Parallel Session 9
Chair: Kathleen Pithouse-Morgan (University of Nottingham)
Discussant: Helen Hanna (University of Manchester)
Symposium Focus:
The GCRG researches global childhoods, focusing on diversity and inclusion for underrepresented and/or marginalised children. Researchers who work with or for children must act in their best interests, prioritising their rights, safety, and well-being in all methodological and ethical decisions. This, however, calls for dialogue and introspection, as it is not always easy to ascertain what is in someone’s best interests (Lane et al., 2019). A child’s ability to make decisions, as well as their strengths and available resources, must be considered (Lane et al., 2019). And approaches that are age-, developmentally-, and context-appropriate are necessary for comprehending children’s points of view and experiences (Mitchell et al., 2019). Additionally, researchers need to create avenues for adults to relate to children’s perspectives (Mitchell et al., 2019). It is also essential to remember that adults researching childhoods are still vulnerable to childhood fears and traumas (Mkhize-Mthembu, 2022; Mitchell et al., 2019). Researchers studying childhoods must be thoughtful and critical in approaching these and other challenges. This symposium delves into methodological and ethical quandaries and findings in researching childhoods in South Africa, China, and with Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children in Greece.
Paper One: Drawing as a Method for Educators Researching Childhoods: Insights from South Africa
Makie Kortjass (University of KwaZulu-Natal), Ntokozo Mkhize-Mthembu (University of KwaZulu-Natal), Kathleen Pithouse-Morgan (University of Nottingham)
Drawing for educational discovery can have many benefits. The setup costs are low, and the process is relatively simple (Mitchell et al., 2011). Participants can activate their creativity and reduce inhibitions (Kortjass, 2020). Pictures can be more tactile and emotive than words, and images can be interpreted in many ways (Mitchell et al., 2011). This paper focuses on the methodological discoveries of two South African practitioner-researchers who studied childhoods through drawing. The first author, a university-based teacher educator, worked with student teachers to elicit their memories of how they learned mathematics as young children. The second author researched social and emotional learning in her primary school classroom with Grade 4 children as participants. The paper considers the methodological promise and intricacies of using drawings created by educators and their students (both adults and children) in researching childhoods in contexts such as South Africa with painful educational histories. It also explores the implications for practitioner-researchers wishing to contribute to educational change that benefits children.
Paper Two: Tackling Ethical Challenges in Research with Children: Contextualising Children’s Rights in China
Yan Zhu (University College London), Yuchen Wang (University of Strathclyde), Jie Gao (University College London)
Promoting children’s rights and ethical research with children have been widely advocated in global Childhood Studies, underpinned by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 1989. However, the universal approaches to the UNCRC and ethical principles in research with children are problematised for being western-centric, even representing white, middle-class childhoods (Faulkner & Nyamutata, 2020). There is a lack of culturally sensitive and situated ethical codes and practices for doing research with children in non-Western contexts such as China. Further, underdiscussed are research ethics concerning children of marginalised backgrounds in that country, including left-behind and migrant children, disabled children, and very young children (0-3 years old). This study thus conducted six one-hour group discussions with 30 Chinese researchers with experience researching with those groups of children in Chinese educational contexts. The discussions produced knowledge about 1) how children’s rights are constructed and understood in the Chinese context; 2) ethical challenges in research with children in China; and 3) strategies that could be used to tackle culturally-specific ethical challenges.
Paper Three: Too Vulnerable to Research? Reflections on the Ethical and Methodological Challenges in Research with Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children
Eugenia Katartzi (University of Nottingham)
The presentation reports on methodological and ethical challenges encountered in a British Academy-funded project (2022-23) of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) in Greece. Utilising an ethnographic, child-centred design, the study explored their lived experiences and attitudes towards education. Mindful of the ethical tensions inherent in the empirical study with UASC, the overall research process was conducted with sensitivity and in the best interests of the children involved (Alderson & Morrow, 2020). In addition to the principles of ‘no harm and distress’, utmost attention was paid to overcoming distrust and suspicion, with which refugee educational research is fraught. This necessitated flexibility in the research process, enabling the UASC to participate by opting for the methods in the research framework that they felt more comfortable with. To conclude, I argue for the need for further research with marginalised groups of children like UASC. Only through privileging their voices can educational provision for these children be improved, and suitable policy responses to their needs be identified and evaluated (Stalford & Lundy 2022).