“Is it fun?” developing children centred research methods

TLDR

Geographers have increasingly adopted participatory, child‑centred research methods to involve children directly, moving away from traditional observational approaches criticized for treating children as subjects rather than active participants. This paper reflects on the authors’ experiences applying child‑centred methodologies in two ongoing postgraduate geography projects. The authors critically evaluate innovative techniques—including photographs, diaries, in‑depth interviews, and surveys—and examine how the research spaces shape their use.

Abstract

Over the past ten years, geographers have contributed to the growing body of interdisciplinary research developing new ways of undertaking research with children. Traditional research methods which do not directly involve working with children, such as the large scale observation of children, have been criticised for carrying out research on rather than with children. Instead, drawing upon the increasingly important children’s rights movement, researchers have been developing inclusive and participatory children centred methodologies, which place the voices of children, as social actors, at the centre of the research process. In this paper, we draw upon two ongoing postgraduate geographical research projects with children to reflect upon our own experiences of adopting children centred research methodologies. We also critically evaluate our own use of different innovative children centred research techniques, such as photographs, diaries, in‐depth interviews and surveys.We also highlight the importance of considering the impact of the spaces in which we conduct our research.