Voices of young children aged 3–7 years in educational research: an international systematic literature review

Abstract

Although the importance of listening to children's voice is acknowledged in international literature, it is not clear whether educational researchers really listen to them and if they do, what research designs and methods facilitate that. Therefore, using the EPPI-centre approach (2007), a systematic literature review was undertaken of all papers published between 2015-2020 that indicated the author/s had listened to 3-7 year-old children's voice. The aim was to identify, appraise and synthesize international research focused on listening to their voice, and the research designs, methods of data collection and theoretical framework authors have used to achieve this. From the 74 studies that met the inclusion criteria we found that there was some evidence of listening to children's voice.However, there was a tendency to use adult-led methods rather than child-led methods along with the use of adult data sources for confirmation. Further, in many studies no specific theoretical framework was used. Based on our review of reviews, it is evident that this is the first international systematic review of its kind and provides unique insights that are relevant to researchers, professionals and policy makers internationally.

Using Creative Approaches and Facilitating Remote Online Focus Groups With Children and Young People: Reflections, Recommendations and Practical Guidance

“…Eliciting the voice of CYP is key to children’s rights, and Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) states it is the right of every child to have a voice, to be involved decisions that affect them, and should be actively involved in research exploring and understanding their views on matters related to them (United Nations, 1989). There is a growing priority for inclusive research involving CYP (Department of Health and NHS England, 2015; Inchley et al, 2020; United Nations, 1989; Urbina-Garcia et al, 2022), and as wellbeing provision is becoming a central feature of educational practice, exploring and understanding the perspectives of CYP is crucial in order to understand how best to meet their needs (Urbina-Garcia et al, 2022).…”

“…While focus groups are historically noted as a valuable means for collecting data with CYP (Morgan et al, 2002), typical question-answer formats may not be most appropriate for engaging with and eliciting the voices of all CYP (Wilkinson et al, 2021), and may not lend itself to remote working in the same way as in-person. Research with CYP should be drawing on more child-led approaches (Urbina-Garcia et al, 2022) and creative methodologies, such as drawing, writing, working on activities, games etc. can be successfully embedded within focus groups with CYP to help organise discussion and maintain concentration and interest (Bray et al, 2022; Wilkinson et al, 2021).…”

Access to Children’s Perspectives?

“…A systematic review of international research aimed at capturing the voices of young children (Urbina-Garcia et al 2022) reveals both a limited quantity of studies and a predominant use of adult-directed methods, such as structured interviews or focus group interviews. Similarly, the research indicates that questionnaires and interviews of older children are the most frequently applied methods when incorporating children's perspectives into the evaluation of pedagogical practices at daycare centres (Schwartz and Clark 2017).…”

Perspectives of children and young people with a sensory loss: opportunities and experiences of engagement in leisure activities

“…This development reflected legislative and policy developments in Scotland designed to strengthen the rights of children including the Children and Young people (Scotland) Act 2014 (Scottish Government, 2014) and the Children (Scotland) Act 2020(Scottish Government, 2020. However, researchers have offered a critical perspective on some the limitations of the UNCRC such as clarity in terminology and lack of consideration of cultural diversity (Urbina-Garcia et al, 2022). Despite these limitations, it is argued that researchers should, where possible, involve children and young people in research using appropriate methods.…”