Listening to children’s voices in educational research: some theoretical and methodological problems

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in children’s experiences and perspectives of their own lives. This interest has been stimulated by legal and political initiatives (e.g., the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child), and by theoretical developments in education and social science disciplines. Children are no longer viewed primarily as “becomings”, but as “beings”, whose ideas, experiences, choices and relationships are interesting in their own right. Children, like adults, are “social agents”, who make sense of their experiences. This paper discusses the multi‐level approach metaphorically termed “listening to children’s voices”. First, there is the methodological level – i.e., how to listen. However, this paper does not go into detail regarding what kinds of methods are suitable for grasping the sense of children’s experiences. Second, studies of children’s (or adults’) experiences are underpinned by insider epistemology, the core of which is that insiders have a privileged access to knowledge of their own experiences. The question that will be addressed is what kind of knowledge is insider knowledge; two versions of insider epistemology are discussed in this paper. Third, the approach of listening to children is also underpinned by theory of the subject (or subjectivities). The paper briefly discusses five conceptions of the subject in terms of their possible implications for research on children’s experiences and perspectives. It is argued that even though some definitions of the subject are directly opposed to each other, it is possible to combine some perspectives. The relational conception of the subject, and the theory of interactionism developed by Brian Fay may be helpful for developing knowledge of lived experience, especially when individuals and groups being studied are seemingly very different from the researcher. It is concluded that an open (or weak) thesis of insider epistemology and a relational theory of the subject can offer a powerful theoretical foundation for research on experiences of children, especially of children whose voices are seldom heard.     

Young people’s academic buoyancy and adaptability: a cross-cultural comparison of China with North America and the United Kingdom

Abstract

We investigated academic buoyancy (a response to challenge) and adaptability (a response to change) among a sample of 12–16-year-olds in China (N = 3617) compared with same-aged youth from North America (N = 989) and the United Kingdom (UK; N = 1182). We found that Chinese students reported higher mean levels of buoyancy and adaptability. We also found that correlations between buoyancy and adaptability, and between these two factors and motivation and engagement outcomes, were significantly higher for Chinese students than for North American and UK samples. In path analyses, buoyancy and adaptability positively and significantly predicted motivation and engagement (typically at p < .001) in all three regions; however, buoyancy effects were significantly stronger for the Chinese students.     

Inside–out: analysis of the insider–outsider concept as a heuristic device to develop reflexivity in students doing qualitative research

This paper focuses on one approach to making research students more reflexive in their writing. It is argued that the development of the ability to be reflexive in regard to their own qualitative research does not come easily to a significant number of students. A range of possibilities which supervisors might present to their research students as questions to be considered in these respects is outlined. Four relevant case study vignettes are presented of the work of doctoral students (with the full cooperation and written permission of all involved) who have been supervised by the author of this paper. It is argued that these demonstrate that the students concerned have found consideration of their own, sometimes shifting, positions on the insider–outsider continuum of considerable value in developing their reflexivity in relation to their own research.     

‘It’s never okay to say no to teachers’: Children’s research consent and dissent in conforming schools contexts

This article examines the limits to children giving research consent in everyday school contexts that emphasises their conformity to comply with adult expectations, and highlights children’s competence and agency in navigating this conformity through different practices of dissent. It draws on research into children’s agency, using a multimodal ethnography of Year 1 classrooms in two English primary schools. The article includes a reflexive methodological focus, exploring the extent to which I counter the schools’ emphasis on conformity. This includes creating visuals for children to practice consent; positioning myself as the researcher in a non-teacher role, as ‘least adult’ and the one who ‘least knows’; and designing interview spaces markedly different from classrooms. The article examines how children navigate conforming discourses by finding different ways to dissent in the research. Firstly, children demonstrate a sophisticated awareness of the cultural norms of indicating refusals beyond saying the word ‘No’. Secondly, children achieve unnoticeability, by which they absent themselves from the ‘on-task’ classroom culture, and by extension the research process. Thirdly, they engage in playful dissent, demonstrating their political knowingness of the classroom social order. The article discusses the implications for educational research when the values of consent are in conflict with a schooling focused on conformity. This includes emphasising the limits of consent procedures, paying closer attention to how researchers recognise and respond ethically to children’s multiple practices of dissent, and using research to disrupt problematic power structures in education settings that limit possibilities for children’s consent.     

Instructional interface’s blueprint for guiding instructional-technological interactions’ research: the Big Bang shift in K-12

Educational technology research and development - This response reviews and analyzes&nbsp;the ten focal topics and three elements introduced in Nacu, Martin, and Pinkard’s work, entitled...     

Politics,knowledge and objectivity in sociology of education: a response to the case for ‘ethical reflexivity’ by Gewirtz and Cribb

The present article examines the relationship between political values and social research, with particular reference to the case for ethical reflexivity in sociology of education put forward by Gewirtz and Cribb. It is argued that their case for such reflexivity is flawed by conceptual imprecision and over‐determination of the links between value commitments, knowledge and the political implications of research. Drawing on a case study of a controversy in sociology of education, combined with a more discriminating conceptual analysis of political values in social research, it is suggested that the Gewirtz–Cribb ‘manifesto’ for routine ethical reflexivity may be inefficient and impractical. An alternative way of thinking about political reflexivity in sociology of education is offered, as are some possible avenues of philosophical resolution between the main protagonists of the longstanding debate on ‘what to do about values’ in sociology of education.     

Puzzling history – the personal file in residential care: a source for life history and historical research

Since the turn of the century large groups of former institutionalised children have exercised their right to see their ‘personal files’, and this has drawn widespread attention to these documents and their potential in scholarly research. This article explores the meanings of personal files from the period 1945–1984 as sources for both historical researchers and adult care leavers themselves, in the context of the orphanages in Ghent, Belgium. Based on the experiences of those who have consulted their files, we come to the conclusion that the personal files of the Ghent orphans provide some new information but, at the same time, leave a lot of issues unresolved. Although the files offered significant insights for researchers studying the most recent period in the history of the Ghent orphanages, it is difficult to see them as ‘keys to the past’ for former orphans who are trying to (re)construct their own, individual life histories.     

Gender respect: Empirical insights for (moral) educators about women’s struggles for respect in the Global South

Promoting gender respect is essential to the development of both sexes and to gender equality. This article argues for the importance of moral education to support the struggle of girls and women to achieve respect within unequal and complex gender power relations, especially in poverty contexts. Evidence collected from a sequence of in-depth qualitative studies in the Global South highlights the diverse ways that the giving of respect and the struggle to be respected shapes women’s lives. We show that moral education has a role to play in foregrounding female voices in order to: better understand the poverty-gender-education nexus; recognise the contribution of women and mothers as moral educators; acknowledge girls’ struggles to gain self-respect, peer respect and mitigate disrespect; and, ensure sexual respect despite aggressive masculinities. Moral education programmes which encourage respectful relations between the sexes need to address these highly contextualised forms of struggles for ‘gender respect’.     

Citizenship and inclusion in the early years: understanding and responding to children’s perspectives on ‘belonging’

This paper argues for, and demonstrates the effectiveness of, including young children in commenting on and improving their learning environments. It reports the experiences gathered from of 16 setting‐based, small‐scale, practitioner‐led projects. Taking a view of citizenship as ‘participation’ the paper shows how practitioner‐research can support the evolution of inclusive environments for all children. Following a critical review of the literature on citizenship, young children, and ‘inclusion’ the paper considers the usefulness of the participant methodology of practitioner action research and the concept of ‘voice’ in educational research and report. Examples of practitioner‐research projects involving children aged three to six years identify and illustrate key themes from the data. Thus, they demonstrate: (1) the range of factors which excited or worried the children; and (2) the ways in which children’s concerns and ideas were listened to and action for change was developed. The children’s ideas and extracts from their comments are included alongside the practitioners’ responses in the cases which are discussed. Four main points are considered in conclusion: (1) children’s views can contribute to the development of inclusive practices; (2) children’s voices are central to studies of their perspectives and the methodological challenges of listening to children’s voices in research must be addressed; (3) identity and self esteem are key to the successful promotion of young children’s positive sense of inclusivity and belonging in their early years settings; and (4) supported practitioner‐research can enhance inclusive early years practices. The paper argues that including children in the identification and exploration of issues important to them promotes a positive sense of inclusivity and that such approaches to developing pedagogies of citizenship and belonging constitute a practical enacting of ‘voice’.     

‘It’s not right for boys to play with dolls’: young children constructing and policing gender during ‘free play’ in a South African classroom

This paper focuses on the ways in which five- to seven-year-old primary school children in a Black/African township in South Africa construct and experience ‘free play’ in the classroom. Findings highlight the gendered manner in which play is constructed and constantly policed by these young children during ‘free play’. By foregrounding the young children’s gendered constructions and experiences of ‘free play’, the paper challenges the common sense teacher perceptions and constructions of children’s play that suggest children have ‘free choice’. The paper reveals that play is far from a ‘free’ activity as it is heavily constrained by specific contextual gender norms and expectations which limit possibilities by reproducing polarised versions of gender and perpetuate gender inequalities. Implications focus on the ways in which teachers can work with children to challenge the boundaries of gender during ‘free play’.     

Women’s education associations: the role of the Central Association of Irish Schoolmistresses and the Woman’s Education Association,Boston in advancing the cause for women’s admission to Trinity College Dublin and Harvard University

ABSTRACT

Examining the historiography of women’s education, the issue which dominates is understandably that of access. Access, or lack thereof, is a transnational construct which forms an over-arching framework through which the issue of historical gender equality in higher education can be interpreted and interrogated. Each of the seminal texts which examines the historiography of women’s higher education uses access as a lens. While it is important to examine access in the historiography of women’s education, a focus on access can obscure an interrogation of agency and particularly the role of social and intellectual networks in advancing key strategic objectives such as access. Against the backdrop of the higher education movements in both Ireland and the United States, this article examines the role of the Central Association of Irish Schoolmistresses (CAISM) in securing access for women to Trinity College Dublin and the concomitant role of the Woman’s Education Association, Boston (WEA) in securing Harvard degrees for women. Chronicling the activities of the associations, both compensatory and innovative, it interrogates how the women at the centre of the associations straddled a conservative/progressive agenda in order to incrementally open up the privileges of a patriarchal space to women.     

Bring up the children: national and religious identity and identification in Dutch children’s historical novels 1848–c.1870

Historical fiction is a powerful way of transmitting national history to later generations. It emerged in the nineteenth century as a means of building identity and fostering solidarity. This article investigates Dutch historical novels for children. First, it explores the relation between educational ideas and historical novels for children, distinguishing between two groups of children’s novels: novels written in the spirit of ideas on national non-denominational education and novels opposing Christian neutrality in education, by glorifying orthodox Protestantism and inculcating combativeness and intolerance. Second, the literary strategies employed to relate history are analysed. Both groups of novels use the same strategies, such as fictional characters as figures of identification, narrators mediating between the present and the past, and restructuring the past in favour of a triumphant ending to the story. However, there is a striking difference in character development.     

Being Ethnically Fluid in Post-Brexit Britain: How Teaching English Literature in England Made Me Want – Momentarily – to Return to Russia and Join Putin’s Party

A descendant of Chekhov’s extended family, Darya Protopopova has always loved all things literary. When she found out that Chekhov was popular with British modernist writers, she decided to do a master’s and then a doctorate in English modernism at the University of Oxford. Having completed both, she chose to spread her love for English literary giants among the masses and trained as a teacher of English at University College London. A year and a half into her first job, she was forced to leave after her school management told her she could no longer teach her GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) class, as some parents had complained about her foreignness. Shocked and disappointed, she briefly contemplated going back to Russia and becoming a xenophobe herself. However, the good had triumphed over the evil in her heart, and she is now happily teaching in a multilingual school in central London.     

The value and potential of multisited ethnography for science education research: a review of Jrène Rahm’s Science in the Making at the Margin

Rahm sought to illuminate how children and youth make meaning of science in three out-of-school time programs, and the identity work that is done through the trajectory of their youth toward their young adulthood. Through using multisited ethnography, she asserts that we can learn more about what the youth say about their science learning and science literacy development in these programs. She has revealed through her rich data the potential value of multisited ethnography for science education research. A similar theme of insider/outsider status to science emerged in each of the three sites. The nature of the data collected in Rahm’s multisited ethnography allowed for the unveiling of the similarities in this theme, but also made evident the nuanced ways that this theme presented itself differently across the three sites. The additional potential came through in the varied data Rahm could have delved into and did not. A unique characteristic of ethnographic research, that is not necessarily present in other research methods, is that a wide array of varied data is collected. An analysis of documents, images, and observational field notes, which go beyond interview data, may provide deeper understandings previously untouched in science education.     

‘New Partnerships for Learning’: teachers and teaching assistants working together in schools – the way forward

In comparison with the school sector, formative and diagnostic assessment have received relatively little attention in higher education. This article reports on an in‐depth study of assessment across one university, exploring views and practices in each of the five faculties, using semi‐structured interviews with eight staff and small group interviews with 60 students. Our data indicate that: there is very little common understanding of the terms often used to describe forms of assessment in policy documents and other literature; students, contrary to popular belief, do value assessment that carries no marks, although a form of ‘deferred instrumentalism’ may be at work here; staff are sometimes engaging in formative and diagnostic assessment without explicitly recognising it; and that students in this case study do value assessment which relates to and will be valuable for life after university. The paper concludes by suggesting frameworks and terminology for future discussion and issues for staff development.