Children in the Driver's Seat

Engaging with Student Voice in Research, Education and Community

“…These processes have certainly been recognized by Lolichen et al (2006) who investigated with children in India the difficulties that they encountered with transport, mobility and access within a large program "Concerned for Working with Children". The sites selected for study were underdeveloped villages, poor and lacking in transport and mobility facilities.…”

Why Research ‘by’ Children? Rethinking the Assumptions Underlying the Facilitation of Children as Researchers

“…Fielding, ,b, ; Roberts and Nash, ; Thomson and Gunter, , ). Other examples include: Lolichen and others () who facilitated children's research on mobility and access to services in local communities in India, South Africa and Ghana; Kellett and Dar () who were commissioned by a charity to arrange for primary school children to conduct research under the wider theme of literacy and poverty; and Tarapdar and others () who report about children who were associated with a charity conducting research on cyber‐bullying which was an area of interest to that organisation.…”

“…Some positive evidence can be found where it has influenced decision‐making in various contexts including schools, local communities and the national policy level (e.g. Fielding, ; Kellett, ; Lolichen and others, ; Raymond, ). Based on these studies, it is possible to argue that, where these outcomes were not achieved, this might reflect shortcomings in implementation rather than suggesting that research by children cannot be a means for fulfilling children's rights per se .…”

“…Second, while some studies report that, on completing research, children gained self‐esteem and/or confidence (e.g. Kellett, ; Lolichen and others, ; Roberts and Nash, ), it is not always clear what this self‐esteem and confidence were about or what it led to. For example, while Kellett and others (:341) report that some children became ‘politically active’ concerning their own rights, why did other instances of raised self‐esteem and confidence not appear to lead to distinct desires for change?…”

Child poverty, evidence and policyMainstreaming children in international development

“…This work highlights the importance of children's gendered experiences of poverty (Chakraborty, 2009), the way in which age mediates children's understandings of risk and care-seeking behaviour (Baker, 1996), the distinctive meanings children attach to poverty (e.g. while adults identified the absence of clean water as a key concern children focused on experiences of shame) (Harpham et al, 2005;Lolichen et al, 2006), and the value of employing interactive research methodologies (such as photography, daily diaries, mobility maps and drawings) to draw out children's views (Sapkota and Sharma, 1996;Theis, 1996).…”