‘If you were the researcher what would you research?’: understanding children's perspectives on educational research in Mongolia and Zambia

Abstract

This paper draws on data from a project undertaken with children (N ¼ 72) in Mongolia and Zambia. The research is distinctive in bringing together diverse children, ranging from those living on the street to those in mainstream education and involving them in discussions about educational research. Being conscious of critiques of adult-initiated research as well as being influenced by work on participatory action research and research on understanding children's perspectives, we were keen to hear the views of children about research and how research should be carried out. This included enabling children's participation in discussions about potential research areas that could be focused upon as well as discussions about ethical issues and methodology. In this paper we report on our experiences of involving children in discussions about research and explore the numerous insights that the children provided. We conclude that while understanding children's perspectives on research and including children in the research process is important there are many issues which arise from doing so and which need to be reflected upon. These include issues around power and identity, the importance of the context, including local expectations of children as well as children's prior experiences, including how 'vulnerable' children are represented.

Participation, empowerment and capacity building: Exploring young people's perspectives on the services provided to them by a grassroots NGO in sub-Saharan Africa

“…Southern & Pralhad (2003) found something similar in their research in Nepal where some of the 'street children' characterised themselves as 'delinquents' and blamed themselves for the situation that they found themselves in. Thus discourses and regimes of representation which position certain children in a particular way may not only have influenced how children who lived on the street were viewed and engaged with but also influenced how this group of children constructed their identity and experienced their identity in particular contexts (Said 1978;Freire 1985;Spivak 1988;Morgan & Sengedorj 2015). Rowland's (1995) discussion of 'power over' is relevant here and how those who are oppressed can often internalise how they are represented by the more powerful.…”

Conducting photo methodologies with children: framing ethical concerns relating to representation, voice and data analysis when exploring educational inclusion with children

“…In the previous section three key ethical aspects that arose from conducting a photoelicitation project with children and young people were explored by positioning children and young people as competent, socially knowledgeable insiders (Cowie and Khoo, 2017;Morgan and Sengedorj, 2015) who can provide insight into the everyday workings of educational inclusion. This was facilitated by the adoption of a participatory and multimodal approach that was pedagogically ethical and inclusive.…”

“…As Allen (2011) has argued, photo methodologies are particularly effective in controversial areas of investigation, as they can be a means of documenting official and unofficial discourse around a topic, and can raise 'insider' concerns, thus making the invisible, visible. In asking children and young people to independently take the photographs, it was anticipated that the issues and interests that were pertinent to them would be the focus, rather than investing control and power over the choice of topics with teachers or researchers (Morgan and Sengedorj;Wall, 2017). The aim was for the process of creating and discussing the photographs to present the experiences of children and young people themselves rather than re-producing adult-centric perspectives.…”

“…In four cases, the schools chose instead to be involved in the later part of the study where the cartoonised images were discussed with groups of pupils to draw out ideas about, and problems with, educational inclusion. Despite the challenges, it was felt that the concerns of school staff were manageable and outweighed by the benefits of asking children to take photographs or discuss the cartoonised images, since this multimodal approach assisted the accessing of perspectives and experiences which are all too often unheard (Allen, 2011;Boxall and Ralph, 2009;Morgan and Sengedorj;Nind et al, 2012).…”

“…This might be achieved by exploring day to day experiences, in order that researchers and education practitioners can better grasp how "abstract and contested concepts become embedded in the relational, temporal and spatial dimensions of teaching and learning" (Prosser and Loxley, 2007:58). Such research is not intended as a criticism of schools or those working with children, but as a way to better understand the often unheard experiences of children (Slee, 2011;Morgan and Sengedorj, 2015). Taking this stance, the four researchers involved in the research discussed in this paper sought to better understand a range views about inclusion and inclusive practices by investigating how these contested concepts are experienced in educational settings.…”