ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the adult ‘gaze’ of the ‘street child’, drawing on insights from research eliciting children’s perspectives. It provides the views of children living on the street about their identity and experiences as ‘street children’. The chapter focuses on insights from critical pedagogy to problematise oppression and offers alternatives for engaging children in the processes of identity resistance, reinvention and reclamation, through reflection on the pedagogical possibilities emerging from engaging children in the development of critical consciousness. Critical pedagogy is a socio-political theory of education that focuses on education as a practice and mechanism for democracy, emancipation, justice and equity. Despite evidence showing how children living on the street experience structural discrimination, cultural barriers and stigma, research also shows how children themselves are positioned as “troublemakers”. A fundamental feature of working in solidarity with children is the need to truly listen to children’s thoughts and perspectives.
