This chapter draws from the theoretical perspectives of transnationalism, postcolonialism, and critical place-based pedagogy. We use selected constructs from these theories to analyse and address concerns identified in our qualitative studies related to early childhood education and care (ECEC) pedagogies that support migrant families’ transnational identities and practices in the particular context of Aotearoa New Zealand (Aotearoa). Aotearoa is a country with a history of colonisation by Britain, and it continues to address the impacts of colonisation on Māori, the Indigenous people. Postcolonial theorising seeks to understand and theorise restorative pathways beyond these impacts.

In one way or another, each of these teachers in the quotes above is grappling with the role of theory and how best to employ it in their teaching to assist their students to better understand the cultural complexity of the world in which they live. By ‘cultural complexity’, I am primarily referring to that derived from the ethnic diversity now characteristic of school communities in migrant-based nations, such as Australia. This, of course, is evident on a global scale with increasing migration, both voluntary and forced leading to the rapid transformation of national populations. Diversification through migration is more prevalent in some countries than others. But, with global flows of people occurring alongside that of information, goods, services and capital, aided by digital technologies and the speed of, and easier access to, travel, nowhere remains impervious to the forces of globalisation and the cultural complexity that results. Such rapid and complex change is difficult to comprehend, but its effects are so far-reaching that now, more than ever, there is a need for the appropriate conceptual resources to better navigate its impact.

In the 21st century, voluntary and increasingly forced migration has brought about linguistic, cultural, socioeconomic, and religious diversity that continues to enrich educational settings. Australian early childhood centres and schools, like many others around the world, are increasingly comprised of teachers and young people who speak multiple languages and dialects, and who connect to and interact with diverse cultures and traditions within a range of new and evolving spaces. Yet in English speaking countries in the global north and south there is a persistent and widespread adherence to a monocultural, monolingual orientation ‘English-only’ approach. This comprises of placing emphasis on knowledge created in and communicated through English only. This orientation has a significant influence on inclusion and engagement for all young people and the ways educators teach and students learn across educational contexts.

When we think of empirical research, we think of things we can observe. Empirical research, as conceived within a Western scientific framework, is discussed in this chapter by addressing the Eurocentric basis of research and the curriculum. It is now imperative to consider how to enrich sociological theory and find new ways of revealing innovative knowledge in educational research. This chapter highlights the role Indigenous knowledges and theories have in informing educational research and knowledge production. Indigenous Standpoint Theories (IST), situated within Indigenous knowledge paradigms, goes beyond Western research as this encompasses our way of knowing and being in the world. Foley and Rigney conclude that Indigenous research must work to free our people from oppressive barriers and reflect our lived experiences as Indigenous people. IST positions our people as knowledge holders and speaks to the significance of critically situating ourselves in relation to that knowledge.

Childhood is a critical period in terms of growth and development regarding cognition, language, social, emotional, and physical competence. This takes place within the context of different and varying social environments, which can impact on children’s learning and understandings of the worlds in which they live and how they fit into them. Childhood is a critical period in terms of addressing issues of discrimination and inequality that exist in society — discrimination that children and their families from minority cultures, and from other points of difference, can encounter, including in educational contexts. However, it is also a critical time in which to address the discrimination that children perpetuate in their daily interactions with others. Research shows that children are aware of and participate in, for example, racial, gendered, classed and (dis)ablist based discriminatory practices early, perpetuating the power relations that exist in the broader society around difference. However, much of this practice can go unnoticed or rationalised by adults through discourses of childhood, child development, and childhood innocence.

In this final chapter, we would like to extend the metaphor of the ‘unseen half’ by exploring how sociological theory itself is ‘unseen’ in early childhood, primary and secondary educational contexts, at least outside of pre-service teacher education and academia itself. When stories about education settings, educational-related issues or educational research findings enter the public milieu via the media, there is rarely any explicit acknowledgement of the theoretical perspectives that might have informed the analysis of the story, issue, or ‘problem’. We propose that ignoring these theoretical influences is due less to a lack of theoretical presence and more to theory’s unfortunate relegation to the background as bland, unintelligible, irrelevant or even elitist.

In 2022, the number of people forcibly displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations, and disturbing public order increased by 21 per cent from 2021 to an estimated 108.4 million. This means that more than 1 in 74 people worldwide were forcibly displaced. This is a significant increase of 19 million compared to the end of 2021, with UNHCR’s statistics on forced displacement indicating that from 2021–2022 saw the largest ever increase. Over half of this increase was due to record numbers of refugees, asylum-seekers, and other people in need of international protection who were forced to flee in 2022. An estimated 43.3 million (40 per cent) were children below 18 years of age. English proficiency of school-aged children and young people across all migration streams 2018–19 indicates that most children and young people in the humanitarian migration stream identified as having low proficiency in English, highlighting the need for strong on-arrival and long-term English language programs.

Introduction

So far in this book I have sought to explore the many places in which children's engagement in philanthropic and voluntary action can be cultivated and encouraged. I have sought to argue that in many spaces, opportunities and learning continue to be bounded by concepts of civic duty, character and personalised responsibility. In this chapter, I seek to look at how children are encouraged and enabled to step outside of these bounded ideas of philanthropic action and actively participate in spaces of community organising, advocacy and activism. Drawing on the example of the Industrial Areas Foundation, which has inspired community-organising activities globally, I seek to consider how children's voices are increasingly being included in these spaces. I then turn my focus to the organisations concentrating on engaging children in political spaces, advocacy and protests, considering how can we increase children's engagement in an ethical way, which recognises their state as both being and becoming citizens (see Chapter 2).

Let's start though with the story of Francisco Vera, a young Colombian human rights defender and environmentalist, who founded ‘Guardianes por la Vida’ (Guardians for Life) at the age of nine to address the climate crisis. Highlighted as a young change maker by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), I summarise his story here (see OHCHR [2023] for the full story). Motivated by devastating fires in the Amazon and inspired by activists like Greta Thunberg, the organisation began with six children in 2019 and now boasts hundreds of members advocating for a healthy environment in Colombia. Their mission involves influencing public policies to combat pollution and climate change, and promote the right to a healthy environment. Francisco highlights the role children can play in enacting change and fostering intergenerational dialogue, articulating this beautifully in an interview for the OHCHR (2023):