{"id":1430,"date":"2026-08-30T22:52:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T12:52:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/?p=1430"},"modified":"2026-08-30T22:52:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T12:52:37","slug":"cvc2026-728","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/cvc2026-728\/","title":{"rendered":"CVC2026-728 \u2013 Voices unheard: Early childhood classroom through a critical lens"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"cvc-hero alignfull\">\n  <span class=\"cvc-chip\">Presentation \u2013 CVC2026-728<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\">Voices unheard: Early childhood classroom through a critical lens<\/h1>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<div class=\"cvc-authors\">\n<p><strong>Sukanya Singh,<\/strong><strong> <\/strong>Amity University, India<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vishal Kumar, <\/strong>Adamas University, India<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<div class=\"ast-oembed-container \" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe title=\"CVC2026-728 Voices unheard: Early childhood classroom through a critical lens\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PnON6PPB63Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<p><strong>Background: <\/strong>Although the typical image of an early childhood classroom is one where creativity, discovery, and development thrive, beneath the surface lies a world of structures. In most cases, they prevent children and educators from expressing their true selves in their own classroom. The act of listening to and considering young people\u2019s views demonstrates respect for their needs, interests, and life experiences, which helps determine the importance of something within a specific subject matter or circumstance.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Aim: <\/strong>Using a child-centred, critical pedagogy perspective (by Paulo Freire), this research acknowledges children as competent learners who have evolved over time and therefore deserve to be heard in educational settings. The study examined the various ways children express their perspectives in early childhood classrooms. A particular focus was placed on \u201cmultiple voices\u201d that are expressed when children speak about family, peers, places, games, and other cultural aspects of their lives.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Method\/approach:<\/strong> A qualitative methodology was used for this study; specifically, it included classroom observation, casual conversation, a storytelling activity, free-play interaction, and reflections from teachers\u2019 classroom notebooks across different early childhood education centres (also known as Anganwadi Kendras) in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. The sample of 45 children was randomly selected through purposive sampling, aged 3\u20136 years, from three Anganwadi Kendras; 15 participants from each centre. The required permissions to conduct the research were obtained from the authority and the parents or legal guardians of all participating children.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Results\/findings: <\/strong>The results showed that children typically express themselves using symbolic language (e.g., drawing), silence, movement, imagination, or emotional expression. In addition, these forms of expression were frequently ignored in the structured learning environment. These findings emphasise the need for teachers to develop a dialogical and responsive classroom environment that encourages children to feel safe, respected, and valued, while providing opportunities for them to express their experiences freely.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion: <\/strong>By adopting a critical, child-centred lens, this study highlights the necessity of dismantling rigid classroom structures to truly hear and value children\u2019s diverse forms of expression. This study underscores that children understand simple practices and experiential learning effectively and enhance relationships with their teachers when they listen to their language and enhance their overall participation, creativity, and democratic learning behaviours.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Implications for children and families: <\/strong>By adopting a critical, child-centred lens, this study highlights the necessity of dismantling rigid classroom structures to truly hear and value children\u2019s diverse forms of expression. This study underscores that children understand simple practices and experiential learning effectively and enhance relationships with their teachers when they listen to their language and enhance their overall participation, creativity, and democratic learning behaviours.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Implications for practitioners:<\/strong> It prompts educators to engage in reflective, inclusive practices, urging them to look beyond literal speech to interpret multidimensional child expressions, thereby transforming traditional classrooms into democratic learning spaces.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Keywords<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong> early childhood classroom, critical pedagogy, expression, multiple voices<\/p>\n<p><strong>This presentation relates to the following <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/goals\"><strong>United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<ul class=\"cvc-sdgs\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/goals\/goal3\">SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/goals\/goal10\">SDG\u00a010: Reduced Inequality<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sukanya Singh, Amity University, India; Vishal Kumar, Adamas University, India<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,52,1],"tags":[46],"class_list":["post-1430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-childrens-learning-and-activities","category-childrens-rights-voices-and-perspectives","category-presentations","tag-sdg-04"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1430"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1459,"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1430\/revisions\/1459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}