From Contradictions to Solutions: An Expansive Learning Analysis of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Parents Navigating Digital Exclusion in Western Sydney
Abstract
Digital exclusion compounds the challenges that migrant and refugee parents already face in supporting their children’s education. As schooling becomes increasingly digitally mediated, this shift can intensify existing inequalities, particularly when the school and home systems present contradictions that these parents must navigate simultaneously. Grounded in expansive learning theory, this study examines the experiences of 18 migrant and refugee parents in Western Sydney, Australia. It draws on interview data to illuminate the contradictions encountered when supporting their children’s home learning. Through this theoretical lens, we highlight how parents take agentic actions and work to develop solutions tailored to their families’ specific needs and circumstances. The findings identify three broad types of contradictions and the strategies parents employed to overcome barriers to supporting home learning. We argue for a co-construction approach in which schools, parents, and community actors collaborate to promote expansive learning, positioning migrant and refugee parents as active participants in the redesign of school–home–community partnership systems.