Child participation in intercultural education: empowering diverse kindergarteners as rights-holders

This qualitative comparative case study integrates participatory action research and narrative inquiry to explore how children from diverse and immigrant-origin backgrounds in two low-income Greek kindergarten classrooms understand and enact their rights. Children were engaged in cycles of storytelling, dialogue, reflection, and collective action. Guided by Lundy’s Participation Model, the study illustrates how children’s rights education can transition from policy discourse to lived classroom practice. Findings show that storytelling and dialogue deepen children’s understanding of rights and foster transcendent thinking, enabling them to connect emotional experiences with civic and moral meaning. Through developmentally appropriate pedagogies, children developed empathy, inclusion, and agency as they engaged with issues of fairness, justice, and belonging. These findings underscore the significance of intercultural education in promoting children’s well-being and social participation by cultivating classroom communities where learners feel seen, valued, and included. The study also highlights that children’s rights are culturally situated, calling for rights-based approaches that respect diversity while empowering children as rights holders. Findings challenge shielding young children from sensitive issues, showing that emotionally grounded, participatory learning strengthens engagement, well-being, and agency. Centring children’s voices reveals the transformative power of culturally responsive rights education for building inclusive, democratic learning environments for all learners.