IntroductionIn the year 2016, alone, Swaziland had about 150,000 vulnerable children in the country's schools-a drastic increase from 78,000 in 2015 (Simelane, 2016). The Kingdom of Swaziland (2010) defines a vulnerable child as one, with or without parents, who lacks the basic needs for survival, and is living in circumstances with high risk, and whose prospects for health, growth, and development are seriously impaired, mostly due to the effects of HIV and AIDS. Within the Swaziland education system, vulnerable children are considered to include orphans, children living in child-headed households, and those from poor social and economic backgrounds. Vulnerable children are locally referred to as bantfwana bendlunkhulu [those cared for by the whole community] and whose educational fees are paid by the government. Although the reasons that render children vulnerable may differ, for instance, orphaned children, those experiencing childhood poverty, and children living in child-headed households in Swaziland, these children share one thing-and that is vulnerability and poverty (Nordtveit, 2010). It is against this backdrop that the study adopted the concept of vulnerable children in order to understand the shared real-life schooling experiences of these children. Although the article is about vulnerable children's experiences within school (or learning) spaces, we avoided referring to them as vulnerable learners so as to emphasise the social (rather than the didactical) dimensions of the vulnerable children's real-life schooling experiences.In 1990, Swaziland committed itself to the Eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG) aimed at focusing on poverty and the needs of all children by 2015 (Khumalo, 2013). The country also became a signatory to the Dakar Framework for Action: Education for All, which formed the basis for inclusive educational policies in the country (Kingdom of Swaziland, 2011). By signing these declarations, the state devoted itself to improving education, especially for the most vulnerable and underprivileged children in the country (UNESCO, 2000). Guided by these conventions, in 2003, the government of Swaziland introduced the Orphaned and Vulnerable Children's (OVC) fund to cater for vulnerable children's educational fees (Kingdom of Swaziland, 2012). The country's constitution of 2005 also offered a legal framework for the rights of all children and set an objective of free primary education (Kingdom of Swaziland, 2005). In 2011, the Ministry of Education and Training consequently designed the Education Sector Policy, which was underpinned by international, regional, and national declarations on the rights of all children. This policy outlines the state's goals towards the improvement of vulnerable children's lives by identifying, monitoring, and accommodating their educational needs (Kingdom of Swaziland, 2011).Even after adopting the aforementioned conventions, laws, and policies, Swaziland has not fully succeeded in implementing them at a practical level (Sukati, 2013). For example, Nordtveit (2010) found that school practices, and teachers in Swaziland, still exclude vulnerable children; and these children were also found to have a predisposition for exploitation and sexual abuse by some teachers (Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse, 2013), which forces them to drop out of school (Nordtveit, 2010) at a higher rate than children who are not regarded as vulnerable. Such a scenario increases vulnerable children's risk of being trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and vulnerability because it deprives them of their right to education, which is a prerequisite for a better and gracious later life. It actually contravenes vulnerable children's right to basic learning needs of fair and dignified treatment, which is necessary for them to complete quality school education (UNESCO, 2000) as ratified by the Dakar Framework for Action, to which Swaziland subscribes. Clearly, more needs to be done, therefore, to comprehend the daily life experiences of vulnerable children in light of these possible policy-practice discrepancies. …

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斯威士兰的脆弱性和儿童现实生活中的学习经历

简介仅在2016年，斯威士兰就在该国的学校中有大约15万名弱势儿童，比2015年的7.8万名大幅增加（Simelane，2016年）。斯威士兰王国（2010）将弱势儿童定义为一个有父母或没有父母的孩子，他们缺乏生存的基本需求，并且生活在高风险的环境中，其健康，成长和发展的前景受到严重损害，主要是由于艾滋病毒和艾滋病的影响。在斯威士兰教育体系内，弱势儿童被视为包括孤儿，生活在以孩子为户主的家庭中的儿童以及来自社会和经济背景较差的儿童。弱势儿童在当地被称为“ bantfwana bentlunkhulu”（整个社区照顾的儿童），其教育费由政府支付。尽管使儿童变得脆弱的原因可能有所不同，例如孤儿，经历童年贫困的儿童以及生活在斯威士兰以孩子为户主的家庭的儿童，但这些儿童有共同点-脆弱性和贫困（Nordtveit，2010）。在这种背景下，研究采用了弱势儿童的概念，以便了解这些儿童在现实生活中的共同学习经历。尽管该文章是关于弱势儿童在学校（或学习）空间中的经历的，但我们避免将他们称为弱势学习者，以强调弱势儿童现实生活中的学习经历的社会（而非教学）维度.1990年，斯威士兰致力于实现“八项千年发展目标”（MDG），旨在到2015年关注贫困和所有儿童的需求（Khumalo，2013年）。该国还成为《达喀尔行动框架：全民教育》的签署国，该框架构成了该国包容性教育政策的基础（斯威士兰王国，2011年）。通过签署这些宣言，国家致力于改善教育，特别是针对该国最弱势和最贫困儿童的教育（联合国教科文组织，2000年）。在这些公约的指导下，斯威士兰政府于2003年推出了孤儿和弱势儿童基金会（OVC），以支付弱势儿童的教育费用（斯威士兰王国，2012年）。国家 2005年的宪法还为所有儿童的权利提供了法律框架，并设定了免费初等教育的目标（斯威士兰王国，2005年）。因此，2011年，教育和培训部设计了《教育部门政策》，该政策得到了有关所有儿童权利的国际，区域和国家宣言的支持。该政策概述了该州通过识别，监控和适应其教育需求来改善弱势儿童生活的目标（斯威士兰王国，2011年）。即使通过了上述公约，法律和政策，斯威士兰也未能完全成功地实施他们在实践层面上（Sukati，2013）。例如，Nordtveit（2010）发现，斯威士兰的学校习俗和教师仍然排斥弱势儿童。并且一些老师还发现这些孩子容易遭受剥削和性虐待（斯威士兰反对虐待行动小组，2013年），这迫使他们辍学（Nordtveit，2010年）的辍学率要高于那些未受教育的孩子。被视为弱势群体。这种情况增加了易受害儿童陷入贫困和脆弱性恶性循环的风险，因为这剥夺了他们受教育的权利，这是改善美好生活的前提。它实际上违反了弱势儿童的获得公平和有尊严待遇的基本学习权利的权利，而这对于他们完成斯威士兰认可的《达喀尔行动纲领》所批准的高质量学校教育（联合国教科文组织，2000年）是必要的。显然，还需要做更多的工作，根据这些可能的政策实践差异来理解弱势儿童的日常生活。…