New kids on the block! Sharing the research arena with children and young people

1. New kids on the block! Sharing the research arena with children and young people ICYRN Conference UCLAN 5th Sep 2012 Professor Mary Kellett m.kellett@open.ac.uk Director, Children’s Research Centre http://childrens-research-centre.open.ac.uk

2. Starting position • children-as-researchers now in common parlance - albeit still a contested concept in some quarters • child-led research is increasingly being sought, cited and valued • we need to move on from rationale chest-beating and begin to address evolution issues…. • children observe with different eyes • ask different questions • have different concerns • immediate access to a peer culture where adults are outsiders • leap-frogs adult filters • mitigates mediation in adult accounts of children’s views • child-child data quintessentially different from adult-child

3. Brief rehearsal of emancipatory context • historically, research has been based on an adult way of looking at the world and therefore the ensuing knowledge generated is in the adult experience. The legitimacy of research into children’s worlds and children’s lived experiences where the research is conceived wholly from an adult perspective is open to challenge -has some parallels with feminist and disability research approaches • whose interest does the research serve? Who owns the research? Whom is the research for? • the interests of children and young people, as a relatively powerless group, are served when they set their own agendas and lead their own research • evaluation data suggests that children’s engagement in research, particularly when this is about issues of concern to them, results in an augmentation of agency in their own and other children’s lives. • Paradigm shift: children design and lead their own research, set their own research agendas and share the research arena with adults

4. Moving On - Evolution issues • How to receive ch&yp’s research? • How to evaluate it? • Where does ch&yp’s research sit in the childhood research spectrum? • Ethical complexities • Inclusion issues • Empowerment • Age and competency issues • Advocacy or exploitation? • Will there be a backlash?

5. How to receive research by ch&yp It’s not lamb dressed up as mutton! • diversity of research voice (song, drama, video documentary, podcasts, role play, photo diary, audio/video diaries, adult-style research reports) • small scale • ch&ypcannot be full time researchers (have full time day job) • qualitative snapshots have the potential to build a powerful montage and/or uncover sufficient evidence to prompt larger-scale studies • peer language • putting a value on insider perspective

6. Evaluation of ch&yp’s research? • ch&yp peer evaluation? • adult evaluation – with or without adult metrics? • drivers for critical scrutiny – context, validity, rigour… • ch&yp are not a homogenous group – their research must not be received as ‘one-size-fits-all’ • rights bring responsibilities

7. Where does ch&yp’s research sit in childhood research spectrum? • complementary body of research knowledge constructed from insider perspective • Is not in competition with adult-led childhood research • Does not seek to supplant other forms of childhood research • flat rather than hierarchical spectrum • Need for transactional dialogue across and between research about, with and by ch&yp

8. Transactional research dialogue

9. Ethical complexities • Ethical codes and guidelines • Layers of ethical committees including those convened by ch&yp • Power relations • Ch&yp representation on boards, trusts, committees –feasibility, continuity and sustainability issues? • Whose research is it? who gains? • Should ch&yp be recompensed for time spent on child-led research?

10. Pause for thought…. • ? As children-as-researchers evolves do we need to develop a universal international code of research ethics via e.g. the UN Committee of the Rights of the Child

11. Children as researchers children with learning difficulties children from minority ethnic groups children with physical disabilities child refugees /asylum seekers travellers Children as participants consider alternative/additional methods that are not dependent on age, or competence in literary and/or numeracy. Inclusion issues

12. Age and competency issues • Age and/or competency issues should not be consigned to the ‘too difficult’ pile (analogy with pedagogical inclusion debates) • realism has to be accommodated • build research capacity into early education programmes, acquisition of early ‘research skills’ • investment in quality research training for ch&yp

13. Empowerment • empowerment goes beyond recognising children’s rights and acknowledging their expertise... • It’s about providing opportunities for meaningful participation • the creation of virtuous circles where the more experienced and competent children become through participation, the greater their empowerment as their participation becomes more effective. This applies equally to ch&yp as researchers.

14. Advocacy versus exploitation • When might advocacy spill over into exploitation? • Can we recognise subtle forms of exploitation? • funding strings • Marketing ploys • adult manipulation of child data • political manipulation of research agendas

15. Will there be a backlash? • Media vilification of youth • ‘Toxic’ childhoods • Ceding adult power to ch&yp – rhetoric versus reality • Adult anxiety about ch&yp becoming uncontrollable • Already some research by ch&yp is challenging adult knowledge and adult positions – is this getting too uncomfortable for adults? • Backlash against children’s rights? How hot is it getting in the kitchen?

16. Are we ready? • If a backlash movement does take off it will feed on societal fear and anxiety e.g. children have become too powerful, children’s rights have gone too far…. • Is our house in order? • Are we vulnerable to ‘divide and conquer’? • Have we passed the critical mass tipping point? • Are ch&yp walking alongside us or are we still pulling and pushing? • Are ch&yp’s rights & voice sufficiently mainstreamed?

17. Making it happen Contributions to knowledge Examples of child-led research Young carers Race hate crime Young people’s experiences of alcohol East meets West: living with double identities Young people’s rights Children in care Social isolation of chronically sick children How children are affected by bereavement How young Travellers are perceived in contemporary society Meaningful participation by young people with learning disabilities in youth decision-making forums Young people’s views about how they are portrayed in the media ….and many others…..

18. Are we ready….. To share the research arena with the new kids on the block!