An outcome of innovative educational leadership, the Transition Programme’ successfully solved the paradox of selection for admission to Higher Education programmes, in particular with regard to mature students. The English Higher Education system offers an interesting case for discussion, being caught between the principle of inclusiveness within a ‘widening participation’ agenda and the contrasting selective principle of ‘recruiting with integrity’. The article is motivated by two main aims. The first aim is to contextualize sociologically, within a discussion on the related concepts of hope, trust and risk, the motivations underpinning mature applicants’ choice to enter Higher Education. The second aim of the article is to argue for the capability of educational leadership to generate positive change supporting mature applicants’ trust in hope for a successful inclusion in Higher Education

Between marginalisation and agency. Primary school teachers’ narratives in London and the position of children with migrant backgrounds

Based on qualitative interviews with primary school teachers in Greater London, this article explores teachers’ narratives to uncover how children with migrant backgrounds (CMB) are positioned in the contexts of their learning experience. In particular, the article utilises the analytical category of trust to argue that the position of CMB in teachers’ narratives is related to the form of teachers’ trust. When trust is based on categorical inequalities, CMB are often considered untrustworthy partners construction of the learning and teaching experience. Trust based on categorical inequalities becomes a form of trust in distrust and CMB are positioned in the children’s needs paradigm where decision-making is reserved to teachers who act for them and on their behalf. When trust is based on personal relationships, CMB are positioned as agents who are capable to voice their interests, bringing about consequential changes in the contexts of their experiences. CMB are positioned in the children’s interests paradigm, where agency is expected and promoted as a right of children who are socially constructed as agents who can make a difference with their choices

The role of trust in the positioning of children with migrant backgrounds. Reflections on teachers' narratives from London primary schools

Based on qualitative interviews with primary school teachers in Greater London, this article explores teachers’ narratives to uncover how Children with Migrant Backgrounds (CMB) are positioned in the contexts of their learning experience. In particular, the article utilises the analytical category of trust to argue that the position of CMB in teachers’ narratives is related to the form of teachers’ trust. When trust is based on categorical inequalities, CMB are often considered untrustworthy partners construction of the learning and teaching experience. Trust based on categorical inequalities becomes a form of trust in distrust and CMB are positioned in the children’s needs paradigm where decision-making is reserved to teachers who act for them and on their behalf. When trust is based on personal relationships, CMB are positioned as agents who are capable to voice their interests, bringing about consequential changes in the contexts of their experiences. CMB are positioned in the children’s interests paradigm, where agency is expected and promoted as a right of children who are socially constructed as agents who can make a difference with their choices

Meanings and methods of pedagogical innovation

Based on rich data produced though the observation of SHARMED activities, this chapter discusses how children’s authorship of narratives can be facilitated in practice, towards the construction of communities of dialogue in the classroom. The chapter is instrumental to the implementation of pedagogical innovation, providing examples and elements of reflection for teachers and educators who are interested in the methodology of facilitation. As a companion to SHARMED training presented in Chapter 10, this chapter evaluates how an array of actions, such as questions, invitations to talk, minimal responses, reformulations of children’s contributions and facilitators’ personal initiatives can support children’s voices in actual classroom practice of facilitation. Several video-recorded and transcribed examples from the three participating countries are used for this purpose. Before illustrating the results of the evaluation of facilitative activities, the reader is informed that Chapter 10 does not only present SHARMED training philosophy and methodology but it also directs the reader to freely accessible SHARMED online training and material

The rise of the discourse on children’s right of self-determination. The case study of Early Childhood Education and its construction of children as agents in education

This article discusses a study that explored the intellectual and ethical foundations of the discourses on children’s right of self-determination, starting with a critical examination of the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, 1989). Whilst the ambiguous position of children and children’s rights in society that underpins the UNCRC is acknowledged, the article argues that a shift towards the positioning of children’s as agents has been developing since the 1990s. For instance, this is demonstrated by the development of Early Childhood Education as a pedagogical discourse based centred on children’s right to play an agentic role in shaping their educational experience. As discussed in the second part of the article Early Childhood Education lends itself as an informative case-study for the development of a discourse on children self-determination towards a mainstream status. Early Childhood Education positions young children as agents who can make choice and can construct valid knowledge. Paraphrasing Freire’s description of critical pedagogy, in the discourse of Early Childhood Education the emphasis on children’s agency constructs a view of education from children, for children, for adults

Introduction

This edited volume offers a unique investigation on Early Childhood on a truly global dimension, focusing on how Early Childhood Education and Care policies, practices and discourse is framed in different national contexts such as Kenya, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Japan, Brazil and China, but also England, Wales, Italy, Finland, Ireland, United States, Australia and New Zealand. What is being introduced here is a collection of contribution that offer innovative insights on the cultural presuppositions of policies, pedagogies and practices shaping Early Childhood Education. This nurtures an intellectual space for reflection, open to researchers, practitioners and all interested in children and education, a space that includes alternative perspectives from those hegemonizing many Western heritage countries. It can be argued that ‘celebrating diversity’ could be key to the collection, not only due of the great variety of the contexts for the studies presented, but also considering the differentiated disciplinary angles taken by authors, who approach Early Childhood Education and Care from Sociology, History, Pedagogy, Social Work, Communication Studies, Pragmatics, Psychology. Diversity concerns not only contexts and discipline, but also the methodologies applied by the contributors

From enabling environments to environments that enable: notes for theoretical innovation at the intersection between environments, learning and children’s agency

This article invites reflection on the features of environments that can enable children’s sense of self, well-being and self-esteem. Environments that enable refer to contexts that acknowledge children’s capability to construct their own social worlds. The dimensions of practice that contribute towards the development of environments that enable are considered. The article argues that the quality of learning is related to access to, and quality of, experiences and opportunities to explore and reflect upon, developing ideas from the Montessori approach and Malaguzzi’s Reggio Model

Narratives of refusal, narratives of engagement, narratives of organisation. School activism as citizenship-in-practice for young refugees and migrants in Italy

This presentation discusses the results of four researches with young refugees and migrants that took place in three different regions of Northern Italy between 2006 and 2014, crossing an unfinished economic crisis, the rise and fall of xenophobic political parties and a continuing debate around migration and inclusion in different social contexts. Data consist of young (age 13 to 18) people’s narratives, promoted and collected through 62 focus group and 118 individual interviews. Notwithstanding different aims, the four researches share a similar methodology, consisting in the facilitation of young people’s narratives to support a phenomenological description of how they make sense of events and actions in their lives, through examining the story they produce. The presentation focuses on a common thread emerging from data collecting over a 8 years period: whilst experiencing a situation of inequality in the participation in the political system, due their legal status, nevertheless young refugees and migrants build spaces of active political participation through social movements, in this way taking ownership of urgent social issues related to inclusion and equality that do not concern only minorities. Examples discussed will include: participation in students and trade unions, support offered to unaccompanied migrant/asylum-seeking children, protest against global capitalism and global wars. The rich narratives collected suggest that for young refugees and migrants (as well as for young Italians) participation in social movements and political associations is context for the development of trust commitments in intercultural groups, built on shared political objectives. The presentation argues that the commitment for a more inclusive and equal society is a social space where young refugees, migrant and non-migrant become agents of cultural hybridization and practiced citizenship. The presentation concludes by reflecting on how these narrated experiences challenge hegemonic representations of young refugees and migrants as inhabiting marginal areas of society

A hope to trust. Educational leadership to support mature students' inclusion in higher education: an experience from Surrey, England

This article discusses a Transition Programme to support the inclusion of mature students in Higher Education. The Transition Programme was designed and it is currently provided by a Higher Education institution in Surrey, South-East of England. An outcome of innovative educational leadership, the Transition Programme’ successfully solved the paradox of selection for admission to Higher Education programmes, in particular with regard to mature students. The English Higher Education system offers an interesting case for discussion, being caught between the principle of inclusiveness within a ‘widening participation’ agenda and the contrasting selective principle of ‘recruiting with integrity’. The article is motivated by two main aims. The first aim is to contextualize sociologically, within a discussion on the related concepts of hope, trust and risk, the motivations underpinning mature applicants’ choice to enter Higher Education. The second aim of the article is to argue for the capability of educational leadership to generate positive change supporting mature applicants’ trust in hope for a successful inclusion in Higher Education

This is my truth, tell me yours. Positioning children as authors of knowledge through facilitation of narratives in dialogic interactions

The article discusses data from educational workshops in English and Italian classrooms, in the context of an research project funded by the European Union. The research promoted children’s work on personal memories and the dialogical exchange in the classroom of narratives related to memories. Facilitation was utilised to foster children’s contributions to interactions, empowering children epistemic status as authors of valid knowledge to create favourable conditions for dialogue in the classroom. The article discusses a facilitative action that impacted on the promotion of children’s narratives: facilitators’ comments on narratives. Facilitators’ comments take form as: 1) personal stories; 2) displacements. Both types of comments proved particularly effective in supporting children’s agency as authorship of narratives during workshops as a component of dialogic learning