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Shes not a teacher, shes a mummy reflections
from four-year-olds on a researchers identity.

• Julie Evans
• College of St Mark and St John
• Email jevans_at_marjon.ac.uk

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• The younger a child is the less likely they are
  likely to be engaged in participatory research
  and yet
• children from a surprisingly early age can
  understand the basic elements of the research
  process and their role within it if this
  information is presented in an age appropriate
  manner (Thompson, 199260)

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• Moreover
• Mindful that adults such as parents and
  teachers cannot give valid accounts of childrens
  social worlds (Mahon et al. 1996)

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• Children were traditionally viewed as beings
  rather than becomings.
• In the early nineties Lansdown was highlighting
  we simply do not have a culture of listening to
  children (199438)

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• Arguably, what has evolved is a culture whereby
• listening can become a cliché, whereby
  nobody really knows what it means but somehow
  no-one can object to it either (Clark et al,
  200512).

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The research set out to

• 1 Examine the ways in which teachers plan for
  and organise role play in reception classes.
• 2 Examine the ways in which children respond to
  different types of role-play provision in
  reception classes.
• 3 Understand childrens perspectives on their
  experiences of play in school.
• 4 Develop methodologies for studying childrens
  role play in educational settings.

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Listening to Young Children The Mosaic Approach
Clark and Moss (2001)

• Multi-method- recognises the different voices
  or languages of children
• Participatory Treats children as experts in
  their own lives
• Reflexive Includes children, practitioners,
  parents, other adults, caregivers

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• Adaptable- to different settings
• Focused on childrens lived experiences
• Embedded into practice potential to be an
  evaluative tool

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Sample

• A reception and year 1 mixed class in a rural
  primary school
• A reception class in a primary school in a small
  town
• An early years unit in a large, urban first school

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• 80 children in term 1 rising to 144 in terms 2
  3
• Children aged 4/5 years
• 6 teachers (female)
• 6 teaching assistants (1 male)
• 3 reception classes
• 71 visits (av. 8 visits per term)

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Methods

• Observations
• Video recordings
• Childrens photographs
• Small group work
• Childrens drawings
• Vignettes
• Interviews - teachers
• Dialogue with teachers and support staff

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Ethos and approach

• As a researcher understanding your own values and
  positioning of children and childhood
  (Connolly in James et al., 1998)
• Power differential may be lessened if children
  have support from their peers (Hood et al.,
  1996)
• Mandells (1991) least-adult
• To eradicate generational differences between
  adults and children is not possible within the
  research setting (Mayall 2000)

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Childrens responses to the research process

• Direct and indirect feedback
• Using the researcher to manipulate
  situations(!)
• Adults asking them for consent was often an
  alien concept particularly at this age
• At times we were clearly the outsiders
• Children make their own decisions about
  participation (or not) in research
  (Davis,
  1998)

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• With hindsight would argue that to eradicate
  generational differences between adults and
  children is not possible within the research
  setting (Mayall 2000), certainly not in an
  educational setting where adult authority is so
  acute.