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

Kim, Chae Young

doi:10.1111/chso.12133

Cited by 56 publications

(79 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(55 reference statements)

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“…Another motivator to embark on such research was that adult researchers believed that child researchers gained more authentic insights into children's life worlds than adults (Freeman & Mathison, 2009;Kim, 2016;Nairn et al, 2007). Involving children as co-investigators or so called peer researchers in studies has taken many forms.…”

Section: The Development Of Employing Children As Researchersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These studies-which follow on from the example of others (see for example Alderson, 2001;Boocock, 1981;Oldfather, 1995)-have contributed to the popularisation of children as researchers. While only a few studies have worked with children or young people throughout the entire cycle of a project (Cahill, 2004;Kellett, 2011;McLaughlin, 2005) the ones that do tend to be small scale or train a well selected number of teenagers or young adults in research practices and procedures often on a one-on-one basis (Åkerström, Aytar, & Brunnberg, 2015;Fleming & Boeck, 2012;Kellett, 2005;Kim, 2016;Marsh, 2012;Porter et al, 2010).…”

Section: The Development Of Employing Children As Researchersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In other words, employing children as researchers is viewed as morally and ethically superior compared to adults being the sole drivers of a study. Critical voices are a whisper in this context (Alderson, 2012;Holland, Renold, Ross, & Hillman, 2010;Kim, 2016;Wyness, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Advocating for a More Relational and Dynamic Model of Participation for Child Researchers

Ergler

2017

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Primary school children participating as researchers has become a moral obligation to meet the goal of children's participation rights. Yet, critical voices rarely question the ethical and practical implications of turning young children into mini-clones of adult researchers. While enabling and constraining aspects of participatory methods and inherent power issues per se are widely discussed, adult researchers still seem to struggle to critically engage with celebratory accounts of children as researchers. In particular, the practical obligations, ethical challenges and tensions that impact on primary school children's research experiences, are underexplored. Findings from two projects on play, which engaged children as active researchers, suggest that more attention needs to be paid to the messy realities of becoming and being a child researcher. In particular, researchers should be more attuned to children's capabilities and the ethical hurdles for child and adult researchers. This article argues therefore for a more dynamic, meaningful and realistic model of participation, that speaks to the messy realities of becoming and being a child-researcher. In other words, the article questions the dominant orthodoxy of children as researchers as the 'gold standard' of participatory research with children.

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Section: The Development Of Employing Children As Researchersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Development Of Employing Children As Researchersmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Advocating for a More Relational and Dynamic Model of Participation for Child Researchers

Ergler

2017

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“…In particular, Kim (2015) suggests that the way such research is often understood and practiced is fraught with the assumptions of the adults who facilitate it and argues for a critical rethinking of such assumptions -including those about children's epistemological 'vantage points' in researching children and whether such research helps fulfil their rights.…”

Section: Children As Researchers: Conceptual and Empirical Ambiguitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, in published research, and other than when they have acted as co-researchers with adults, children younger than 8-9 years do not appear to have acted as primary researchers. Given this, Kim (2015) suggests that social competency alone may be insufficient to act as a primary researcher.…”

Section: Is Children's Research 'Research'?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Participation or pedagogy? Ambiguities and tensions surrounding the facilitation of children as researchers

Kim

2016

Childhood

Self Cite

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Ambiguities and tensions can arise when children are facilitated to act as 'primary researchers' concerning whether this is primarily to support their 'participation' in knowledge production and, with the knowledge produced, in relevant decision-making processes or whether it is mainly for any educational benefits. This paper considers these ambiguities and tensions theoretically and by using evidence from a study where English primary school children were supported to conduct their own research projects. It concludes that, while the boundaries between children's research as participation and pedagogy can be ambiguous, it should not be promoted for its potential educational benefits alone.

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The consequences of being labelled ‘looked‐after’: Exploring the educational experiences of looked‐after children and young people in Wales

Mannay

Evans

Staples

et al. 2017

British Educational Res J

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The educational experiences and attainment of looked-after children and young people (LACYP) remains an issue of widespread international concern. Within the UK, children and young people in care achieve poorer educational outcomes compared to individuals not in care. Despite proliferation of research documenting the reasons for educational disadvantage amongst this population, there remains limited empirical consideration of the lived experiences of the educational system, as perceived by LACYP themselves. This paper draws upon qualitative research with 67 care-experienced children and young people in Wales. The sample was aged 6-27 years, and comprised 27 females and 40 males. Participants had experienced a range of care placements. Findings focus on how educational policies and practices alienate LACYP from dominant discourses of educational achievement through assignment of the 'supported' subject position, where children and young people are permitted and even encouraged not to succeed academically due to their complex and disrupted home circumstances. However, such diminished expectations are rejected by LACYP, who want to be pushed and challenged in the realisation of their potential. The paper argues that more differentiated understandings of LACYP's aspirations and capabilities need to be embedded into everyday practices, to ensure that effective educational support systems are developed.

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

Cited by 56 publications

References 31 publications

Advocating for a More Relational and Dynamic Model of Participation for Child Researchers

Advocating for a More Relational and Dynamic Model of Participation for Child Researchers

Participation or pedagogy? Ambiguities and tensions surrounding the facilitation of children as researchers

The consequences of being labelled ‘looked‐after’: Exploring the educational experiences of looked‐after children and young people in Wales

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