Abstract
This paper reflects on the author’s own experience of the multi-textual performative presentation created collaboratively by 36 children from years five and six at a Sydney primary school for the pre-conference Symposium at the 2009 ISCI Conference ‘Counting Children In.’ The first section discusses the principles and processes that framed the work undertaken with the children, and the second part considers how these principles and processes might inform practices in child research more generally. The author was the facilitator of this University Engagement Project. The processes used by the facilitator to mentor this group of primary school children through the creative development of their performative presentation is described, with particular emphasis on the development of creative space, and the methods and practice that provided the children with the time, space, resources and skills to think about, reflect upon, and create a qualitative framework in which they could discuss their feelings and ideas about their chosen concept of maturity. The concept (of maturity) emerged in discussion as one of the most significant influences on the relationships, freedoms and responsibilities that are part of their lives on a daily basis. Their primary concern was to explore reactions to, and understandings of, adult constructs of maturity—how variable these constructs can be and how arbitrary and inflexible decisions that emerge from them can seem to children. All images, films, and written texts were created or chosen by the children, and editing undertaken or supervised by them. Reflections on the principles of creative collaboration that informed the design of this project will be discussed; and creative and relational research methods will be considered in the context of what ‘child inclusive’ research can mean in practice. The paper also considers; the role of the adult (including the adult researcher) as mentor/facilitator and collaborative partner; the implications of that role, and the tensions that surround it, in the development of new approaches to research practice.
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I would like to acknowledge each and every one of the children who collaborated on the symposium project and shared their considerable insight, inspiration and hard work. I thank them for the privilege of working alongside them.
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Dr Ainslie Yardley is a novelist, theatre artist, and multi-media essayist. Her research, teaching and academic publications incorporate new methodologies and multi-disciplinary approaches including embodied creativity and narrative theory. She is an independent researcher associated with Social Justice Social Change Research at the University of Western Sydney. Her current work is focused on creative research with both children and adults, and includes collaborative work in diverse communities.
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Yardley, A.C. Children as Experts in Their Own Lives: Reflections on the Principles of Creative Collaboration. Child Ind Res 4, 191–204 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-010-9102-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-010-9102-2