Spencer, G. and Thompson, J. orcid.org/0000-0001-9256-1208 (2022) Reproducing power asymmetries through voice, collaboration and change: opportunities for children to re-shape contemporary global challenges. In: Frankel, S., (ed.) Establishing Child Centred Practice in a Changing World: Part A. Emerald Studies in Child Centred Practice . Emerald , pp. 9-23. ISBN 9781801174077
Abstract
The expansion of research with children offers new opportunities for the development of child-centred practice. Children's participation in research has been championed as a positive way to challenge the processes and practices that affect their everyday lives. Yet opportunities for collaborating with children, and leveraging their voices, remains heavily guided by adult-led priorities. In this chapter, we offer a critique of ‘child-centredness’ and related voice-based and participatory discourses in the absence of a full-fledged engagement with the power imbalances between adults and children. We draw on examples from our research with children on contemporary global challenges (COVID-19 pandemic, health and migration) to expose the ways that adult-led agendas for, and definitions of, participation can affect children's engagement in research. We highlight how children also effect change and display their agency through the sharing of their experiences with adult researchers. The dynamic nature of social change highlights children's considered engagement with contemporary challenges but also the importance of reciprocity and willingness of adults to listen and respond to the issues that children identify as being central to their lives. We attend to the ways our methodological decision-making offers opportunities for leveraging children's perspectives, but also highlight the dangers of reproducing dominant adult/child power relations when seeking to be ‘child-centred’. We conclude by offering some critical questions to prompt further debate in this field, In doing so, we highlight the value of reciprocity and critical reflexivity as necessary first steps towards a more considered engagement with adult/child power relations in ‘child-centred’ research.
Metadata
Item Type: | Book Section |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Editors: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 Grace Spencer and Jill Thompson. Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited |
Keywords: | Participation; voice; children; research; power relations; global challenges |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > Health Sciences School (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 10 Feb 2023 14:10 |
Last Modified: | 10 Feb 2023 14:10 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Emerald |
Series Name: | Emerald Studies in Child Centred Practice |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1108/978-1-80117-406-020221002 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:196245 |