| CODE | EPE5015 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Participatory Methods with Children: Enabling Children's Voice in Research | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Early Childhood and Primary Education | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | In the context of increased global awareness of children's rights, in academia as well as in all spheres of social life, and in the light of a need for ethical ways of working and researching 'with' children, this study-unit introduces students to the relatively novel realm of conducting research with children where children's perspectives, voices and experiences of learning, health, behaviour, development, wellbeing and other aspects of their lives are sought and where children are engaged as researchers. This study-unit considers how changing views of children and childhood have had an impact on the ways in which professionals including educators, health practitioners, psychologists and researchers work with children, who are in turn considered to be active participants and agents within our communities and society at large (Billington 2006; Corsaro 2011; Malaguzzi 1996). Over the past two decades, there has been a growing interest in seeking children's viewpoints and perspectives about matters that concern them (Levy 2008; Nutbrown & Hannon 2003; O'kane 2008). The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations, 1989) has been highly influential in pushing for more participatory and inclusive ways of working with children and respecting them as individuals in their own right rather than viewing them as incomplete adults or voiceless and immature beings. In the local context, the publication of a National Children's Policy (MFCS, 2017), acknowledges the need for "children's active participation across all sectors of society to enhance their present and future prospects" (p. 10). Underpinned by a firm belief and recognition that children are active agents and experts about their own lives (Corsaro 2011) and by social justice principles of participation, equality and inclusion, a rights-based and participatory approach to conducting research with children is adopted throughout this study-unit aimed at providing the right skills, knowledge, attitudes and appropriate tools to capture children's voices and present them authentically. Participatory methods, instruments and processes for researching with children are explored. Challenges associated with doing research with children as well as issues of power imbalance between the adult and child researchers are investigated. Ethical considerations in research with children are discussed. Study-Unit Aims: - Introduce students to participatory methods, modalities and practices adopted when conducting research with children; - Enable students to become well-versed in child-focused research; - Develop students' knowledge and understanding of research methodologies that are conducive to genuine capturing and authentic reporting of children's voices; - Engage students in critical reflection and analysis of evidence-based studies that adopt participatory methods with children; - Strengthen the philosophy adopted throughout the course programme that views children as active agents and participants in our communities and societies by embracing a rights-based and participatory approach to researching with children. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Demonstrate own understanding of the difference between doing research 'on' or 'about' children and researching 'with' children'; - Develop own knowledge about research methodologies that enable children's voice such as the 'Mosaic approach' and the use of participatory methods with children; - Understand the role of the adult in ensuring ethical and effective use of participatory methods with children; - Identify and appraise multimodal means of listening to and recording children's views and experiences of their life-worlds; - Evaluate the opportunities and challenges inherent in researching with children from early childhood through to early adolescence; - Discuss the ethical considerations that need to be made when conducting child-focused research; - Critically discuss the risk of power inequities in the research relationship and unreflexive adoption of methods. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Design and build research that enables children's authentic voice; - Compare and contrast methods adopted in child-focused research studies; - Demonstrate the skills and competence to prepare children for participation in research; - Involve children at different stages in the research process for full participation; - Listen to children's voice using different modes such as observation drawing sustained conversations and creative outputs; - Discuss issues related to gaining access consent and assent when researching with children; - Use various tools and instruments used with or by children when gathering data to express their viewpoints or record their experiences such as drawings, music, photography, audio and video recordings. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Christensen P and James A (eds) (2008) Research with Children: Perspectives and Practices. London: Falmer Press. - Clark A and Moss P (2011) Listening to young children. (2nd ed.) London: NCB. - Clark A (2001) How to listen to very young children: The mosaic approach. Child Care in Practice. 7(4): 333鈥�341. - Harcourt D, Perry B and Waller T (eds) (2011) Researching Young Children鈥檚 Perspectives: Debating the Ethics and Dilemmas of Educational Research with Children. New York: Routledge. - Kellett, M (2010) Rethinking Children and Research: Attitudes in Contemporary Society. London; New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. Supplementary Readings: - Alderson P (2012) Rights-respecting research: A commentary on 鈥榯he right to be properly researched: Research with children in a messy, real world鈥�. Children鈥檚 Geographies 10(2): 233鈥�239. - Billington, T. (2006). Working with children: assessment, representation and intervention. London: Sage publications. - Corsaro WA (1997) The Sociology of Childhood. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press. - Deguara J (2017) The content and meaning in young children's drawings. In D. Hyatt (ed.) 'Informing educational change: research voices from Malta. Sheffield: University of Sheffield. - Epstein I, Stevens B, McKeever P, et al. (2008) Using puppetry to elicit children鈥檚 talk for research. Nursing Inquiry 15(1): 49鈥�56. - Farrugia R C (2017) An enquiry into young children's perceptions of learning ability and schooling as an uncovering of a teacher's pedagogy and practice. In D. Hyatt (ed.) 'Informing educational change: research voices from Malta. Sheffield: University of Sheffield. - Flewitt, R. (2005). Conducting research with young children: some ethical considerations. Early Child Development and Care, 175(6), 553 鈥� 565. DOI: 10.1080/03004430500131338. - Flewitt, R. (2006). Using video to investigate preschool classroom interaction: education research assumptions and methodological practices. Visual Communication. 5,(1), 25 鈥� 50. - Horgan D (2017) Child participatory research methods: Attempts to go 鈥榙eeper.鈥� Childhood. 24(2):245-259. doi:10.1177/0907568216647787. - Long T (2007). Conducting focus groups with children and young people: Strategies for success. Journal of Research in Nursing 12(5): 485-486. - Malaguzzi, L. (Ed.). (1996). The hundred languages of children: narrative of the possible. Reggio Emilia, Italy: Reggio Children. - Marion, J. S., & Crowder, J. W. (2013). Visual research: A concise introduction to thinking visually. London: Bloomsbury. - Ministry for the Family, Children's Rights & Social Solidarity. (2017). National Children's Policy. Valletta, Malta. https://family.gov.mt/en/Documents/National%20Children%27s%20Policy%202017.pdf. - National Institute for Childhood. (2018). Children and public policy in Malta. Achieveing meaningful and purposeful participation. Attard: The President's Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society. - Nutbrown, C. (2011). Naked by the pool? Blurring the image? Ethical issues in the portrayal of young children in arts-based educational research. Qualitative Inquiry, 17(3), 3 -14. - Nutbrown C and Hannon P (2003). Children's perspectives on family literacy: Methodological issues, findings and implications for practice. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 3(2), 115-145. - O'Kane, C. (2008). The development of participatory techniques: facilitating children's views about decisions which affect them. In Christensen and James (Eds.) Research with children: Perspectives and practices (2nd ed., pp. 125 - 155). London: Routledge. - Prosser, J. & Burke, C. (2008). Image-based Educational Research: Childlike Perspectives. In J. G. Knowles & A. L. Cole (Eds.), Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research. (pp. 407 鈥� 420). London: Sage. - Thomas N and O鈥橩ane C (2000) Discovering what children think: Connections between research and practice. British Journal of Social Work 30(6): 819鈥�835. - UN General Assembly (1989) The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. New York. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Charmaine Bonello Maria Stephanie Bugeja Rosienne Camilleri (Co-ord.) Josephine Deguara Paul J. Pace Valerie Sollars Jane Spiteri |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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