Abstract
How can the perspectives, insights and interests of young children, under 6 years-old, be given status in processes of change? This paper will examine the contribution participatory and visual methods can make to enabling young children to document their experiences and to facilitate exchange with adults. Examples will be drawn from three research studies in educational settings which have developed a specific research method, the Mosaic approach (Clark and Moss 2001; Clark 2004; Clark 2005) which brings together visual and verbal research tools. This paper will discuss how researching with young children rather than on young children can redraw the boundaries between adults’ and children’s roles in the research process including the relationship with the research audience.
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Notes
This study was titled the ‘Modern Childhood in the Nordic Countries Project’ (BASUN).
A Reception class is the first year of compulsory schooling in England.
A Children’s Centre is an English government initiative to bring together services for families and children under 6 years old.
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Acknowledgment
I would like to thank the children, practitioners, architects and parents who have taken part in the case studies described. The Living Spaces study is funded by the Bernard van Leer Foundation. An earlier draft of this paper was presented as a paper at the European Early Childhood Education Research Association Pre Conference on Qualitative Research Methods in 2007.
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Clark, A. Young Children as Protagonists and the Role of Participatory, Visual Methods in Engaging Multiple Perspectives. Am J Community Psychol 46, 115–123 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-010-9332-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-010-9332-y