The title "Researching Children" is deliberately ambiguous. There is a lot of research about, on and even for children. However, there is very little research in which children play an active and contributing part. "Researching Children" stands for research in which children actively participate with adults in ways that ensure that their view of the world is fully expressed and presented seriously.
Of course there are many aspects of research that require very specialized skills. Managing research projects also requires extensive knowledge of the respective field which only a small number of adults possess. However, there are also areas where children could participate, although they only seldom have the opportunity to do so.
Photo: SOS Archives |
The conference wants to expand the active role of children and young people in research and create bodies of knowledge about them: about their living conditions and about social aspects that influence their life. Children can and are to take on a role in establishing a project, designing research instruments, collecting, analyzing and interpreting data and in presenting and publishing the findings.
The conference brought together people who shared the view that children and young people should have more opportunities to participate in research the consequences of which affect them. The participants came from the fields of education, social science, health, social work, city planning and community development and environmental studies. It was a mixed group of researchers, educators, psychologists, lawyers, policy makers and activists.
The conference dealt with three main topics:
- Methodology: What does participation of children and youths in the field of academic work mean? How can young people be involved in research processes? What projects, challenges and solutions do already exist?
- Using the results: Who "owns" knowledge? How to pass on knowledge to children and youths? How can children and youths participate in the process of using the results?
- Ethics: What does ethics mean in the context of participatory research? What is the difference between research with adults and research with children/youths? What ethical standards the children and youths would set themselves?
Experiences were exchanged, many discussions on how to find a common basis and how to develop future programmes took place and set the basis for future co-operation.
For further information on the conference please see
www.researchingchildren.org