Being Children: Children’s Voices on Childhood

Abstract

Situated in the context of children’s rights, this article reports on a study involving children from 11 countries and 5 continents in philosophical discussions about concepts of child and childhood. Here we focus on seven of those countries. In a previous study, two of the authors explored in what kind of society children would like to live. The present study directly addresses one of the issues arising from that study: to investigate what children think childhood is and their place in society. The study raises issues around children’s participation related to their conceptions of child and childhood.

Research with children: a philosophical, rights-based approach

“…To give a sense of a CoPI dialogue, an excerpt from a transcript where CoPI was used as a research method is presented below (see Cassidy, Conrad et al, 2017) (figure 1). It is taken from the first seven minutes of the session.…”

“…Indeed, PwC generally, and CoPI specifically, is facilitated with children as young as four who engage in structured but freeflowing dialogue (e.g. Cassidy, Conrad et al 2017;Conrad et al 2015;McCall 1991;Daniel and Auriac 2011).…”

“…It affords participants power that they may not have in other contexts because they are able to direct the dialogue and be explicit about their definition of terms. Interestingly, the children in the project (Cassidy, Conrad et al 2017) on children's philosophical considerations of childhood constructed notions of adulthood across the groups, and this was because they raised the concept and interrogated it amongst themselves. It would be foolish to suggest the researcher rescinds all power because, at least at the outset, she proposes the focus for the inquiry; she presents the stimulus or question to provoke the dialogue, but the turn the dialogue takes resides with the participants, thereby diminishing the facilitator's power somewhat in relation to the content of the dialogue (see, for example, Bartels, Onstenk and Veugelers 2016;Cassidy 2016).…”

“…The authors would like to acknowledge the Children's Voices on Childhood Project (see Cassidy, Conrad et al 2017) of which this article is part. We would also like to acknowledge…”

“…These specific features support the claim that it may be used as a rights-based research method, providing a valuable addition to the methods available in the field of research with children. In this article, we will defend this claim by describing the unique structure of CoPI based on studies where we have used it as an empirical research tool (Conrad, Cassidy, and Mathis 2015;Cassidy, Conrad et al 2017;Conrad, Mathis, and Cassidy et al 2018). Pascal and Bertram (2014) note that significant reconsideration of research and practice is needed to ensure that children can enjoy the rights afforded them by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (United Nations, 1989) and that the reframing of this research and practice should be 'inclusive, participatory and action focused' (272).…”