Social justice & children’s rights

HomeEarly childhood education resourcesSocial justice & children’s rights
type here...
Early childhood
Thought leadership
School

Social justice & children’s rights

HomeEarly childhood education resourcesSocial justice & children’s rights

Topic summary

A social justice lens highlights the complexity of identity, and the impact of social and political issues on the lives of children and their families. A social justice approach in early childhood supports children’s health, wellbeing, safety, and equitable access to education, and is driven by a strong focus on children’s rights.

Teaching for social justice enacts a vision of equity for all. A social justice approach considers questions related to gender, sexuality, race, culture, ability/disability, socioeconomic status, and the environment. It seeks to understand how different people and communities experience the world, particularly with consideration to the various aspects of identity and how these intersect and interact. This includes honouring children’s rights, recognising children’s cultures, being mindful of socioeconomic disadvantage and its impacts, and attending to questions of access, participation, privilege, and marginalisation.

Social justice is relevant in educational contexts and beyond. Creating, sustaining, and enacting a vision of social justice can serve teachers in understanding, caring for, and supporting all children to learn and thrive. This approach creates equitable and ethical spaces where all children can participate and relate to each other and their communities in thoughtful and compassionate ways, and examines the privilege apparent in educational paradigms and curricula.

There is a considerable (and growing) body of research that explores questions related to children, childhoods, and early childhood education from a social justice perspective. This research is largely qualitative in nature and often positions itself in opposition to many of the common, more developmental outcomes associated with much early childhood research.

Critique and action are essential to a social justice approach. Teachers may choose to engage in advocacy and activism related to social justice – for example, they can engage in anti-bias practices which acknowledge the gendered nature of early childhood and seek to address gendered issues in meaningful ways by challenging assumptions which stem from a binary and conventional view of gender. But simple actions such as developing caring methods of teaching, building and sustaining relationships, and continuing to learn about trauma-informed pedagogies, can also make a significant difference.

  • How can we create safe spaces where all children and their families can participate freely and fully?
  • How can we bring a social justice orientation to teaching and learning about the environment?
  • What does it mean to decolonise education spaces?

Research reviews

Social justice in early childhood education

An introduction to enacting the principles of social justice in early childhood settings.

Webinars

Diverse cultural and gendered identities: Working with children and families in early childhood services

NEXT UP
LIVE EVENT: 7.30PM MONDAY APRIL 7, 2025
Associate Professor Sonja Arndt and Professor Kylie Smith explore how early childhood settings can support children and families with a range of identities

Exploring the things of home in early childhood education

LIVE EVENT: 7.30PM MONDAY AUGUST 11, 2025
Dr Sonya Gaches from the University of Otago will explore how objects associated with home serve as holders of narratives that create a sense of belonging for children

Social justice and children’s rights

Professor Beth Blue Swadener and Dr Lacey Peters will explore how teachers can meaningfully engage with children’s voices, perspectives and experiences and incorporate a social justice approach into their teaching practice

Promoting gender inclusiveness in early childhood settings

Professor Mara Sapon-Shevin (Syracuse University, USA) discusses how early childhood teachers can approach gender non-conformity, including the prevalent and often unquestioned gender-based assumptions present in society

Representations of children in social media

Dr Madeleine Dobson (Curtin University, Australia) discusses her research into the representation of children on social media with Dr Vicki Hargraves
Load more

Infographics

Snapshots

Creating and sustaining cultures of inclusion in early childhood settings

Key insights from the webinar with Dr Kate McAnelly.

Social justice with and for children and families in early childhood education: Enacting rights to participation

Key insights from the webinar with Professor Beth Blue Swadener and Dr Lacey Peters.

Talking about gender non-conformity in early childhood education

The key insights from our webinar with Professor Mara Sapon-Shevin talking about gender non-conformity in early childhood education.

Representations of children in social media

The key insights from our webinar with Madeleine Dobson on the way children are represented on social media platforms and the importance of considering children's rights and perspectives.

Caring and trauma-informed approaches can make a world of difference to young children’s wellbeing and learning

Key insights from our webinar with Madeleine Dobson on social justice and trauma-informed practice in early childhood education.
“Thanks for the opportunity. This was without doubt amongst the best professional development I have done in many years.”
Course participant
Assessment & Intentional Teaching
“I've just started and it's incredible! Best professional learning course I have participated in in a long time. I've just completed Part 2 – so inspiring!”
Course participant
Visual Arts in ECE
"I loved how the course was laid out. It was easy to leave and pick up where I had left off. The site was easy to navigate and I liked the videos that backed up the reading."
Course participant
Assessment & Intentional Teaching
“Continue with your excellent work. I get feedback that student teachers love it too.”
Educator
Martinborough
“I have found all your webinars to be of incredible value to myself and my team. Thank you.”
Centre Leader
Auckland
“You guys are doing a FABULOUS job - keep up the great work. And thank-you for offering free webinars; readings etc - in this current climate it is so hard to find money for extra things and PD is usually the first thing that gets a budget cut. Having access to your webinars means that there is no excuse for my teachers not keep professionally ahead of the game. My team and I certainly appreciate it.”
Early childhood teacher
Wellington
“I LOVE your work. It is super useful as an AST in a large COL, The Education Hub is a springboard for my own self-driven PD and a good resource for the spectrum of needs in our Kahui Ako. Thank you for the epic work you do!”
Advanced Skills Teacher
New Zealand
“Appreciate the diverse range of resources on offer!”
Intermediate school teacher
New Zealand
“The Education Hub is a gem and I recommend it to all schools I work with.”
Education consultant
New Zealand
“The resources and support provided by The Education Hub are greatly appreciated. As an HOD in a small school, in a small department usually made up of beginning teachers, it often falls on my shoulders alone to try and be up to date with ensuring our programmes are founded on sound pedagogical practices in terms of teaching in general and our particular curriculum area ... so I'm like a sponge when it comes to what you provide.”
Head of Department
“The Hub articles have been really useful and provided conversations for staff meetings and provocations for teachers. Thank you - great work and food for thought.”
School leader
Dunedin
“Articles are always well considered and written. I enjoy the content; it’s a superb resources for teachers”
Teacher (primary)
Tauranga
"I love this site!! I love everything you do for us educators, professional leaders and whanau. I loved this site during my studies last year when I upgraded to a Degree. Love it – thank you!"
New entrant teacher
Wellington
“I really value the Education Hub as a non-partisan (and non-reactionary) force for building consensus around what works and what matters in (New Zealand) education. There's nothing like it, and without it we'd be at the mercy of the more vociferous at both ends of the spectrum (progressive vs conservative).”
Deputy Principal
Christchurch
“Keep up the great mahi, I would struggle to have conversations with teachers about current pedagogy without you!”
Professional development provider
Auckland
“Having discovered The Education Hub this year, it has been timely as I navigate the teaching of structured literacy. The content has been so relevant and reliable, I come away wanting more.”
Primary teacher
Nelson
“The information I have gained from the webinars I have watched this year has been so enlightening and it has fueled my desire to further my own knowledge. We are lucky to have such a great resource.”
Preschool teacher
Palmerston North
“Thank you for providing high quality professional learning that is easily accessible.”
High school teacher
Napier
“I really appreciate the quality and range of the webinars you provide. I love that I can access them later if I don't get to watch them at the time.”
Teacher
Bay of Plenty
"Thank you! This course has renewed my passion for writing meaningful learning stories that are backed up with intentional teaching and show progression of learning and development."
Course participant
Assessment & Intentional Teaching
“Thank you to those of you who are working hard to keep this resource relevant and accessible for all of us in the education sector. More specifically, I appreciate the balanced approach taken by your team to specific topic”
School leader
Manukau
"I liked the mix of different aspects that kept things interesting, I enjoyed sharing my new learning with my colleagues and I loved learning new practical aspects of story writing."
Course participant
Assessment & Intentional Teaching
“Thank you so much for the valuable service you provide. We are so lucky to have access to this quality of resources.”
Graduate teacher
Blenheim
"I loved how the course was laid out. It was easy to leave and pick up where I had left off. The site was easy to navigate and I liked the videos that backed up the reading."
Course participant
Assessment & Intentional Teaching

Get unlimited access to all our webinars

Buy a webinar subscription for yourself, your school or centre and enjoy savings of up to 25%

The Education Hub webinars provide high-quality research-based content for teachers. A webinar subscription costs just NZ$60+GST per person (with discounts of up to 25% available for groups) and provides access to all our live webinars for 12 months, plus all the recordings in our archive.
Find out more

12-MONTH WEBINAR SUBSCRIPTION

NZ$ 60 per person +GST
  • All live webinars for 12 months
  • Access to our library of over 100 webinars
  • Personalised certificates
  • Group savings of up to 25%
Buy now

About The Education Hub

The Education Hub’s mission is to bridge the gap between research and practice in education. We want to empower educators to find, use and share research to improve their teaching practice, and then share their innovations. We are building the online and offline infrastructure to support this to improve opportunities and outcomes for students.

New Zealand registered charity number: CC54471

Find out more

We’ll keep you updated

Follow us on social media

Like what we do? Please support us

Donate now to show your appreciation

© The Education Hub 2025 All rights reserved | Site design: KOPARA

Close popup
Message from The Education Hub Choose how you stay up to date

Early childhood education
School

Your details:

Already have an account? Login here

* Required fields

By clicking submit, you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

We value your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information. The data you provide on this form will be used to keep you informed about our latest news, updates, and promotional offers. Rest assured, your information will be handled in strict accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Your data will be stored securely, and you have the right to access, correct, or delete your information at any time. For more details, please review our Privacy Policy or Terms of Service.