Meeting halfway: voices of children and educators on raising critical consciousness of caste oppression in primary schools in India

This paper aims to initiate a pedagogical dialogue by bringing together the voices of children and primary educators on raising critical consciousness of caste oppression across two school contexts in New Delhi, India. Research shows that prejudice based on race, disability, gender, and caste is often silenced for children as matters not concerning them (Mac Naughton & Davis, 2009). However, studies highlight how listening to children’s inquiries about sensitive social issues and supporting them to explore, reflect, and act against unfairness is crucial to disrupting oppressive practices (Souto-Manning & Mitchell, 2010). Drawing on the theory of critical pedagogy (Freire, 1973) and a child rights-based approach (UNCRC, 1989), this paper discusses children’s inquiries, reflections, agency, and actions towards raising critical awareness of caste oppression. This study utilised an action research design with participatory methods of co-researching with children on issues of caste oppression in one of the two schools (Ryu, 2022); alongside classroom observations, interviews and informal conversations with teachers across both school contexts in New Delhi, India. The findings of this research emphasise the significance of employing a multimodal approach incorporating creative, play, and arts-based methods (e.g., child-led interviews, drawings, puppets, zine and map-making) to facilitate true listening to children. The research shows that sensitively tuning into children's embodied experiences of caste oppression can build critical understandings. Implications for further research, policy and practice will be unpacked through reflections on the research process, i.e., ethical dilemmas, negotiations with schools/teachers, co-research with children, and the researcher’s ongoing reflexive/reflective self-talk.