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Questioning ‘voice’ and silence: Exploring creative and participatory approaches to researching with children through a Reggio Emilian lens
,
Gisselle Tur Porres ,
Dawn Mannay ,
Jade Parnell,
Jacky Tyrie
Qualitative Research
Swansea University Authors:
Gisselle Tur Porres , Jacky Tyrie
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DOI (Published version): 10.1177/14687941241234299
Abstract
There has been much debate around the ‘voice’ of the child in qualitative research. This paper contributes to these discussions by drawing on the philosophy of Reggio Emilia, which emphasizes dialogical encounters that recognize the value of children’s subjectivities. The paper critically reflects o...
| Published in: | Qualitative Research |
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| ISSN: | 1468-7941 1741-3109 |
| Published: |
SAGE Publications
2024
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| Online Access: |
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65559 |
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| Abstract: |
There has been much debate around the ‘voice’ of the child in qualitative research. This paper contributes to these discussions by drawing on the philosophy of Reggio Emilia, which emphasizes dialogical encounters that recognize the value of children’s subjectivities. The paper critically reflects on a qualitative study of primary education during the COVID-19 pandemic that involved children aged 5–7 (n= 30), teachers (n=6) and parents and carers (n=18) in Wales. The study generated data using creative methodologies, field notes and qualitative interviews. The philosophy of Reggio Emilia was utilized to be reflexive about the processes of research design, fieldwork, data analysis and dissemination, questioning tensions between voice and silence and how research teams can face and respond to the challengingissues that complicate the intent of respecting children’s subjectivities and perspectives. A key lesson from this process of reflection and questioning was the need to be attentive to and attuned with the subtleties of children’s paralanguage and to maintain a level of flexibility in research design and processes that respected children’s requirements and preferences. While the study focussed on children’s experiences, the lessons learnt from evaluating the study in relation to the philosophy of Reggio Emilia have value for wider qualitative projects with diverse communities |
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| Keywords: |
Children’s ‘voice’, COVID-19, creative methods, mosaic approach, qualitative research, reflexivity, Reggio Emilia, school-based research, Wales |
| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Funders: |
Welsh Government |