Methodological issues in the research with the (im)migrant children: practical concerns of interviews with creative techniques' development and application

The aim of the paper is to explore the methodological issues in the research with the Russian-speaking immigrant pupils at Key Stage Two (7-11 years old), specifically focusing on the practical concerns of the development (before the data generation) and application (during the data generation) of the creative techniques in the interviews with the children. The paper considers the benefits of the creative techniques as a means of the unique data generation, the disadvantages of the techniques, and possible solutions for these in the course of the study. The following research questions informed the creative techniques' development and application: What issues do Russian-speaking migrant pupils face in Key Stage Two and why? How do they express their Personality Development? What are the features of the relationships between the issues and the personality development

levels? Methodology includes an interpretative paradigm using a qualitative research approach: a longitudinal multiple case study with five embedded cases (each case representing a pupil). Methods of data collection include ethnographic participant observations and interviews with creative techniques. I apply the ‘child as a subject’ research approach. The paper demonstrates how the creative techniques are imperative tools in research with the immigrant (linguistic minority) children, which help to uniquely 'unlock' the experiences/issues of the participating children, reaching beyond defenseless ‘incompetent’ migrant positions.