Research With Children in Colombia: Creating Opportunities for Agency in the Contexts of Violence

• In Event: 72.018 - Research Knowledge and a Vision of Equal Scholarly Participation: International Perspectives and Opportunities for Collaboration

Abstract

In Colombia, where war has plagued the country for over 50 years, 4 in 5 people 50 years old and younger have never known what it means to live in peace (UNICEF, 2016). Internally displaced children are of the most vulnerable populations, and children’s voices are rarely heard. In this context, collaborative research provides an opportunity for children to demonstrate their agency in shaping their worlds. Such research is often local and rarely heard internationally; However, making visible research contributions of Colombian scholars has a potential of enhancing conceptualizations of research as a form of action that fosters equal opportunity.

Objectives
In this paper I make visible how choices of research approaches create opportunities for the people studied. Drawing on my work with internally displaced children and families in Colombia, I demonstrate the potentials of collaborative ethnographic research to help children develop agency for participating and transforming their own social worlds.

Theoretical Perspectives

The Convention on the Rights of the Child approved in 1989 is a benchmark that has influenced the transformation of the concept of childhood and children’s roles within the society and in the research processes. By that time the fields of anthropology and sociology of childhood also gained prominence (James, Jenks, & Prout, 2004). From these perspectives, children are seen as complete human beings and not as miniature adults. Therefore, children are recognized as social subjects with capacity to influence their own lives and their communities and with possibilities to create a critical reflection of the adult world. For researchers studying educational and social processes in which children participate, incorporating children´s voices increases the chances of understanding these phenomena.

Modes of inquiry and Data
The study is a collaborative ethnography with children and their families living in a displaced people’s community on the outskirts of Bogota, Colombia. In collaborating with the Photos-for-Peace project and community members, I engaged children in studying their own communities. Photo voice projects, children’s stories and art, and conversations with children and their families shaped my participant observation in the community over two years. The children were involved in making decisions about what they wanted to study and how they wanted to represent their lives and communities.

Results
Engaging children as co-researchers provided a perspective into the children’s and their community’s life from their point of view. They did not see themselves as “internally displaced” but actively created complex identities and explored their social and physical landscapes. Collaborating with children also enabled me to learn new ways of seeing and doing research.

Significance
Presenting collaborative ethnographic work with children in Colombia opens two possibilities for international scholars. First, this work contributes to broadening understandings of children’s agency and role as co-researchers and raises questions about adult researcher responsibilities to share this work beyond the local communities. Second, this work makes visible the importance of reading and collaborating with international scholars, who could help other scholars and countries conceptualize and address such problems as war-conflicts, refugee crises, migration, and children’s well-being.

James, A., Jenks, C. and Prout, A. (2004). Theorizing childhood. Cambridge U.K.: Polity Press.

Author

• Alba Lucy Guerrero, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana