Asking difficult questions: exploring research methods with children on painful issues

Assumptions about a child's competence to voice an opinion often inhibit efforts to find effective methods for participation. Answers to questions are sought from the significant adults who surround a child [Morris, J. 2003. “Including All Children: Finding Out about the Experiences of Children with Communication and/or Cognitive Impairments.” Children and Society 17: 337–348.]. Indeed, methods that ask adults rather than children about children's lives have often been justified as the only way in which a ‘truth’ [Westcott, H. L., and K. S. Littleton. 2005. “Exploring Meaning in Interviews with Children.” In Researching Children's Experience: Approaches and Methods. London: Sage] may be established as to how it feels to be that child, whatever their age. This stance has been increasingly challenged [Clark, A., and P. Moss 2001. Listening to Young Children the Mosaic Approach. Norwich: National Children's Bureau] with the argument that only by ‘giving them a direct and unfettered voice’ [Winter, K. 2006. “Widening Our Knowledge Concerning Young Looked After Children: The Case for Research Using Sociological Models of Childhood.” Child and Family Social Work 11: 55–64; Winter, K. 2010. “Ascertaining the Perspectives of Young Children in Care: Case Studies using Reality Boxes.” Children and Society: The International Journal of Childhood and Children's Services 61] can children's views be properly sought and represented. Research looking at the experiences of children when they were taken into the care of the local authority meant that some difficult, complex, sometimes painful questions may be asked. In this paper, I explore the development and use of creative, interactive methods with children aged 4–13 that facilitated their participation and avoided causing undue distress. I also debate the importance of engaging with children where their circumstances and past experiences are distressful arguing that a relationship where listening carefully is paramount enables the child's voice to be heard.     

‘She's alpha male’: transgressive gender performances in the probation ‘classroom’

The past decade has seen an exponential rise in the popularity of cognitive–behavioural programmes as a means of rehabilitating ‘offenders’. Although the programmes have been evaluated by a number of researchers, very little qualitative work exists, particularly with regard to the discourses mobilised by practitioners, and the production of gendered subjectivities in this setting. Consequently, this article focuses on one woman, ‘Michelle’, who attended an Aggression Replacement Training programme as part of her probation sentence. By drawing on Francis’ [2010. Re/theorizing gender: Female masculinity and male femininity in the classroom. Gender and Education] notion of gender monoglossia and heteroglossia I aim to provide a nuanced account of Michelle's seemingly straightforward ‘performance’ of ‘female masculinity’ [Halberstam, J. 1998. Female masculinity. Durham, NC: Duke University Press]. Through an analysis of the discourses mobilised by practitioners I also demonstrate that within this discursive environment the rehabilitation of female ‘offenders’ continues to be one of conformity to traditional ‘feminine’ gender norms as well as a desistance from crime.     

History and practice: a commentary on play history as a lens for pedagogical reflection

ABSTRACT

In this commentary, pedagogical reflection is examined through the lens of a practitioners’ personal memories of childhood play. The telling of these stories uncovers and describes the ways in which teachers’ personal play histories and their reflections upon them could inform their facilitative relationship to, provision for, and perceptions of dramatic play in their classroom. The term play history is not limited to only childhood memories, rather, it can be further clarified as memories of and experiences with play as children, young adults, and as grown practitioners. Space for both pre- and in-service teachers to explore and examine relationships and experiences with play provides a platform for acknowledgement of their pasts in relation to how they think about, allow for, and engage in play now as a professional.     

Being mean: children’s gendered perceptions of peer teasing

Recent research suggests that social cognition may play a role in the connections among gendered experiences of teasing within the grade school classroom. Within the framework of social-cognitive developmental theory, this qualitative research study investigates how gender may influence young children’s experiences and perception of teasing within the context of peer relationships. The present study explored the role gender plays in 89 Canadian children’s (4–9 years of age, 39 girls, 50 boys) perceptions of peer teasing through participants’ drawings and accompanying narratives. Results indicate that gender may help shape girls’ and boys’ perceptions of peer teasing in the classroom and suggest the need for educators to build a school culture of kindness, peace, and compassion to enhance children’s social-emotional lives.     

Preservice teachers’ self-efficacy to teach primary science based on ‘science learner’ typology

ABSTRACT

According to international benchmarks [Thomson, S., Wernert, N., O'Grady, E., & Rodrigues, S. (2017). TIMSS 2015: Reporting Australia's results. Retrieved from Camberwell, Victoria: www.acer.edu.au/timss], Australia’s science education is still in decline and so the need for further investigation into preservice teachers is warranted. Utilising data from a broader mixed methods doctoral study [Norris, C. M. (2017). Exploring the impact of postgraduate preservice primary science education on students’ self-efficacy. Retrieved from http://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2040], this paper investigates the type of science learner entering into postgraduate preservice primary teacher education and how different learner types influence teacher self-efficacy and their effectiveness to teach science [Bleicher, R. (2009). Variable relationships among different science learners in elementary science-methods courses. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 7(2), 293–313. doi:10.1007/s10763-007-9121-8]. In this study, data was derived from a modified STEBI-B questionnaire and focus group discussions that provided a deeper insight into the survey data. Participants (N?=?274) were from a one-year Australian Graduate Diploma of Education Primary (GDEP) program. Bleicher’s (2009) research on ‘science learner types’, which included Fearful, Disinterested, Successful and Enthusiastic learners, was used as a theoretical framework to categorise the participants. The study identified a new type of learner (Not Clearly Identifiable, n?=?68), located in the middle of the other four categories, where individuals’ attitudes and beliefs towards science had changed due to life experiences between secondary school and their GDEP program. Statistical analysis showed science learner types did influence participants’ science teaching self-efficacy (STSE), giving suggestions for how this may affect tertiary teacher education courses.     

Assessing learning in the early years’ outdoor classroom: examining challenges in practice

The benefit the outdoor environment has for young children’s development is widely documented. However, there is less literature outlining practitioners’ experiences of assessing learning in the outdoors and factors which impact the level and quality of assessments undertaken. This study, based on a pragmatic mixed methods approach, undertaken in 9 early years’ settings in North Wales, reports the findings of 37 practitioners. The research suggests that assessing children in the outdoors is not used to its potential. Factors impeding the use of the outdoor classroom include: lack of appropriate resources; level of staff expertise; child-staff ratio; adverse weather; and changes to curriculum policy which place emphasis on the formal assessment of children. There appears to be assumptions about learners most likely to benefit from outdoor learning and assessment: boys; children in socio-economically deprived areas; and children with additional learning needs. The paper highlights the need for broader training opportunities for practitioners on planning for learning and assessment in the outdoors that go beyond a single course focus. With creative planning, there is no reason why summative assessments of all areas of learning within the early years’ curriculum cannot be done as effectively outdoors as they may be being done indoors.     

Examining environmental learning experiences at an earth education summer camp

Many barriers restrict children’s access to nature resulting in negative consequences, including a lack of opportunities to learn and engage with the natural environment. Fortunately, environmental education programs offer participants an opportunity to counteract these challenges. While the benefits of environmental education as measured by pre-determined outcomes are well documented, research focused on participants’ perceptions and preferences related to their environmental learning experiences continues to be under-represented in the literature. Using a pre-/post-test survey approach, this study aimed to explore how an earth education summer camp, Sunship Earth ^TM, contributed to participants environmental learning experiences. Results suggest that Sunship Earth ^TM provides children with various EL opportunities that help to increase their understanding of some ecological concepts. Results also suggest that this learning experience may have helped to broaden participants’ understanding of environmental issues and actions, as well as enhance feelings of care, interest, and responsibility towards the environment.     

Emotional Behavior Problems,Parent Emotion Socialization,and Gender as Determinants of Teacher–Child Closeness

Research Findings: Drawing from a diverse community sample of 89 children, ages 4–6, their primary caregivers and teachers, this study examined the interplay of child emotional behavior problems, parent emotion socialization practices, and gender in predicting teacher-child closeness. Teachers reported on perceptions of closeness with children. Parents and teachers reported on children’s emotional behavior problems, as indexed by overanxious behavior, overt, and relational aggression. Regression models revealed that higher relational aggression related to closer teacher-child relationships for all children of parents who employed minimization as an emotion socialization practice. Similarly, higher overt aggression related to closer teacher-child relationships for girls who experienced parent minimization. An analogous pattern of results emerged, such that lower parent emotional support buffered girls against the negative effects of higher relational aggression on teacher-child closeness, whereas higher parent emotional support related to lower levels of closeness for these girls. These findings contradict prior research linking supportive emotion socialization practices (e.g., empathy, comforting) to socioemotional competence and unsupportive practices (e.g., minimization, punishment) to poor school adjustment. Practice or Policy: Findings have implications for improving children’s classroom experience by identifying parent emotion socialization and gender as contexts for understanding child emotional behavior problems in relation to teacher-child closeness.     

Discrimination, ethnic identity, and academic outcomes of mexican immigrant children: the importance of school context

This study examined ethnic identity, perceptions of discrimination, and academic attitudes and performance of primarily first‐ and second‐generation Mexican immigrant children living in a predominantly White community (N = 204, 19 schools, mean age = 9 years). The study also examined schools’ promotion of multiculturalism and teachers’ attitudes about the value of diversity in predicting immigrant youth’s attitudes and experiences. Results indicated that Latino immigrant children in this White community held positive and important ethnic identities and perceived low overall rates of discrimination. As expected, however, school and teacher characteristics were important in predicting children’s perceptions of discrimination and ethnic identity, and moderated whether perceptions of discrimination and ethnic identity were related to attitudes about school and academic performance.     

The pirate in the pump: children's views of objects as imaginary friends at the start of school

The main aim of this paper is to use a phenomenological approach (Merleau-Ponty, 1962. Phenomenology of Perception. Evanston: Northwestern University Press; Merleau-Ponty. 1968. The Visible and the Invisible: Followed by Working Notes. Evanston: Northern University Press) to contribute a new theoretical understanding of what imaginary friends mean for children in the context of starting school. The paper addresses the specific area of ‘object-friends’ and draws on examples from an empirical and consultative study of a small sample of five and six-year-old children’s everyday experiences of friendship in school. The paper argues that if practitioners consider embodiment approaches and listen attentively to the knowledge and information that children share about their imaginary friends, this could be used to nurture children’s early learning.     

Sport experiences of Division I collegiate athletes and their perceptions of the importance of specialization

The purpose of the current study was to investigate Division I athletes’ prior sport participation and athletes’ perceptions regarding sport specialization. Athletes (N = 1041) completed self-report surveys and indicated that participation in their collegiate sport began around nine years of age (M = 9.10, SD = 3.83). Athletes played a large number of sports in elementary and middle school with participation decreasing during high school. For those athletes who specialized in one sport, specialization occurred typically at 12.5 years of age. In addition, athletes past sport background and perceptions of specialization differed depending on their college sport with some sports (i.e., gymnastics) starting participation and specializing earlier than others (i.e., football, cross country, and track and field). Interestingly, no differences existed in past sport experiences or perceptions of specialization dependent on scholarship status or expected playing status. This study supports prior research that early specialization is not a requirement for elite level performance.     

Do home numeracy and literacy practices of Greek and Canadian parents predict the numeracy skills of kindergarten children?

Children’s experiences with early numeracy and literacy activities are a likely source of individual differences in their preparation for academic learning in school. What factors predict differences in children’s experiences? We hypothesised that relations between parents’ practices and children’s numeracy skills would mediate the relations between numeracy skills and parents’ education, attitudes and expectations. Parents of Greek (N = 100) and Canadian (N = 104) five‐year‐old children completed a survey about parents’ home practices, academic expectations and attitudes; their children were tested on two numeracy measures (i.e., KeyMath‐Revised Numeration and next number generation). Greek parents reported numeracy and literacy activities less frequently than Canadian parents; however, the frequency of home numeracy activities that involved direct experiences with numbers or mathematical content (e.g., learning simple sums, mental math) was related to children’s numeracy skills in both countries. For Greek children, home literacy experiences (i.e., storybook exposure) also predicted numeracy outcomes. The mediation model was supported for Greek children, but for Canadian children, the parent factors had both direct and mediated relations with home practices.     

A Pedagogy of Friendship: young children’s friendships and how schools can support them

Children’s friendships are often neglected by teachers and researchers. This phenomenological study conducted with seven children aged five and six years explores young children’s perceptions of their everyday friendship experiences. This multi-method study used role play interviews, drawings and persona doll scenarios to consider children’s everyday experiences of friendship in school. The paper discusses the importance of socio-cultural aspects of children’s friendship including: imaginary friends; losing friends; protecting time and space to develop friendships and children’s routines and practices as they form and maintain friendships. Data and findings are discussed, leading to an original conceptual framework: a ‘Pedagogy of Friendship’. This is designed to help children make meaning from their friendship experiences and also provide practitioners with the opportunity to nurture and scaffold children through their friendship experiences in schools. We suggest that there is a need to raise the profile of children’s friendships in early childhood education and generate an educational perspective on friendship. Finally we conclude that listening to children’s views of friendship indicates that the application of the framework of a ‘Pedagogy of Friendship’ would be beneficial to children’s all round learning and development.     

Preschool Contexts and Teacher Interactions: Relations with School Readiness

The majority of early education programs promote children’s learning through a mix of experiences in child- and teacher-managed contexts. The current study examined time spent in child- and teacher-managed contexts and the nature of children’s experiences with teachers in these contexts as they relate to children’s skill development. Participants were preschool children (N = 283, M age = 52 months, 48% girls, 70% Mexican or Mexican American) from families of a lower socioeconomic status. Observations captured children’s time in child- and teacher-managed contexts and experiences with teachers in each context. School readiness was assessed directly and through teacher reports. Research Findings: Time spent in teacher-managed contexts was positively related to children’s academic and social skill development. Experiences in child-managed context predicted vocabulary, math, and social skills when teachers were directly involved with children. Overall, the findings suggest that teacher engagement is related to positive outcomes even during child-managed activities. Practice or Policy: Given these findings, preservice and professional development programs for early childhood educators should have a component that focuses on how to enhance the teacher’s role during child-managed activities.     

Strategies,systems and services: a Northern Ireland early years policy perspective

Following a lengthy consultation process across Northern Ireland (NI), 2013 saw the publication of Learning to Learn: A Framework for Early Years Education and Learning [DE (Department of Education). 2013. “Learning to Learn: A Framework for Early Years Education and Learning.” Accessed July 15, 2014. http://www.deni.gov.uk/english_a_framework_for_ey_education_and_learning_oct_13_tagged.pdf]. This document has major implications for change in regard to children's services in the province. For this paper we have employed a critical discourse analysis (CDA) methodology (Ozga, J. [2000]. Policy Research in Educational Settings. Buckingham: Open University Press) in order to explore the relationships between language and power in the shaping of the policy discourse illustrated by Learning to Learn. Comparisons and contrasts are drawn between the language and assumptions made in the document, particularly in relation to the issues of quality and workforce qualifications. Attention is drawn to the message of the framework document that early years professionals must provide consistently high quality services to children and families through a process involving effective collaboration. However, the persistent ‘split system’ of statutory and voluntary sectors within the field of early childhood provision in NI plays a key role in the creation and legitimation of dominant discourses and accepted norms. Through this CDA process we demonstrate the ‘emancipatory potential’ of CDA for analysis of early years policy by both academics and practitioners.     

Teachers’ Perceptions of Teacher–Child Relationships: Links With Children’s Observed Interactions

Research Findings: The present study examined associations between children’s classroom interactions and teachers’ perceptions of teacher–child relationships during 1 year of preschool. Teachers (n = 223) reported their perceptions of closeness and conflict in their teacher–child relationships in the fall and spring. Children’s (n = 895) positive classroom interactions with teachers, peers, and learning activities and their negative interactions were observed midyear. Children’s positive interactions with teachers and learning activities predicted teachers’ perceptions of more closeness in the spring when we accounted for fall closeness. Children’s negative interactions predicted teachers’ perceptions of more relational conflict in the spring when we accounted for fall conflict. Children’s positive peer interactions did not predict spring closeness or conflict. Implications regarding teachers’ perceptions of teacher–child relationships and children’s independently observed classroom interactions are discussed. Practice or Policy: Findings provide empirical evidence for an aspect of Pianta, Hamre, and Stuhlman’s (2003) conceptual model of teacher–child relationships. Results indicate that children’s classroom interactions may be a factor related to how teachers report on their relationships with children across 1 year of preschool. Findings point to links between a range of children’s positive and negative interactions during typical instruction and teachers’ relationship perceptions.     

The influence of being ready to learn on children’s early school literacy and numeracy achievement

This study investigated the extent to which learning readiness, prior‐to‐school experiences, and child and family characteristics influence children’s literacy and numeracy achievement across the first year of primary school. A sample of 104 kindergarten children was recruited from 16 classrooms and followed from the beginning to the end of their first year of primary school. At the start of school, parents provided information on children’s prior‐to‐school experiences and their preparedness for school; teachers provided ratings of children’s self‐directedness and cooperative participation; and children’s cognitive ability was assessed using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – III. Classroom quality was observed and rated mid‐year. Children’s literacy and numeracy achievement was assessed at the end of the school year, using the Who Am I? (WAI?). Regression analyses indicated that WAI? scores were predicted by child age, gender, cognitive ability and teacher‐rated learning readiness at the start of school. Discussion focuses on the importance of the ‘ready child’ for early academic success.     

Getting in tune through arts-based narrative inquiry

This article provides a glimpse into the use of arts-based methods within a narrative inquiry into learning in an early years degree. Drawing on writing as inquiry [Richardson, L., and E. A. St. Pierre. 2005. “Writing: A Method of Inquiry.” In The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research, edited by N. K. Denzin, and Y. K. Lincoln, 959–978. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage], arts-based research [Estrella, K., and M. Forinash. 2007. “Narrative Inquiry and Arts-Based Inquiry: Multinarrative Perspectives.” Journal of Humanistic Psychology 47 (3): 376–383; Barone, T., and E. W. Eisner. 2012. Arts Based Research. Los Angeles, CA: Sage; Leavy, P. 2015. Method Meets Art: Second Edition: Arts-Based Research Practice. New York: Guilford Press], narrative inquiry [Kim, Jeong-Hee. 2016. Understanding Narrative Inquiry: The Crafting and Analysis of Stories as Research. Los Angeles, CA: Sage], autoethnography [Ellis, C., T. Adams, and A. Bochner. 2010. Autoethnography: An Overview. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/ Forum Qualitative Social Research 12 (1). http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1589/3095] [Holman Jones, S. 2005. “Autoethnography – Making the Personal Political.” In The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research, edited by N. K. Denzin, and Y. S. Lincoln. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; Wyatt, J. 2008. “No Longer Loss: Autoethnographic Stammering.” Qualitative Inquiry 14 (6): 955–967; Trahar, S. 2009. “Beyond the Story Itself: Narrative Inquiry and Autoethnography in Intercultural Research in Higher Education.” Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research 10 (1)] and the philosophical notion of the rhizome [Deleuze, G., and F. Guattari. 1987. A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Translated by B. Massumi. Vol. 2, Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota. Original edition, Mille Plateaux, volume 2 of Capitlisme et Schizophrenie, 1980, Les Editions de Minuit, Paris; Jackson, A. Y. 2003. “Rhizovocality.” International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 16 (5): 693–710; Honan, E. 2007. “Writing a Rhizome: an (im)Plausible Methodology.” International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 20 (5): 531–546; Sermijn, J., P. Devlieger, and G. Loots. 2008. “The Narrative Construction of the Self: Selfhood as a Rhizomatic Story.” Qualitative Inquiry 14 (4): 632–650; Clarke, B., and J. Parsons. 2009. “Becoming Rhizome Researchers.” Reconceptualising Educational Research Methodology 4 (1): 205–215; Sellers, M. 2015. “‘Working with (a) Rhizoanalysis’ and Working (with) a Rhizoanalysis.” Complicity 12 (1)], the author, a timid ‘I’, seeks to disrupt commonly accepted modes of representing knowledge through a performative text that enacts rather than fixates meaning. The purpose is to attempt to shift the ‘discursively established, sedimented strata of educational theory and practice that continue to be highly influential in a great many institutional and policy driven contexts?…?’ (Sikes and Gale, 2006, final paragraph). The hope is to effect some change in research methodologies that marginalise and to highlight the political within the three dimensional inquiry space [Clandinin, D. J., and F. M. Connelly. 2000. Narrative Inquiry: Experience and Story in Qualitative Research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass; Clandinin, D. J. 2006. “Narrative Inquiry: A Methodology for Studying Lived Experience.” Research Studies in Education 27 (1): 44–54] of Early Childhood education and practice.     

A quality of interrelating: describing a form of meaningful experience on a wilderness river journey

In this paper I identify the components of ‘meaningful experiences’ for participants on a wilderness river rafting journey. The research is phenomenologically informed, and includes interviews, journals, observations and follow-up emails from 32 participants on eight Franklin River (Tasmania) 10-day trips. It elicits individual perceptions of meaningful experiences and combines recollections to reveal the commonalities within those experiences. The research identifies two key recurrent ‘streams of experience’ that provide meaning. The two recurrent streams of experience involved, firstly, a feeling of humility and, secondly, being alive to the present. In this paper I focus on the stream of experience surrounding a feeling of humility, highlighting the qualities of the ways in which participants interrelated with their surrounding environments and the structure of such experiences. Additionally, I consider some unique elements of the wilderness river journey that contributed to the experiences that participants valued as meaningful.     

The big men in blue: custodians in three American schools

Although ubiquitous members of schools, few scholars and/or practitioners recognize how custodians’/caretakers’ associations with students reciprocally contribute to student welfare and custodian status. This ethnographic study documents custodians’ lived experiences while interacting with young children in three socioeconomically different American school settings. The findings suggest that custodians’ contextualized behaviors affect their associations and self-perceptions as professionals. Race and gender complicate this process. Recommendations for how scholars, practitioners, and policy makers can capitalize on custodians’ ubiquitous roles and their contextualized self-understanding are provided for consideration.