‘We’re not useless, we know stuff!’ Gathering children’s voices to inform policy

Abstract

‘We’re not useless, we know stuff!’, said a four-year-old when asked why adults should ask him what he thinks about his experiences at his early learning centre. This paper describes the literature and methods used to gather children’s voices in early childhood and education (ECEC) settings across Stage 1 and 2 of the 3 stage national Learning Frameworks Update project. Asking children about their ideas and experiences was undertaken by familiar educators using research tools designed and supported by the research team. The methods of dialogic drawing, talking circles and visual elicitation were described and further explained to enable educators to gather children’s perspectives on their learning experiences in ECEC contexts. We reflect on the efficacy of these methods, approaches and strategies to support meaning-making from a diverse representation of children and how this can influence policy decision-making.

Do children have a right to do nothing? Exploring the place of passive leisure in Australian school age care

“…State and territory government officers involved in the assessment and rating of SAC services were invited to share their views in a series of focus groups. Stakeholder feedback, along with an international review of literature and curriculum frameworks (Barblett et al, 2021), were used to inform the writing of a discussion paper with 20 recommendations for updating the frameworks. The recommendations pertained to the principles that underpinned educator practices including concepts such as relational pedagogy, sustainability, and collaboration with children and community partners, and practices such as holistic ways of working, intentionality and supporting children's play.…”

“…In Stage 1, perspectives were sought on the 2011 MTOP from families, educators, approved providers and associated professionals via surveys. Children and young people’s views were sought through multi-modal methods of via drawings, photo elicitation and/or Talking Circles (Barblett et al, 2022). State and territory government officers involved in the assessment and rating of SAC services were invited to share their views in a series of focus groups.…”

“…Drawing consultations took a ‘draw and talk’ approach where children were asked to draw pictures about their experiences of SAC and educators would ask open-ended questions about the meanings of and motivations for their pictures. This form of consultation is now widely used in settings for young children (Barblett et al, 2022). Drawing is a familiar, comfortable and non-confrontational medium for many children (Einarsdottir et al, 2009).…”

Engaging stakeholders to inform policy developments in early childhood education and outside school hours care

“…The ALFs are generally highly regarded in Australia and, increasingly, as exemplars of good policy practice internationally (Barblett et al, 2021). It was important when refreshing these national frameworks that stakeholders were engaged to garner a wide range of perspectives from different user interface points.…”

Child-Led Research with Young Children: Challenging the Ways to Do Research

“…The need to develop meaningful research methods for younger children is increasingly recognised in the literature (e.g., Barblett et al 2022;Palaiologou 2014). While observation (usually by adults) has proven a powerful tool in many research studies with young children (e.g., Blaisdell 2012;Konstantoni and Kustatscher 2016;McNair 2016), there remain hard questions to ask about how fully that can represent children's 'views' because of the power of the observer-what they choose to observe and note down-and the interpreter of these observations (e.g., Barblett et al 2022). Even if non-verbal methods are used, such as drawing, model making or photographs, childhood research will often invite children to discuss their creations as a subsequent part of the research process, with that discussion becoming the key data for analysis (Clark 2017).…”