Article
Asylum seeker and refugee children belonging, being and becoming: the early childhood educator's role
Australasian Journal of Early Childhood
(2014)
Abstract
THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF educators from one Australian university in relation
to boat people, comprising mothers and children in detention, is discussed within
a Foucauldian theoretical framework. Media and political portrayal of refugees at
times leads to ‘us-and-them’ conceptions of asylum seekers. This paper foregrounds
the challenges of their lived experience while in detention, with a specific focus on
children. The corollary highlights the pivotal role early childhood educators play when
these children are granted visas and arrive in early childhood settings after years of
incarceration. What belonging, being and becoming, as envisaged in the Australian
Early Years Learning Framework, might mean for these children specifically as they
become citizens of Australia, is examined through the findings of an action research
study in a preschool and lower primary school with high refugee enrolment. Key to
children’s development is utilising play as the preferred pedagogy in the early years of
formal schooling.
Disciplines
Publication Date
2014
Citation Information
Maher, M., and Smith, S. (2014). Asylum seeker and refugee children belonging, being and becoming: the early childhood educator's role. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 39(1), 22-29.