Children as Research Collaborators: Issues and Reflections from a Mobility Study in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Porter, Gina; Hampshire, Kate; Bourdillon, Michael; Robson, Elsbeth; Munthali, Alister; Abane, Albert; Mashiri, Mac

doi:10.1007/s10464-010-9317-x

Cited by 57 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 20 publications

(26 reference statements)

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“…Involving children as co-investigators or so called peer researchers in studies has taken many forms. Adult researchers have included children of all ages, although the dominant cohort usually consists of teenagers and young adults, in the design stage of projects (Kellett, 2011), data collection practices (Nairn et al, 2007;Porter et al, 2010;Schäfer & Yarwood, 2008) and analysis (Coad & Evans, 2008;Nind, 2011) as well as in the dissemination of findings (Kellett, 2004). 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.…”

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%

“…The majority of presenters celebrated co-investigation as the 'best' partnership between children and adults. Implicitly, there was a strong message to follow their example and involve child researchers in studies to overcome uneven power relations in the traditional adult-child research relationship, unveil children's most 'authentic' voice, and empower children in all areas of their life (see also Beazley, Bessell, Ennew, & Waterson, 2009;Porter et al, 2010). Nairn, Higgins and Sligo (2007, p. 2) have already highlighted that the use of youth as researchers is "often underpinned by unspoken assumptions that involving children and young people as researchers is a good thing in and of itself".…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

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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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%

Section: Introductionmentioning

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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“…There is no one-size-fits all approach to determining when and how children and young people should become involved in research projects. However, many recent discussions of the ethics of involving children and young people in research have erred on the side of adjusting research procedures to minimise the potential for harm, rather than excluding children and young people from research in order to protect them (Matthews et al 1998;Robson 2001;Porter et al 2010;Alderson and Morrow 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Participatory action research: The distress of (not) making a difference

Klocker

2015

Emotion, Space and Society

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Participatory action research (PAR) is alluring for researchers investigating traumatic and sensitive topics. While it is distressing for interviewees to recount these stories -and for researchers to hear them -PAR promises to make the pain worthwhile. Something good will come of it. In this paper, I reflect on a PAR project conducted with Tanzanian child domestic workers. Research vignettes are used to highlight moments of emotional complexity unique to PAR projects. First, the emotional burdens of PAR are distributed across a research team. Researchers need to think carefully about the appropriate 'level' of participation to pursue. Second, there is no guarantee that the impacts of PAR projects will be unambiguously positive. The risk of doing more harm than good can weigh heavily on the minds of the research team. Third, when PAR projects are conceived with the intent of producing long-lasting structural changes that benefit marginalised people, 'failure' can become a source of great distress. Those attempting PAR need to be prepared for the emotional pitfalls of research endeavours that seek to tangibly intervene in traumatised people's lives.

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“…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).…”

Section: Ethics Of Engagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Educating Future Planners about Working with Children and Young People

Rudner

2017

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Planning and urban design professionals should ensure they engage children/young people in their work so planning systems and strategic policy can be more inclusive of the needs and aspirations of children/young people. Yet practitioners do not necessarily view children/young people as legitimate stakeholders, and professionals do not necessarily have the skills to be inclusive. To shift current policy and practice, planners and designers need to be better educated so they can facilitate children's/young people's contributions as well as advocate effectively for systemic change. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the UNICEF Child Friendly Cities provide legitimacy and direction for current and future professionals about why engagement with children/young people should be a fundamental part of professional practice. However, it's important that students and practitioners learn how to engage with children/young people ethically. A key starting point is the way in which education is constituted as ethical practice when conducting research and engagement activities with children/young people. Lansdown's (2011) requirements for ethical engagement are applied to reflexively evaluate the design and implementation of a university subject, delivered in Victoria, Australia, that trains future planners about how to work with children and young people.

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Children as Research Collaborators: Issues and Reflections from a Mobility Study in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Cited by 57 publications

References 20 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

Participatory action research: The distress of (not) making a difference

Educating Future Planners about Working with Children and Young People

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