Abstract
This book is a reader that accompanies the Open University module Research with Children and Young People (EK313).
This informative and inspiring text takes the reader through the process of research design and the applications to research with children and young people.
The book is accessible to a wide range of readers at undergraduate and postgraduate level that informs a principled approach to understanding research design and implementation with models that are trans-disciplinary.
The book is organized in four sections that engage and help to formulate the readers’ understanding of the complexities and challenges that relate especially to research with children and young people. The four sections are: ‘Critical Issues in Research with Children and Young People’, ‘Methodological Approaches to Research with Children and Young People’, ‘The Reality of Research with Children and Young People’ and ‘Engaging Audiences and Disseminating Findings: The Impact of Research’.
The introduction provides a critical consideration and outline of the issues raised in the chapters for understanding of the critical issues in research with children and young people through identifying the relevance and purpose of including their participation in research – for example, how the cultural and social constructions of childhood influence former and contemporary research.
For section 1 the sociological and historical influences are presented and problematized, which include the discussion of the dominant discourses about children and young people, researcher’s perceptions and the influence of particular disciplines upon research. This text promotes a fuller understanding of the importance of theorizing research and constructions of childhood, which helps to contextualize the journey for societies and disciplines towards the contemporary view – for example, the child as ‘citizen’ with rights and as a competent participant in research processes. This section considers concepts such as children’s voice, agency and policy, underpinning a ‘rights-respecting’ stance in research and the ethics of participatory approaches with children and young people.
In sections 2 and 3 the chapters clearly convey the methodological aspects of research and types of design and methods.
The chapters consider the range of research, and challenges for the researcher in both role and understanding the research can inform practice through questioning how that may happen and whether it is relevant to evidence-based policy as a result, for example. Psychological and sociological studies are discussed and help to highlight the links between Early Childhood Studies and interdisciplinary work. Multimodal studies are included for the early years that help the reader to contextualize the younger children as competent, social actors who are able to participate in a meaningful way. The chapters in these two sections also address the adult role and the power relations between them and children in the research process – in particular, the interpretation of the adult about the research rather than the child’s interpretation of the research. This is essential to understanding the ethics and rights of children to participatory activities that are child-led. There are possibilities mentioned that can apply to research and pedagogy. Again these sections develop critical thinking through examples and case studies presented with practitioner challenges and realities. The strength of these sections is that they include the range of age groups through the case studies of the Mosaic approach and longitudinal case studies of the older children from an international perspective.
In section 4 the chapters demonstrate the critical issues that are facing contemporary researchers in terms of the policy impact that research with children and young people may bring about, if possible to improve the lives of children, and participatory multimodal research can be transformative. The historical and current European Union (EU), for example, is discussed and makes informative reading, helping readers to contextualize the relevance of children’s rights being realized as ethical in participatory research. In addition to this it assists researchers to understand how research and data can be used in addition to the methodological aspects of research, ethics underpinning the whole process being promoted.
I would recommend this reader as I consider that the book succeeds in its aim of inspiring critical thinking about diversity, political, social and cultural implications for including children and young people in participatory research within a multimodal paradigm that promotes an understanding of the rights of children and the ethics of participation.