Beyond the ‘Ideal Student’: Young Carers’ Schooling Experiences, and Recognition in Rural Kenyan Schools

Children identified as vulnerable are often prioritised in policies yet remain subject to exclusionary practices in schools and communities. Drawing on the lived experiences of young carers (YCs) in Kandara sub-county, this article examines the social and institutional factors shaping their school experiences and their implications for participation and recognition. Informed by the Reggio Emilia Approach and perspectives from the sociology of education, the study analyses how everyday school practices shape YCs’ experiences. Data were generated through semi-structured in-depth interviews with 19 young carers and 9 key informants, analysed using qualitative thematic analysis. The findings reveal three key themes: disregard and invisibility of young carers’ needs, experiences of stigma and humiliation, and schools as sources of respite and hope. Young carers’ responsibilities extended beyond emotional and physical care to include household survival tasks. Their school engagement and academic performance remained continually negotiated against these caregiving demands, often affecting their performance and attendance. Yet, such constraints were frequently interpreted as lack of motivation or ability rather than as structural consequences of caregiving responsibilities. Within these spaces, marginalization and broader cultural stigmas surrounding illness, poverty, and caregiving are reproduced through everyday educational practices and social interactions. This article contributes to sociology of education debates by demonstrating how schools continue to reproduce inequality through everyday practices and institutional arrangements that privilege certain forms of childhood, competence, and participation while systematically disadvantaging those whose structural constraints prevent them from meeting expectations of the ‘ideal student’.