Fireside Chat Online:Children as Researchers

Traditional research often focuses on the educator or adult in charge of leading the research direction and authoring it. Usually, children may be involved in the study by contributing to the researcher’s data collection, contributing content, creations and verbatim for the researcher’s analytical use. However, this is usually where the child’s contribution ends.

Researchers rarely consider children to be part of the research team. Instead, researchers typically observe and document what children say, do, or create. This approach positions children as subjects or objects of study (Dahl, 2014). As such, the onus of generating and authoring the research report falls on the adult researcher.

Kinash and Hoffman's (2008) analysis of literature explored case studies on school-based research, focusing on how teachers involved and supported children as co-researchers. Their review revealed that, in many instances, children participated as contributors or discussion members in the research process, while adults predominantly authored the publications. Notably, all the case studies reviewed “emphasised and practiced the importance of children’s collaboration and personal construction of knowledge within classroom contexts, the authors did not extend these principles and process beyond the classroom to the research plan, interpretation, or manuscript production” (p. 78).

What are some steps to enable adult researchers to recognise, respect and acknowledge the lived experiences, knowledge and viewpoints of children? We can look to Dahl’s example of first redefining our version of what a child is. While the list below is not comprehensive, it can act as a starting point for adult researchers and educators who want to empower and engage children as individuals capable of being co-authors in research. Here are some ways to begin the journey to redefine one’s version of a child through the following ways of:

• Listing our biases and personal judgments about what a child is capable of.

• Finding out the myriad ways that children communicate their needs, perspectives and ideas.

• Referring to pedagogies and organisations that view children as capable individuals through an abundance lens.

• Moving away from generalising isolated lived experiences with children, which could have contributed to one’s understanding of what a child is.

• Discussing with educators from various schools of pedagogic practice about teaching and learning with children.

• Engaging in dialogue with the primary caregivers of children to listen to their experiences of caring for children.

Dahl (2014) references the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, noting that “children in research have become recognised as individuals who are active agents in the world rather than passive participants. In research, then, they are recognised as capable of helping others co-produce new knowledge and understandings” (as cited in Christensen & Proust, 2002; McLaughlin, 2005, p. 596).

In the spirit of continuing the fireside chat session, let us continue to explore how conventional research traditions often treat children either as subjects who consent to research on adult-defined terms, or as objects who are observed and included in research activities without being informed about the purpose or process. Thereafter, let us consider and discuss how research might look different if children are included as co-researchers and co-authors.

When children are seen as capable individuals empowered to co-create knowledge based on their lived experiences and perspectives, four key questions arise for continuing the discussion of the fireside chat topic of ‘Children as Researchers’ in our BSSEDU forum discussion:

1. What research methodologies are accessible and appropriate for involving children as active co-researchers in collaboration with educators and other researchers?

2. What barriers prevent educators from seeing children as research partners, and how might these be addressed?

3. What beliefs and attitudes do adults need to genuinely support and value children as capable researchers?

4. How can research involving children as co-researchers and co-authors be shared in ways that honour their voices and contributions?

References

Dahl, T. I. (2014). Children as researchers: We have a lot to learn. In M. Melton (Ed.),
The SAGE Handbook of Child Research (pp. 593–618). Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446294758.n30

Kinash, S., & Hoffman, M. (2008). Child as Researcher: Within and Beyond the Classroom.
Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 33(6).
https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2008v33n6.6