Children's participation in ethnographic research: Issues of power and representation

Abstract

The recognition of children's social agency and active participation in research has significantly changed children's position within the human and social sciences and led to a weakening of taken-forgranted assumptions found in more conventional approaches to child research. In order to hear the voices of children in the representation of their own lives it is important to employ research practices such as reflexivity and dialogue. These enable researchers to enter into children's 'cultures of communication'. Drawing on detailed examples from an ethnographic study on child health and self-care, the article examines issues of power, voice and representation central to

Accessing a ‘very, very secret garden’: exploring children’s and young people’s literacy practices using participatory research methods

“…Franks (2011) suggests a 'pocket of participation' approach where children and young people are consulted as to when and how they would like to engage in the study. Christensen (2004) notes that modern ethnographic research-in which participant observation is used-is fundamentally participatory because it involves a complex and constant negotiation of roles and power relationships between the researcher and the participants which do not necessarily fit the traditional adult-children power relationship. Cheney (2007Cheney ( , 2011) calls child-centred ethnography a participatory ethnography in which the main concern is 'to create spaces for meaningful participation to challenge broader structures of power' (Cheney, 2011, p. 167).…”

“…According to Christensen (2004), researchers have to understand and enter children's 'cultures of communication' in order to create a fruitful dialogical research process. Similarly, Ulvik (2014) considers conversation as central to participation in research and suggests 'three possible analytical perspectives on the relation between conversations and participation: conversations as means for participation, participation as a theme for conversations, and conversations as a form of participation ' (p. 196).…”

“…This method was inspired by Pahl and Rowsell's work on 'artifactual literacies' (Pahl & Rowsell, 2010;Pahl, 2004). The use of literacy artefacts during the interviews provided a way of exploring what young people see as important in terms of literacy in their life and to enter their 'cultures of communication' (Christensen, 2004). This method was useful in both collecting rich data and in building better relationships with the participants.…”

Educating Future Planners about Working with Children and Young People

“…This corpus includes studies about children's/young people's citizenship and right to participate in decisions affecting their lives (Simpson, 1997;Tonucci & Rissotto, 2001), their participatory competence (Chawla & Heft, 2002;Frank, 2006), methods (Driskell, 2002;Horelli, 1998;Porter et al, 2010) and ethics (Aldridge, 2012;Christensen, 2004;Lansdown, 2011;Morrow & Richards, 1996). Furthermore, there is a growing literature examining the pedagogical and practical outcomes that emerge when university students, children/young peo-ple and professionals work together on planning and design projects (Derr, 2015;Derr, Chawla, Mintzer, Cushing, & Van Vliet, 2013;Torres, 2012).…”

‘I am not clever, they are cleverer than us’: children reading in the primary school

“…The study sought to allow them space and credibility on a topic of great importance in their lives. It took for granted that children are agentic, socially competent actors, able to be interviewed and to comment upon the social world of the primary school in which they find themselves (James, Jenks, and Prout 1998;Lee 1998;Qvortrup 2004;Christensen 2004) if given time to be listened to seriously.…”